El Carmel (), or simply Carmel, is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community ...

in the district of

Horta-Guinardó Horta-Guinardó () is the name of one of the districts of Barcelona, located in its North-Eastern corner. It is named after two very heterogeneous areas of the city, Horta and el Guinardó, which together cover a large area of 11.92 km², ...

, in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Carmel is in the municipal district of Horta-Guinardó. The area was developed mainly in the 1960s and 1970s when immigrant workers, encouraged to move to Barcelona by the government of

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

, built housing for themselves. Initially isolated on the rural hillside of what is now Parc dels Tres Turons ("Three Hills Park"), the combination of structures put up without building permits alongside more planned urban development has given the area its modern appearance of buildings piled higgledy-piggledy on the hillside. Carmel became infamous in 2005 for a major accident during the construction of a tunnel. It brought to a halt the expansion works on line 5 of the

Barcelona Metro The Barcelona Metro (Catalan and Spanish: ) is an extensive network of rapid transit electrified railway lines that run mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the city's suburbs. It is part of the larger public transport s ...

and led to the evacuation of dozens of buildings in the area. Local residents protested and most of those evacuated to other areas were eventually rehoused and a new school opened. Barcelona City Council has pledged more investment in the area to improve transport, accessibility and services.

External links

Barcelona City Council page for Horta-Guinardó
Carmel Horta-Guinardó Hills of Spain Landforms of Catalonia {{Barcelona-geo-stub

See also

External links