Sant Martí · 70
el Besòs i el Maresme
El Besòs i el Maresme is mass housing, migration, industry, schools, association and metropolitan edge. Between the mid-century estates and the Fòrum lies a city built quickly, completed by residents and now entering a long, large-scale programme of physical repair.
Look at a residential block before looking at the Fòrum. Read joints, balconies, enclosures, ground floors and spaces between buildings. What appears abstractly repetitive is where thousands of families adapted homes, built care networks and fought to turn housing provision into a neighbourhood.
The neighbourhood combines Besòs and Maresme sectors built during the migration and housing boom of the 1950s and 1960s. The Sud-oest del Besòs estate, promoted from 1959 to 1966, erected dozens of blocks under severe time and cost constraints. Facilities, commerce and construction quality did not always arrive with the keys.
The waterfront and Fòrum add industry, shantytowns, Camp de la Bota, Franco-era executions, large infrastructure and post-2004 redevelopment. The district is neither only a deficit story nor an appendage to the Fòrum.
el Besòs i el Maresme (neighbourhood 70) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sant Martí: el Camp de l'Arpa del Clot, el Clot, el Parc i la Llacuna del Poblenou, la Vila Olímpica del Poblenou, el Poblenou, Diagonal Mar i el Front Marítim del Poblenou.
el Besòs i el Maresme (neighbourhood 70) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sant Martí: el Camp de l'Arpa del Clot, el Clot, el Parc i la Llacuna del Poblenou, la Vila Olímpica del Poblenou, el Poblenou, Diagonal Mar i el Front Marítim del Poblenou.
Where the name comes from
Besòs refers to the river and its mouth. Maresme identifies the sector and housing named through the county and eastern routes. Establish the exact planning history through documents.
The double name recognises different areas sharing services and struggles. Preserve subareas and popular names.
River, sea approaches, Diagonal Mar, La Verneda systems.
Before the neighbourhood
Fields, gardens, farmhouses, factories and coastal land crossed by streams, railway and roads came first. Local histories recall tomato cultivation and other crops beside iron industry and incomplete services.
Nearer the coast, Camp de la Bota contained military uses and shantytowns and became an execution site under Francoism. Distinguish historical site, present memorial and current boundaries.
How the streets were made
Housing estates used separated blocks, open ground, road hierarchy and superblocks. Light and air coexisted with long journeys and inactive ground floors where commerce and facilities were separated from housing.
Residents changed the plan through shops, schools, parishes, associations and use of intermediate space. Metro, boulevards, parks, lifts and rehabilitation were later corrections. The real city is the original project plus these additions.
Dates that changed it
- Nineteenth–twentieth centuries: farming, factories and military coast.
- 1939–1952: Francoist executions at Camp de la Bota.
- 1956–1960s: first Maresme blocks and early organisation.
- 1959–1966: Sud-oest del Besòs estate developed.
- 1961–1964: Maresme resident association forms and legalises.
- 1980s–2000s: rehabilitation, facilities and transport.
- 2004: Fòrum and waterfront transformation.
- 2019: Camp de la Bota memorial installed.
- 6 May 2026: institutional regeneration agreement announced; treat figures as live.
People and collective life
Families arriving from Andalusia, Extremadura, Galicia, Castile and later many countries gave life to the blocks. Construction, industry, cleaning, transport, retail, port work, care and service employment sustain the area.
Women were decisive in associations, schooling, health, food and service campaigns. Present linguistic and religious diversity continues the neighbourhood’s migration history.
People behind the buildings
Public bodies promoted estates designed by technical teams and built through industrialised systems. Identify architects, contractors, construction systems, inspections and responsibility for defects.
Repair involves residents living through works, technicians, mediators, communities and builders. It changes rents, support networks, shops and domestic memory, not only façades.
Institutions
Schools, institutes, healthcare, markets, civic centres, churches, mosques and prayer rooms, associations, Fòrum facilities, metro, tram and sport form the system. Metropolitan venues affect local movement, noise and occupancy.
Provide languages, accessibility, hours and safe routes, not only pins.
River park paths
Green
Struggles that left a mark
Demand: Campaigns sought schools, transport, health, paved streets, safe housing and recognition of Camp de la Bota. Aluminosis and other defects turned original construction quality into a matter of urban justice.
Outcome: Partial Forum-era attention
Demand: The 2026 regeneration agreement anticipates major investment over years. Track diagnosed buildings, approved projects, rehousing, starts and completions separately. An announcement is not a repair.
