Gràcia · 32
el Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova
El Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova is the stretch of old Gràcia that lay between the village and Cerdà's Eixample, and its best-known building, La Sedeta, is a wool and silk mill that neighbours saved from housing in 1978 and that is now a primary school, a secondary school and a civic centre.[1]
Stand outside La Sedeta, at Carrer de Sicília 321. The brick block now holds a primary school, a secondary school and a civic centre, but construction began in 1900 as the Pujol i Casacuberta mill, and its first twelve silk-spinning machines, installed in 1919, gave it the nickname that stuck: the little silk.[1]
The official name joins two things. The Camp d'en Grassot is the old field and estate of the Grassot family at the edge of Gràcia, and Gràcia Nova is the neighbourhood's own shopping axis. Almost all the ground belonged to the village of Gràcia; only a small portion belonged to Sant Martí de Provençals.[1][2]
The local historian Josep Maria Contel divides it into two large zones: the grounds of the great Cal Comte estate and the lands of the Grassot property. The second is the one lying between the old core of Gràcia and the new Eixample-style blocks.[1]
el Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova (neighbourhood 32) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Gràcia: Vallcarca i els Penitents, el Coll, la Salut, la Vila de Gràcia.
Where the name comes from
Camp d'en Grassot means “Grassot's field”: the lands of the Grassot property, whose main owner, Jeroni Grassot, had them built over from 1860 following the layout of the Cerdà plan.[2][1]
The neighbourhood is bounded, among others, by Carrer de Rosselló, Carrer de Sardenya, Carrer de les Camèlies, Carrer de l'Escorial, Travessera de Gràcia, Carrer de Bailèn and Passeig de Sant Joan. In the upper part, Carrer de l'Escorial, Carrer de les Camèlies, Carrer de Sardenya and Carrer de Pi i Margall concentrate its shops, on the axis known as Gràcia Nova.[2]
Before the neighbourhood
Before the streets there were farmhouses and brickworks. The Camp d'en Grassot contained farmhouses such as Can Sagristà, Can Bartra, Can Sagués, Bell-Lloch, Can Brichfeus, Can Mariné, Can del Riu and Can Calvet, and brickworks such as those of Rovira, March, Serra and Carbonell, or El Castellet. The Torrent Mariner, which would now run roughly along the street of the same name and Passatge de Llavallol, was the boundary between Gràcia and Sant Martí de Provençals.[1]
Above Travessera de Gràcia lay the great farming and summer estate of Cal Comte, some 100,000 square metres. At the end of the nineteenth century the count's descendants sold it to the industrialist Jeroni Juncadella i Casanoves, and in the twentieth century it lost ground to successive housing developments.[1]
How the streets were made
The territory partly followed the Eixample pattern of Cerdà, with wide streets but no courtyards inside the blocks. Plaça de Joanic dates from 1876, when the Joanich heirs split their land into 236 plots; the town council of Gràcia approved the final plan in 1877.[1]
Two events shaped the upper part. The opening of Carrer de l'Escorial and Carrer de Pi i Margall across the Cal Comte estate, and the arrival of Passeig de Sant Joan at Travessera de Gràcia in February 1930, after years of haggling over demolished houses, opened an important route between the sea and the hills.[1]
Dates that changed it
- 1860 The owners of the Camp d'en Grassot begin to build over their lands, following the Cerdà plan.[2][1]
- 1876–1877 The Joanich heirs split their land into 236 plots; Gràcia's town council approves the final plan in 1877, and Plaça de Joanic takes shape.[1]
- 1900 Construction begins on the Pujol i Casacuberta mill, the future La Sedeta.[1]
- 1919 The mill installs its first 12 silk-spinning machines, which give it its popular name.[1]
- February 1930 Passeig de Sant Joan opens as far as Travessera de Gràcia.[1]
- 1940 On 1 December Club Esportiu Europa inaugurates its Sardenya ground.[3][4]
- 1975–1978 La Sedeta closes in 1975; after the neighbourhood campaign, the city council buys the complex on 10 November 1978 for 150 million pesetas.[1]
- 1982–1985 The school (1982), the institute (1983) and, on 25 May 1985, the Centre Cívic La Sedeta open.[1][5][6]
- 1995 On 4 May the city council inaugurates the Nou Sardenya, the rebuilt stadium of CE Europa.[3][4]
People and collective life
When the mill closed and its owners sold it for flats, the neighbourhood associations of la Sagrada Família and el Camp d'en Grassot led the campaign to turn it into public facilities.[1]
Institutions
La Sedeta (Centre Cívic)
Inaugurated on 25 May 1985 at Carrer de Sicília 321, it occupies the original wing of the former mill; the north-west half of the inner courtyard is public, in two terraces with an amphitheatre, and the other half belongs to the school.[1][5][6]
Club Esportiu Europa
It plays at the Nou Sardenya, between Carrer de Sardenya, Carrer de les Camèlies and Carrer de Pau Alsina. The ground was inaugurated on 1 December 1940, demolished in 1992, and the new stadium opened on 4 May 1995. The club was one of the ten founding teams of the Spanish league.[3][4]
