Avinguda Diagonal (, in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Avenida Diagonal) is the name of one of

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 c ...

's broadest and most important avenues. It cuts the city in two, diagonally with respect to the grid pattern of the surrounding streets, hence the name. It was originally projected by engineer and

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, tow ...

Ildefons Cerdà Ildefons Cerdà i Sunyer (; es, Ildefonso Cerdá Suñer; December 23, 1815, Centelles – August 21, 1876, Caldas de Besaya) was a Spanish urban planner and engineer who designed the 19th-century "extension" of Barcelona called the ''Eixampl ...

as one of the city's wide avenues, which along with

Avinguda Meridiana Avinguda Meridiana () is a major avenue in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, spanning parts of the Sant Andreu, Nou Barris and Sant Martí northern districts of the city. Originally planned by Ildefons Cerdà in 1859 to be one of the two most impo ...

would cut the rationalist grid he designed for l'

Eixample The Eixample (; ) is a district of Barcelona between the old city ( Ciutat Vella) and what were once surrounding small towns ( Sants, Gràcia, Sant Andreu, etc.), constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its population was 262,000 ...

(

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

for ''extension''). Both would meet at Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, which Cerdà envisioned as the new city centre. However, Plaça Catalunya, equally a new addition to the city of Barcelona, and connecting

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 nestl ...

and

, and therefore occupying a more privileged position in the urban area, would finally become the centre. Avinguda Diagonal remains to this day a much-transited avenue and many companies and hotels use it as a privileged location, as can be seen in its architecture. The avenue starts in the Les Corts district on the western edge of the city and runs to the Sant Martí district on the eastern edge. To its west, it connects with the

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, a ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

highway and

Ronda de Dalt Ronda () is a town in the Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about west of the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliff-side location and a deep chasm ...

in the neighbouring municipality of

Esplugues de Llobregat Esplugues de Llobregat () is a municipality of the Barcelona metropolitan area. Formerly in the ''Barcelonès'', since 1990 it has been part of the comarca of Baix Llobregat. During recent decades Esplugues has evolved from a predominantly indus ...

. To its east, it meets the Ronda del Litoral on the border with the municipality of Sant Adrià de Besòs. It is consistently wide and about long.

Name

The different regimes that held power in

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 no ...

and Spain during the 20th century sought to change the city's street names, and Avinguda Diagonal was permitted no exception. It has been known under the following names: * Gran Via Diagonal – original name which

and

Víctor Balaguer Víctor is a Spanish masculine given name, equivalent to Victor in English and Vítor in Portuguese. Notable people with the given name include: *Víctor Cabrera (Argentine footballer) * Víctor Cabrera (Chilean footballer) * Víctor Hugo Cabrer ...

intended to call the avenue. * Avinguda d'Argüelles – 1891. Named after

Agustín Argüelles Agustín Argüelles (18 August 1776 in Ribadesella, Asturias – 26 March 1844 in Madrid) was a Spanish liberal politician. He served as the 81st and 94th president of the Congress of Deputies. Biography He studied Law at the University of Oviedo ...

(1776–1844). * Avinguda de la Nacionalitat Catalana – 1922.

Mancomunitat de Catalunya The Commonwealth of Catalonia ( ca, Mancomunitat de Catalunya, ) was a deliberative assembly made up of the councillors of the four provinces of Catalonia. Promoted in its final stages of gestation by the Regionalist League of Catalonia, it w ...

, (in English, Commonwealth of Catalonia). * Avenida de Alfonso XIII −1924. During

Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquess of Estella (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a dictator, aristocrat, and military officer who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during Spain's Restoration era. He deepl ...

's dictatorship, named after King

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...

. * Avinguda del Catorze d'Abril – 1931.

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

(1931–1939). * Gran Vía Diagonal – 1939, provisional name imposed the day after the

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

capture of

as an attempt to eliminate references to the Republic. * Avenida del Generalísimo Francisco Franco – 1939. During the authoritarian regime of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

. * Avinguda Diagonal – Its current name, adopted following the restoration of democracy in 1979. The name "Diagonal" has always prevailed in popular usage.

History

Early history

Ildefons Cerdà's so-called

Pla Cerdà PLA may refer to: Organizations Politics and military * People's Liberation Army, the armed forces of China and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party * People's Liberation Army (disambiguation) ** Irish National Liberation Army, formerly called t ...

was not totally successful in transforming Barcelona's urban reality, as only parts of it were finally approved. The construction of Avinguda Diagonal is one of the projects it entailed that became reality, when a Royal Decree from

Queen Isabella II of Spain Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868. Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successio ...

and

Leopoldo O'Donnell Leopoldo O'Donnell y Jorris, 1st Duke of Tetuán, GE (12 January 1809 – 5 November 1867), was a Spanish general and Grandee who was Prime Minister of Spain on several occasions. Early life He was born at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canar ...