Outcome: Ongoing
What can still be seen
Read block repetition, solar orientation, spaces between buildings, adapted balconies, ground floors, facilities and Fòrum infrastructure. Differences between phases reveal construction systems and budgets.
The Camp de la Bota memorial requires respectful, name-based interpretation, not use as waterfront scenery.
What disappeared
Fields, farmhouses, factories, shacks, military installations and earlier coast disappeared. Renewal also removes interiors, entrances and spatial relationships residents adapted over decades.
Archive plans, domestic photographs, shops, schools and stories before intervention. Estate heritage includes ways of inhabiting it.
The neighbourhood today
In 2026 it had 30,695 residents, 253.9 residents per hectare, a mean census-section income of €16,908 in 2023, 120.9 hectares, and 42.0% of residents held non-Spanish nationality.
These figures place it among Barcelona’s lowest-income and most diverse neighbourhoods. Do not turn them into stigma; disaggregate housing, work, health, age, origin, education and cost burden.
Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 42%
What is changing
Repairing homes affected by structural and energy defects is central. The agreement announced in May 2026 referred to €415 million of joint public investment; the final amount, buildings and schedule depend on successive official stages.
Track rehabilitation without displacement, energy bills, shade, lifts, accessibility and resident return.
What the guides leave out
They take to the Fòrum and skip the residential neighborhood
They lead to the Fòrum and skip the residential neighborhood. They omit public housing, migration, defects, association and reparation.
Memory of Camp de la Bota and current communities must appear together.
Read it on foot
Start: Besòs Mareme (L4) · End: River path
Walking (excluding stop time): 12 min · 860 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 47 min
The geometry follows the pedestrian network between the three marked points, but it has not been verified as step-free. Check access conditions, works and opening hours before setting out. The approach from public transport is not included in the stated distance.
el Besòs i el Maresme (neighbourhood 70) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sant Martí: el Camp de l'Arpa del Clot, el Clot, el Parc i la Llacuna del Poblenou, la Vila Olímpica del Poblenou, el Poblenou, Diagonal Mar i el Front Marítim del Poblenou.
el Besòs i el Maresme (neighbourhood 70) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sant Martí: el Camp de l'Arpa del Clot, el Clot, el Parc i la Llacuna del Poblenou, la Vila Olímpica del Poblenou, el Poblenou, Diagonal Mar i el Front Marítim del Poblenou.
Sources for this page
Dates, figures and historical claims are linked to the records used for this page.
- [1] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Padró municipal d'habitants (pad_mdbas) — població per barri. Type: statistical_dataset. Locator: pad-sexe-2026. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [2] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2021). Densitat de població per barri. Type: statistical_dataset. Locator: densitat-2021. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [3] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2023). Renda disponible de les llars per persona. Seccions censals. Type: statistical_dataset. Locator: renda-2023. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [4] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Població per nacionalitat i sexe. Barris. Type: statistical_dataset. Locator: pad-nac-2026. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [5] Joan Busquets (2005). Barcelona: the urban evolution of a compact city. Type: book. Locator: busquets-barcelona. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [6] MUHBA / Ajuntament de Barcelona (n.d.). MUHBA — Museu d'Història de Barcelona (publicacions i jaciments). Type: museum. Locator: muhba. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [7] AHCB / Ajuntament de Barcelona (n.d.). Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat de Barcelona — fons i cartografia. Type: archive. Locator: ahcb. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [8] Ajuntament de Barcelona (n.d.). Catàleg de patrimoni arquitectònic de Barcelona. Type: heritage_catalogue. Locator: heritage-catalog. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [9] FAVB (n.d.). Federació d'Associacions de Veïns i Veïnes de Barcelona. Type: civil_society. Locator: favb. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [10] AMCB / Ajuntament de Barcelona (n.d.). Arxiu Municipal Contemporani de Barcelona. Type: archive. Locator: amcb. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [11] PAH (n.d.). Plataforma d'Afectats per la Hipoteca. Type: civil_society. Locator: pah. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [12] Historiografia de l'habitatge / Ajuntament de Barcelona (1929). Cases barates de Barcelona (política d'habitatge social interwar). Type: housing_history. Locator: cases-barates. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [13] Ajuntament de Barcelona (n.d.). Nomenclàtor dels carrers de Barcelona. Type: gazetteer. Locator: nomenclator-bcn. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [14] TMB (n.d.). Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona — xarxa de metro. Type: transport. Locator: tmb. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
Last reviewed: 17 July 2026 · 14 sources consulted