Claretians de Gràcia
The Claretians settled on Carrer de Sant Antoni Maria Claret in 1860 and opened a school in the 1871-72 school year. The Santuari del Cor de Maria, burned in 1909 while still under construction, was inaugurated on 21 June 1913.[1]
Struggles that left a mark
Saving La Sedeta
Demand: The owners wanted flats on the mill's site; the neighbourhood associations answered with slogans such as “No more flats” and “We want facilities”, tore down the builder's fence, and occupied and cleaned spaces for activities.[1]
Outcome: The city council bought the mill for 150 million pesetas (agreement signed on 10 November 1978); a school, an institute, a civic centre and a public square followed.[1]
What can still be seen
La Sedeta
Catalogued as a building with elements of interest (category C) and included in the Inventari del Patrimoni Arquitectònic de Catalunya: exposed-brick façades with segmental arches on broad pilasters and, on Carrer de Sant Antoni Maria Claret, a sawtooth cornice.[5]
Font d'Hèrcules
Considered the oldest ornamental fountain still in service in the city; Salvador Gurri designed it and Josep Moret carved it, and it was inaugurated in 1802 on the Passeig de l'Esplanada before moving to the crossing of Passeig de Sant Joan and Carrer de Còrsega.[1]
What disappeared
Brickworks and farmhouses
The brickworks of Rovira, March, Serra and Carbonell, the El Castellet kiln and farmhouses such as Can Sagristà or Can Bartra have gone; blocks of flats and other businesses stand in their place.[1]
The chimney of La Sedeta
On 26 May 1978, in the middle of the neighbourhood campaign, an excavator pulled down the mill's chimney as neighbours looked on.[1]
The neighbourhood today
It had 36,422 residents in 2026, a density of 559.5 people per hectare, mean census-section income of €28,596 in 2023, 65.0 hectares, and 23.5% non-Spanish nationality.
Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 23.5%
What is changing
As of October 2026, according to Metrópoli Abierta (6 June 2026), the district has presented the detailed design to renovate the Jardins de Caterina Albert, between Carrer de Rosselló, Carrer de Sicília and Carrer de Nàpols: more shade under textile awnings, new ping-pong and table-football tables, renewed play equipment, and repair and waterproofing of the underground car park. The budget is €1.6 million for the garden and €1.3 million for the car park; works are due to start in the first quarter of 2027 and no end date has been announced.[7]
What the guides leave out
An air-raid shelter under Plaça de Joanic
Neighbours dug it 7.25 metres down, with 148.88 metres of galleries; it was closed in May 1939 and did not come to light again until September 2001, when a contractor's machine, with an underground car park planned, struck a spot indicated by the Taller d'Història de Gràcia and exposed one entrance.[1]
The 1935 festival film
Francisco Rojo, a resident of Passatge d'Alió, shot a 9.5 mm film of the 1935 Festa Major de Gràcia. The reel, about 20 minutes long, lay hidden in an attic and was recovered in 2017.[1]
Read it on foot
Start: Joanic (L4) · End: Font d'Hèrcules[1]
Walking (excluding stop time): 11 min · 790 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 43 min
The geometry follows the pedestrian network between the four marked points, but it has not been verified as step-free. The approach from public transport is not included in the stated distance.
el Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova (neighbourhood 32) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Gràcia: Vallcarca i els Penitents, el Coll, la Salut, la Vila de Gràcia.
Coordinates
Coordinates
Coordinates
Coordinates
Sources for this page
Dates, figures and historical claims are linked to the records used for this page.
- [1] Josep Maria Contel Ruiz, Taller d'Història de Gràcia Centre d'Estudis (n.d.). Itineraris per Gràcia 8. El Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova, un territori entre l'eixample i la vila. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [2] Viquipèdia (2026). Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [3] Viquipèdia (2026). Nou Sardenya. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [4] Ajuntament de Barcelona (n.d.). Club Esportiu Europa (Barcelona.cat, Conèixer Barcelona). Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [5] Viquipèdia (2026). La Sedeta. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [6] Ajuntament de Barcelona, Centres cívics (2024). Centre Cívic La Sedeta, normativa de cessió d'espais. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [7] Metrópoli Abierta (2026-06-06). Barcelona reformarà un parc de Gràcia amb més ombra i noves taules de ping-pong: inclou millores a l'aparcament. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [8] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Padró municipal d'habitants (pad_mdbas) — població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [9] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2021). Densitat de població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [10] 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 · 10 sources consulted