Barcelona, barri a barri A living atlas of the 73 neighbourhoods

Nou Barris · 49

Canyelles

Canyelles is a housing estate of about 65 blocks and towers, inaugurated in 1978 in Nou Barris on the site of the shantytown of la Guineueta Vella; a neighbours' campaign won its former residents a new home there.[1][2][3][4]

Look at the brightly coloured blocks from the Parc de Josep Maria Serra Martí: they result from a colour plan agreed between the Patronat de l'Habitatge and the residents' association, which replaced the original earth tones with yellows, oranges, greens and reds.[5]

Canyelles is a neighbourhood of Nou Barris that borders la Guineueta, and Viquipèdia says it was formerly known as Guineueta Vella. The farmland of the old Can Guineueta farmhouse, built in the eighteenth century, reached roughly as far as where the Mercat de Canyelles now stands.[1][2]

After the Civil War, shacks and small houses grew around the farmhouse: la Guineueta Vella, 250 dwellings without electricity or sewers. In the mid-1960s the Ronda de Dalt project led to everything being expropriated, and a neighbours' campaign won its residents the right to live in the 3,000 homes of the new neighbourhood.[1][2]

Canyelles (neighbourhood 49) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Nou Barris: Vilapicina i la Torre Llobeta, Porta, el Turó de la Peira, Can Peguera, la Guineueta, Verdun.

Before the neighbourhood

Before the blocks there was the farmland of Can Guineueta and, from the 1940s, the improvised settlement of la Guineueta Vella around the farmhouse. The farmhouse disappeared when the estate was built.[1][2]

How the streets were made

The Institut Municipal d'Urbanisme counts 65 isolated blocks and towers with 2,459 homes; the City Council speaks of 3,000 homes when it was built. The largest building, El Barco, is 14 blocks with about 500 flats.[3][4][5]

Close to 75% of the blocks suffer from carbonation, a structural disease that cracks concrete, and for years they have been clad in insulating material and painted according to the neighbourhood's colour plan.[5]

Dates that changed it

  1. 1940s: after the Civil War, shacks and small houses form la Guineueta Vella around Can Guineueta.[1][2]
  2. Mid-1960s: the Ronda de Dalt project leads to the expropriation of the land of la Guineueta Vella.[1][2]
  3. 1974: according to Viquipèdia, Canyelles is built, the last housing estate of the pre-democratic period.[3][4]
  4. 1978: the new neighbourhood is inaugurated, with 3,000 homes where former residents of la Guineueta Vella live.[1]
  5. 1987: the Mercat de Canyelles is built.[6]
  6. 1998: the Font Màgica of the Parc de Josep Maria Serra Martí is inaugurated.[7][3]
  7. July 2020: the Institut Municipal d'Urbanisme takes over coordination of the façade rehabilitation programme.[4][8]
  8. 26 November 2025: the Consell de Barri is convened to present the project for the second phase of the interiors reform.[8]

People and collective life

Manuel Sánchez

Spokesman for the Associació de Veïns de Canyelles; in January 2020 he said residents of the rehabilitated blocks were happy but complained of delays.[8][5]

Associació de Veïns i Veïnes de Canyelles

The residents' association, at Carrer de Federico García Lorca 27, hosts the Consell de Barri and agreed the rehabilitation colour plan with the Patronat.[8][5]

Institutions

Mercat de Canyelles

Carrer d'Antonio Machado 10

Municipal market of 1987 at Carrer d'Antonio Machado 10, with a metal structure, an exposed-stone enclosure and an access ramp.[6]

Biblioteca Canyelles - M. Àngels Rivas

Ronda de la Guineueta Vella 34

Library at Ronda de la Guineueta Vella 34, with reading clubs and children's activities scheduled for the 2026-2027 season.[9]

Institut Municipal d'Urbanisme

Canyelles

Has coordinated the façade rehabilitation programme since July 2020; the works are carried out by the Agència de l'Habitatge de Catalunya.[4][8]

Struggles that left a mark

The right to a home in place

Demand: When the Ronda de Dalt doomed la Guineueta Vella, neighbours campaigned so that its residents could live in the new estate built where their homes had stood.[1]

Outcome: Won: 3,000 homes, inaugurated in 1978.[1]

A rehabilitation that drags on

Demand: The rehabilitation of the blocks affected by carbonation is paid 60% from Generalitat and State funds, 25% by the Patronat de l'Habitatge and 15% by residents; in 2020 completion was expected in 2021 and residents complained of delays.[5]

Outcome: Ongoing.[4][8]

What can still be seen

El Barco

barri de Canyelles

The neighbourhood's largest building, 14 blocks with about 500 flats, rehabilitated against carbonation and painted under the colour plan.[5]

Parc de Josep Maria Serra Martí

Parc de Josep Maria Serra Martí

The neighbourhood's park, with the 1998 Font Màgica and the Sant Narcís parish at one end; in 2019 a decision was made to designate it officially as green space.[7][3]

What disappeared

La Guineueta Vella

The settlement of 250 dwellings, without electricity or sewers, was expropriated in the mid-1960s for the Ronda de Dalt and replaced by the estate.[1][2]