Spanish government gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , d ...

allowed him to start the construction of the avenue in 1859. The city council of Barcelona had previously requested the approval of

Antoni Rovira i Trias Antoni Rovira i Trias (1816 in Barcelona – 1889 in Barcelona) was a Catalan architect, urban planner and founder of several associations, among them Societat Filomàtica de Barcelona. He is known as the architect of several buildings in Barce ...

's alternative project instead, which had been rejected. Avinguda Diagonal 070

After the completion of its central section, from the current Plaça de Francesc Macià towards Glòries, it soon became one of Barcelona's most popular avenues and an ideal place for the Catalan

aristocrats Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

and

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. Th ...

to exhibit their carriages.

Francesc Cambó Francesc Cambó i Batlle (; 2 September 1876 – 30 April 1947) was a conservative Spanish politician from Catalonia, founder and leader of the autonomist party ''Lliga Regionalista''. He was a minister in several Spanish governments. He supported ...

, leader of

Lliga Regionalista Regionalist League of Catalonia ( ca, Lliga Regionalista de Catalunya, ; 1901–1936) was a right wing political party of Catalonia, Spain. It had a Catalanist, conservative, and monarchic ideology. Notable members of the party were Enric Prat de l ...

proposed the construction of a new palace for the then monarch

in 1919 (the royal palace in

had been destroyed in the fire of 1875).

Recent history

Avinguda Diagonal suffered several attacks by the

Basque separatist Basque nationalism ( eu, eusko abertzaletasuna ; es, nacionalismo vasco; french: nationalisme basque) is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques, an ethnic group indigenous to the western Pyrenees, are a nation and promotes the p ...

organisation

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

in 2000. On 2 November, a

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...

exploded injuring a security officer and a municipal officer. A few days later, on 21 November, a car used by the killers of Enerst Lluch exploded in the middle of the avenue. On 20 December a municipal officer was shot dead. Four venues in the area hosted competitions for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. During 2010, Diagonal reform proposals were on the headlines, as the Barcelona city council had plans to make the tram cross the whole avenue. A ''popular consultation'' (the word ''referendum'' being banned by Spanish law) was scheduled for May 2010 between two reform proposals, the so-called ''rambla'' or ''boulevard''. It resulted in a big political failure for the city mayor, Jordi Hereu. There was a bare participation of 12% of potential voters, and about 80% voted for the third option ''none of the former two'', that is, against any change.
Opción C: Varapalo al alcalde Hereu
' a ''La Vanguardia'' 16 May 2010

Buildings and places of interest

Architecture

* Casa del Baró de Quadras ( Museu de la Música) – designed by

Josep Puig i Cadafalch Josep Puig i Cadafalch (; Mataró, 17 October 1867 – Barcelona, 21 December 1956) was a Catalan '' Modernista'' architect who designed many significant buildings in Barcelona, and a politician who had a significant role in the development o ...

(1904–1906) * Casa Comalat – designed by

Salvador Valeri i Pupurull Salvador Valeri i Pupurull (1873–1954) was a Catalan architect who worked in the style of Modernisme. Valeri was born in Barcelona and studied in the Polytechnical School of Madrid and the School of Architecture of Barcelona, where he obtaine ...

(1906–1911) * Església del Carme – designed by

Josep Domènech i Estapà Josep Domènech i Estapà (; Tarragona, 1858 – Cabrera de Mar, 1917) was a Catalan architect. He graduated in 1881, and became professor of geodesy (1888) and descriptive geometry (1895) at the University of Barcelona, and member of the Aca ...

neo-Byzantine style Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Ortho ...

(1909) *

Casa Serra The Casa Serra (Serra House) is a building in the Modernisme style in Barcelona, designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. It is situated at number 126 Rambla de Catalunya, at that street's corner with the Avinguda Diagonal. The building was built as ...

– also designed by

, became a school. * Casa de Terrades, also known as Casa de les Punxes – Eixample's widest building, designed by Puig i Cadafalch (1903–1905) * ME Barcelona hotel, designed by

Dominique Perrault Dominique Perrault (born 9 April 1953 in Clermont-Ferrand) is a French architect and urban planner. He became world known for the design of the French National Library, distinguished with the Silver medal for town planning in 1992 and the Mies v ...

