Somorrostro Beach is a beach in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is located between the Hospital del Mar and Marina Street, in the far east area of the Barceloneta neighborhood, in the

Ciutat Vella Ciutat Vella (, meaning in English "Old City") is a district of Barcelona, numbered District 1. The name means "old city" in Catalan and refers to the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. ''Ciutat Vella'' is nest ...

district. It is long and wide. The Somorrostro name was forgotten and the beach became one of the most popular in the city. It was not until 2010, Somorrostro beach got its original name back.

History

During the 19th century and part of the 20th century, the beach, and much of the neighboring beach areas were occupied by a

shanty town A shanty town, squatter area, squatter settlement, or squatter camp is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron s ...

, inhabited by 15,000 people living in over 2,000 slums. It was known during this time as a Romani community. It was not until the 1966 visit of Spanish

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

that the slum removal began. Most of the slums in Somorrostro were demolished between the 1960s and 1980s. Famous Roma

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

dancers

Carmen Amaya Carmen Amaya Amaya (2 November 1918 – 19 November 1963), nicknamed ''La Capitana'' (English: ''The Captain'') was a Spanish Romani flamenco dancer and singer, born in the Somorrostro district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. She is often ha ...

and

La Singla La Singla, also spelled La Sengla, is a 3,714 m mountain of the Pennine Alps, located on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It is the highest summit lying between the valleys of Bagnes (Valais) and Valpelline (Aosta Valley The Aos ...

were born in the neighborhood. In addition, '' Los Tarantos'', an

academy award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated film about flamenco starring Amaya, and featuring Singla, was filmed in Somorrostro in 1963.

Gallery

File:Aerial view of Somorrostro Beach and Port Olympic in Barcelona, Spain (51227006624).jpg, Aerial view of Somorrostro Beach and Port Olympic in Barcelona, Spain File:Aerial view of the Promenade and Somorrostro Beach in Barcelona (51225533277).jpg, Aerial view of the Promenade and Somorrostro Beach in Barcelona File:RepublicanWoman1936GTaro.jpg, '' Woman training for a Republican militia'' by

Gerda Taro Gerta Pohorylle (1 August 1910 – 26 July 1937), known professionally as Gerda Taro, was a German War photography, war photographer active during the Spanish Civil War. She is regarded as the first female Photojournalism, photojournalist to hav ...

, Somorrostro Beach, La Barceloneta (1936).

References

{{Coord, 41.38392, 2.19622, display=title Beaches of Barcelona Beaches in history