Plaça de Francesc Macià () is a square 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 ...

. Located in one of the main business areas of the city, it is one of the most transited points of Barcelona. It is crossed by

Avinguda Diagonal Avinguda Diagonal (, in Spanish Avenida Diagonal) is the name of one of Barcelona'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 or ...

and several other major thoroughfares: Avinguda de Josep Tarradellas, Travessera de Gràcia, Carrer del Comte d'Urgell and Avinguda de Pau Casals. It is part of the

Sarrià-Sant Gervasi Sarrià-Sant Gervasi is one of the biggest districts of Barcelona. It's the district with the highest per capita income, the largest proportion of university degrees and the lowest unemployment rate. Situated on the north-west of the city, surr ...

district, even though it borders two other

districts of Barcelona Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain is divided into 10 districts. These are administrated by a councillor designated by the main city council, and each of them have some powers relating to issues such as urbanism or infrastructure in their area. The curre ...

: Les Corts and

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 ...

. It is named after

Francesc Macià Francesc Macià i Llussà (; 21 September 1859 – 25 December 1933) was a Spanish politician from Catalonia who served as the 122nd president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, and formerly an officer in the Spanish Army. Politically, he evol ...

(1859-1933),

Catalan president The President of the Government of Catalonia ( ca, President de la Generalitat de Catalunya, ) is one of the bodies that the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia stipulates as part of the Generalitat de Catalunya, others being the Parliament, the gov ...

during the

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 ...

who proclaimed a short-lived Catalan Republic. The central part of the square contains a pond modelled after the shape of

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...

, the birthplace of its architect, Nicolau Rubió i Tudurí, as well as feminine sculpture called ''Joventut'' ("youth") designed by Josep Manuel Benedicto, added in 1953. Spanish-language newspaper

La Vanguardia ' (; , Spanish for "The Vanguard") is a Spanish daily newspaper, founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan (Spanish copy is automatically translated into Catalan). It has its headquarters in Barcelona and i ...

is based in

477, within square limits.

History

The square was devised by Nicolau Rubió i Tudurí in the 1930s as part of the urban reform envisioned for Barcelona, under the specific name of ''Proyecto de Urbanización de la Avenida de Alfonso XIII, entre la calle Urgel, desde el Palacio Real hasta el límite del término municipal'' ("urbanisation project for Alfonso XIII Avenue, between Carrer d'Urgell, from Palau Reial to city government limits"). The square's name has been changed in repeated occasions over time until the

transition to democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

(1975-1978). In 1979 its current name was adopted.

Names

This is the complete list of names given to the square: *1932: '' Alcalá Zamora'' - former president of the

. *1936: ''Hermanos Badía'' - honouring brothers Josep Badia and Miquel Badia, murdered by FAI members earlier that year. *1939: Calvo Sotelo - right-wing monarchist politician during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship and the

, murdered in 1936, considered a "martyr of the crusade" during Francisco Franco's dictatorship.La Cruzada
/ref> *1979:

Transport

The square is the terminus of

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 be u ...

routes T1, T2 and T3. It can also be accessed using the following bus lines: 6, 7, 14, 15, 27, 32, 33, 34, 41, 54, 59, 63, 66, 67 and 68. A

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 ...

station is projected there: Francesc Macià (Barcelona Metro).

References

* Jesús Portavella i Isidoro (2005), ''Itineraris: Sant Gervasi'', Ayuntamiento de Barcelona. (in Catalan). * Enciclopèdia Catalana (2006), '' Enciclopèdia de Barcelona'', Vol. 3. (in Catalan).

External links

Plaça Francesc Macià at the urban guide of bcn.catGoogle Maps.
* ttp://www.tmb.net/es_ES/turistes/busturistic/francescmacia.jsp Francesc Macià at the TMB website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Placa de Francesc Macia, Barcelona Plazas in Barcelona Sarrià-Sant Gervasi Avinguda Diagonal