(2007). * Palau Pérez Samanillo * Casa Sayrach – (1918) * Palau Reial de Pedralbes (1921), built for

Alfonso XIII of Spain Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...

and its gardens. (1924). *

Torre Agbar ''Torre'' (plurals ''torri'' and ''torres'') means ''tower'' in seven Romance languages (Portuguese, Spanish, Galician, Catalan, Italian, Occitan and Corsican) and may refer to: Biology * Muir-Torre syndrome, the inherited cancer syndrome * ...

– designed by

Jean Nouvel Jean Nouvel (; born 12 August 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of ''Mars 1976'' and '' Syndicat de l'Architecture'', France’s first labor union for architects. He has o ...

, next to Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes (2005). *

La Caixa Headquarters La Caixa (La Caixa Headquarters) is a complex of three buildings, including two skyscrapers in Barcelona, Spain. Completed in 1974. ''La Caixa 1'' has 26 floors and rises 85 meters, ''La Caixa 2'' has 14 floors and rises 48 meters.Disseny Hub Barcelona The Museu del Disseny de Barcelona (Catalan, English: "Barcelona Design Museum"), is a center for Barcelona's Institute of Culture, which works to promote better understanding and good use of the design world, acting as a museum and laboratory. It ...

Shopping centres

* L'Illa. * El Corte Inglés Avinguda Diagonal * El Corte Inglés Francesc Macià * Diagonal Mar * Glòries * Pedralbes Centre

Cinemas

*CINESA Diagonal Mar *Boliche *CINESA Diagonal *Glòries Multicines

Education

Avinguda Diagonal is also home to several schools of both

Universitat de Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

(UB) and

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya The Technical University of Catalonia ( ca, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, , es, link=no, Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña; UPC), currently referred to as BarcelonaTech, is the largest engineering university in Catalonia, Spai ...

, in the area that is commonly known as '' Zona Universitària''. The following UB faculties and schools are located on the avenue: *Biology (Av. Diagonal, 645) *Chemical Engineering (Av. Diagonal, 647) *Chemistry (Av. Diagonal, 647) *Business school (Av. Diagonal, 696) *Economics (Av. Diagonal, 690) *Law (Av. Diagonal, 684) *Materials Engineering (Av. Diagonal, 647) *Physics (Av. Diagonal, 647) Diagonalbcnpan

Transport

Metro

The avenue is served by a number of metro stations: * Zona Universitària ( L3, L9) * Palau Reial ( L3) * Maria Cristina ( L3) *

Diagonal In geometry, a diagonal is a line segment joining two vertices of a polygon or polyhedron, when those vertices are not on the same edge. Informally, any sloping line is called diagonal. The word ''diagonal'' derives from the ancient Greek δ� ...

( L3, L5) – In and around Passeig de Gràcia. *

Provença Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bo ...

( L6, L7) – In Carrer Provença, linked with

station. * Verdaguer ( L4, L5) – In Plaça Verdaguer * Glòries ( L1) – in Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes. * Selva de Mar ( L4). * El Maresme Fòrum ( L4).

Tram

Trambaix The Trambaix () is one of Barcelona's three tram systems. It is operated by TRAMMET connecting the Baix Llobregat area with the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It opened to the public on 5 April 2004 after a weekend when the tram could b ...

*Zona Universitària ( T1, T2, T3) *Palau Reial ( T1, T2, T3) *Maria Cristina ( T1, T2, T3) *Numància ( T1, T2, T3) *L'Illa ( T1, T2, T3) *Francesc Macià ( T1, T2, T3)

Trambesòs Trambesòs () is a tram– light rail system in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia that links the Barcelona district of Sant Martí with Badalona and Sant Adrià de Besòs. Its name comes from the union of the words "tram", an abbr ...

*Glòries ( T4, T5) *Ca L'Aranyó ( T4) *Pere IV ( T4) *Fluvià ( T4) *Selva de Mar ( T4) *El Maresme ( T4) *Fòrum ( T4)

References

Sources

* ALBAREDA, Joaquim, GUÀRDIA, Manel i altres. Enciclopèdia de Barcelona, Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana, Barcelona, 2006.

External links

Article on Avinguda Diagonal by journalist Lluís Permanyer

The new tile of Diagonal in Barcelona
{{Authority control Venues of the 1992 Summer Olympics Streets in Barcelona Les Corts (district) Eixample Sant Martí (district) Shopping districts and streets in Catalonia Tourist attractions in Barcelona