The Can Guineueta farmhouse

The eighteenth-century farmhouse, whose land reached as far as where the Mercat de Canyelles now stands, disappeared with the new neighbourhood.[1][2]

The neighbourhood today

In 2026 Canyelles had 6,906 residents, a density of 87.4 people per hectare, a €21,187 mean census-section income in 2023, 79 hectares, and 9% of residents held non-Spanish nationality.[10][11][12][13]

Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 9%

What is changing

Façade rehabilitation (latest figures read: November 2023)

The programme, coordinated by the Institut Municipal d'Urbanisme since July 2020, has been redefined into 11 phases. Phases 1 to 6 (36 blocks, 1,453 homes) were done by March 2021, phase 7 (4 blocks, 162 homes) ran from September 2022 to October 2023, and phase 8 (six communities, 188 homes) was in tender in November 2023 with a start foreseen in 2024. We could not confirm the state of works in October 2026; the Consell de Barri of 26 November 2025 put façade rehabilitation on its agenda.[4][8]

Renovation of spaces between the blocks: second phase (agenda, Nov 2025)

The Consell de Barri of Canyelles, convened for 26 November 2025 at the residents' association, had on its agenda the presentation of the project for the second phase of the reform of the neighbourhood's interior spaces, and updates on the maintenance centre in the Josep Maria Serra Martí park, the Centre Esportiu Municipal Artesania and the lift on Carrer de Miguel Hernández. We consulted only the meeting notice, not a summary of the proceedings.[8]

What the guides leave out

A neighbourhood built on its own history

The people of la Guineueta Vella were not moved far: neighbours won them places in the new estate built where their houses had been.[1]

Colours that fade

In 2020 residents said that some reds, oranges and greens on the renovated façades had faded after three years, and were pressing for them to be repainted.[5]

Read it on foot

Start: Metro L3 Canyelles · End: Biblioteca Canyelles - M. Àngels Rivas[9]

Walking (excluding stop time): 7 min · 540 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 37 min

The geometry follows the pedestrian network between the three marked points, but it has not been verified as step-free. The approach from public transport is not included in the stated distance.

Canyelles (neighbourhood 49) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Nou Barris: Vilapicina i la Torre Llobeta, Porta, el Turó de la Peira, Can Peguera, la Guineueta, Verdun.

1
Mercat de Canyelles
Mercat de Canyelles, carrer d'Antonio Machado 10
Observe the metal structure that covers the market and the ramp that links it to the street.[6]
The market was built in 1987. The farmland of the old eighteenth-century Can Guineueta farmhouse reached roughly this far, before la Guineueta Vella and then the estate took the site.[6][1][2]
Coordinates
41.44196, 2.16440 · OpenStreetMap
2
Parc de Josep Maria Serra Martí
Parc de Josep Maria Serra Martí
200 m · 3 min
Look at the brightly coloured blocks around the park and find the Font Màgica; at one end stands the Sant Narcís parish.[7][3][5]
The colours come from the rehabilitation colour plan, which replaced the original earth tones. The park had been green space for decades while zoned as buildable; in 2019 it was decided to regularise this.[5][7][3]
Coordinates
41.44283, 2.16626 · OpenStreetMap
3
Biblioteca Canyelles - M. Àngels Rivas
Ronda de la Guineueta Vella 34
340 m · 4 min
Read the name of the library's street, Ronda de la Guineueta Vella: it keeps the name of the settlement the estate replaced.[1][2][9]
La Guineueta Vella was 250 dwellings without electricity or sewers, expropriated in the mid-1960s; neighbours won its residents places in the new neighbourhood, inaugurated in 1978.[1][2]
Coordinates
41.44373, 2.16426 · OpenStreetMap

Sources for this page

Dates, figures and historical claims are linked to the records used for this page.

  1. [1] Districte de Nou Barris, Ajuntament de Barcelona (2026). Història de Canyelles. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  2. [2] Viquipèdia (2024). la Guineueta (barri de Barcelona). Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  3. [3] Viquipèdia (2024). Canyelles (Nou Barris). Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  4. [4] Institut Municipal d'Urbanisme, Ajuntament de Barcelona (2023-11). Canyelles: Àmbit i projecte. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  5. [5] betevé (2020-01-13). Canyelles arriba amb retard a la meitat de la rehabilitació dels blocs amb carbonatació. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  6. [6] Mercats de Barcelona, Ajuntament de Barcelona (2026). Mercat de Canyelles. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  7. [7] NouBarris.Net (2019-04-03). El parc de Josep Maria Serra Martí serà oficialment zona verda. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  8. [8] Districte de Nou Barris (2025-10-30). Convocatòria del Consell de Barri de Canyelles, sessió del 26/11/2025. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  9. [9] Biblioteques de Barcelona (2026-10). Biblioteca Canyelles - M. Àngels Rivas. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  10. [10] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Padró municipal d'habitants (pad_mdbas) — població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  11. [11] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2021). Densitat de població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  12. [12] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2023). Renda disponible de les llars per persona. Seccions censals. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  13. [13] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Població per nacionalitat i sexe. Barris. Accessed: 2026-07-17.

Last reviewed: 3 October 2026 · 13 sources consulted

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