Horta-Guinardó · 33
el Baix Guinardó
El Baix Guinardó is the lower slope of the Guinardó, where a nineteenth-century water reservoir, a cavalry barracks and the Cinturó de Ronda ring road each took a share of the land, and where two of those spaces are now parks: the Parc de les Aigües, opened in 1978 after years of neighbourhood campaigning, and the Jardins del Baix Guinardó, on part of the old barracks.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Enter the Parc de les Aigües from Plaça d'Alfons el Savi 3. The park opened in 1978 on the roof of two large water tanks; on the grille of the side gate onto Ronda del Guinardó you can read the date 1870.[1][2][3][4][5]
El Baix Guinardó is a neighbourhood in the district of Horta-Guinardó. Much of its territory belonged to Sant Martí de Provençals, annexed to Barcelona in 1897, but historically it was closer to the village of Gràcia.[1]
The first housing was laid out in the mid-nineteenth century on the land around the Torrent de Lligalbé, between Carrer de Lepant and Travessera de Gràcia. Carrer de Bergnes de Casas is considered the oldest street in the neighbourhood.[1]
el Baix Guinardó (neighbourhood 33) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Horta-Guinardó: el Guinardó, Can Baró, el Carmel, la Teixonera, Sant Genís dels Agudells, Montbau.
Where the name comes from
Etymology: certain[7]
The Baix Guinardó is the lower part of the Guinardó. The name Guinardó comes from the Mas Guinardó, one of the farmhouses on this land, which gave its name to the neighbourhood.[7]
It borders the Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova along Carrer de Sardenya to the west, la Sagrada Família along Carrer de Sant Antoni Maria Claret to the south, the Guinardó along Carrer de Cartagena to the east, and Can Baró to the north along Avinguda de la Mare de Déu de Montserrat and Plaça de la Font Castellana.[1]
Before the neighbourhood
Before it was built over, this was farmland on the hillside and later a place of small summer villas.[1][2][3]
In 1869 the Societat General d'Aigües de Barcelona expropriated some 15,000 m² of Can Baró to build a reservoir fed with water from the Dosrius reservoir, near Argentona; it was inaugurated in 1871. From the early twentieth century the War Department bought plots, mostly orchards, to station a cavalry regiment, and in 1923 the city council opened Carrer de Lepant to complete the barracks.[1][2][3]
How the streets were made
Two events marked the territory: the arrival of the Societat General d'Aigües, which expropriated part of the land for its reservoirs, and the Cinturó de Ronda, which cut through the middle of the neighbourhood and conditioned how it was built. Building went ahead mostly from the 1950s, around Plaça d'Alfons X el Savi.[1]
Dates that changed it
- 1869–1871 The Societat General d'Aigües de Barcelona expropriates land from Can Baró for a reservoir fed from Dosrius; it is inaugurated in 1871.[1][2][3]
- 1890 The master builder Enric Figueres designs the Casa de les Altures.[4]
- 1923 Carrer de Lepant is opened and the Girona cavalry barracks are completed.[1][2][3]
- 1974–1978 Neighbours campaign for the water company's house and gardens to become a public park; the Parc de les Aigües opens in 1978.[4][1][5]
- 1980s–1990s The Girona barracks are decommissioned in the 1980s and become municipal property in the 1990s.[3][6]
- 1989 The Casa de les Altures opens as the seat of the Horta-Guinardó district, early in the year.[4]
- 2011 The elevated section of the Cinturó de Ronda is demolished.[1]
- October 2017 The city council approves renaming the Jardins del Príncep de Girona as Jardins del Baix Guinardó.[8]
People and collective life
Institutions
Casa de les Altures
Seat of the Horta-Guinardó district since early 1989, on Ronda del Guinardó; Enric Figueres designed it in 1890 for the engineer-director of the Societat General d'Aigües.[4]
Struggles that left a mark
A public park where the reservoirs were
Demand: From the early 1970s neighbours, with the Associació de Veïns Joan Maragall, demanded that the water company's house and gardens become a public park.[4][1][5]
Outcome: The city council acquired the property and the Parc de les Aigües opened in 1978; in 1984 it also bought the small palace, the district seat since 1989.[4][1][5]
What can still be seen
Casa de les Altures
A small neo-Mudéjar palace catalogued as a local cultural asset; the entrance is covered by a porticoed gallery and a second gallery runs along the upper level. The name comes from the motors that lifted water to the tank.[4]
What disappeared
The Girona barracks
The cavalry complex between Carrer de Lepant and Travessera de Gràcia no longer exists as such: only one building survives on Carrer de Lepant, and the rest of the site went to a school, a car park and the gardens.[3][6]
The elevated Cinturó de Ronda
In 2011 the elevated section that crossed the neighbourhood was pulled down.[1]
The neighbourhood today
Baix Guinardó had 26,277 residents in 2026, 467.6 people per hectare, mean census-section income of €25,237 in 2023, 56.2 hectares, and 21.3% non-Spanish nationality.
Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 21.3%
What is changing
In March 2026 the city council announced that it would turn a disused plot at Carrer de Lepant 430, between Carrer de Padilla and Carrer de Lepant, into a green space of more than 3,000 m² with seating areas and street furniture, keeping the old stone wall of the camí de la Llegua. Works were planned from the second quarter of 2026 and no end date has been published.[9]
What the guides leave out
A date on a gate
The grille of the Parc de les Aigües side gate onto Ronda del Guinardó reads 1870, a year before the reservoir was inaugurated; Catalan Wikipedia suggests it marks the start of the project.[1][2][3]
A royal name taken off the map
In October 2017 the city council approved changing the name of the Jardins del Príncep de Girona to Jardins del Baix Guinardó, at neighbours' request. The four proposals gathered included Parc de la República and Parc del Llac.[8]
Read it on foot
Start: Alfons X (L4) · End: Jardins del Baix Guinardó[3][6]
Walking (excluding stop time): 10 min · 760 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 40 min
The geometry follows the pedestrian network between the three marked points, but it has not been verified as step-free; the neighbourhood has marked slopes. The approach from public transport is not included in the stated distance.
el Baix Guinardó (neighbourhood 33) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Horta-Guinardó: el Guinardó, Can Baró, el Carmel, la Teixonera, Sant Genís dels Agudells, Montbau.
Coordinates
Coordinates
Coordinates
Sources for this page
Dates, figures and historical claims are linked to the records used for this page.
- [1] Viquipèdia (2026). El Baix Guinardó. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [2] Viquipèdia (2026). Parc de les Aigües (Barcelona). Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [3] Viquipèdia (2026). Casernes de Girona. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [4] Viquipèdia (2026). Casa de les Altures. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [5] Ajuntament de Barcelona (n.d.). El parc de les Aigües (Parcs i jardins). Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [6] Ajuntament de Barcelona (n.d.). Jardins del Baix Guinardó (Parcs i jardins). Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [7] Viquipèdia (2026). El Guinardó. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [8] Ajuntament de Barcelona, Servei de Premsa (2017-10-26). Barcelona rebateja els Jardins del Príncep de Girona amb el nom de Jardins del Baix Guinardó. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [9] Metrópoli Abierta (2026-03-25). Ni La Sagrera ni Poblenou: el barri de Barcelona que transformarà un solar en desús en un parc verd de més de 3.000 m2. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [10] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Padró municipal d'habitants (pad_mdbas) — població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [11] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2021). Densitat de població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [12] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2023). Renda disponible de les llars per persona. Seccions censals. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
Last reviewed: 3 October 2026 · 12 sources consulted