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

Horta-Guinardó · 37

el Carmel

El Carmel is a neighbourhood of hills that grew piece by piece: shacks and self-built houses on quarries and steep drops, stairs standing in for streets, and a residents' association (1972) that wrung services out of the authorities; in 2005 a metro collapse made it known across Catalonia.[1][2]

Pause at one of the stairways that serve as streets and see where the paving ends and the rock begins. Many of these stairs were cut into the stone of old quarries during the self-building years.[1]

El Carmel spreads over a hill in the foothills of Collserola, with many drops and steep streets. Until 1897 the territory was shared among four municipalities, and until the 1920s it kept a markedly rural character.[1][3]

After the war immigrants kept arriving from other parts of Spain and the neighbourhood filled with shacks and self-built houses, without sewers or transport; the city arrived later, with escalators, lifts and the metro.[1]

el Carmel (neighbourhood 37) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Horta-Guinardó: el Baix Guinardó, el Guinardó, Can Baró, la Teixonera, Sant Genís dels Agudells, Montbau.

Where the name comes from

Etymology: certain[1][4]

The name comes from the Santuari de la Mare de Déu del Mont Carmel, a chapel raised in 1864 on the hill, which until then was called the Turó d'en Móra and is also known as the Muntanya Pelada. «Carmel» comes from Hebrew Karm-El, «vineyard of God».[1][4]

It borders la Teixonera, la Clota, Horta, la Font d'en Fargues and Can Baró, and el Coll and la Salut, among the hills of the Carmel, the Creueta del Coll and the Rovira.[1]

Before the neighbourhood

The Turó de la Rovira held an Iberian settlement, inhabited between the fourth and first centuries BC. In the early nineteenth century the area was rural, with farmhouses such as Can Móra, Can Grau, Can Baró and Can Xirot, almond and carob trees, vegetable plots and vines, and also iron mines, quarries and lime kilns.[1][3]

Between 1900 and 1930 the large estates were divided up and the first districts of single-family houses appeared, often second homes of Gràcia and Horta's middle classes. The Muntanya Pelada was also a place for outings and gatherings, with the sanctuary a point of pilgrimage.[1][3]

How the streets were made

During the self-building period, which ran to 1962-1964, some builders raised buildings across steep drops, with stairs cut into the stone of old quarries serving as streets. Until the early 1940s there was no sewer system and public transport was not restored until 1963.[1]

From the 1960s apartment blocks began to replace single-family houses. The municipal market on Carrer de Llobregós opened in 1964, the Túnel de la Rovira in 1984, and the last shacks fell in 1990. Escalators and lifts have since solved part of the mobility problem: Carrer de l'Alguer, for instance, has had an inclined lift since 2010.[1]

Dates that changed it

  1. 1864 the Carmel chapel opens for worship on the Turó d'en Móra.[1][4]
  2. 1938 the anti-aircraft batteries are installed on the Turó de la Rovira.[3][5]
  3. 1940s–1964 shacks and self-building with immigration from other parts of Spain; public transport returns in 1963.[1]
  4. 1964 the municipal market on Carrer de Llobregós opens.[1]
  5. 1972 the Associació de Veïns del Carmel is founded, growing out of the Centro Social del Carmelo.[1]
  6. 1984 the Túnel de la Rovira is inaugurated, after expropriating the homes of about 500 residents.[1]
  7. 1990 the last shacks are demolished.[1][3][5]
  8. 2003 the Biblioteca El Carmel - Juan Marsé opens.[1][6]
  9. 27 January 2005 the collapse caused by the Line 5 works forces more than a thousand people out of their homes.[1][2]
  10. 30 July 2010 El Carmel station on Line 5 opens.[1][2]
  11. 27 March 2011 the Turó de la Rovira heritage space is inaugurated.[3][5]
  12. 2 May 2023 the anti-aircraft battery site starts closing at night.[7][8][9][10][5]
  13. 20 December 2025 the escalators on Passatge de la Mulassa open.[11][12]
  14. May–July 2026 the plenary votes to regulate access to the bunkers (29 May) and the Grup d'Impuls i Seguiment del Turó de la Rovira is created (6 July).[7][8][9][10][5]

People and collective life

Associació de Veïns del Carmel

Founded in 1972 out of the Centro Social del Carmelo, it campaigned for decades to rescue the neighbourhood from institutional neglect; in 1974 it staged the travelling exhibition «El Carmelo ¡Ignorado!».[1]

Institutions

Biblioteca El Carmel - Juan Marsé

Municipal library at Carrer de la Murtra 135, opened in 2003 and named after the writer Juan Marsé, who portrayed the Carmel of the 1950s in «Últimas tardes con Teresa».[1][6]

Mercat del Carmel

Municipal market on Carrer de Llobregós, opened in 1964, one of the few municipal projects of its time.[1]

MUHBA Turó de la Rovira

Heritage space of the Museu d'Història de Barcelona in the anti-aircraft battery, opened in 2011; the exhibition space opens Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with hours listed from 1 August 2026.[3][5]

Struggles that left a mark

A neighbourhood that fought for public services

Demand: Faced with institutional neglect, the residents' association (1972) campaigned for decades for sewers, paving, transport and facilities.[1]

Outcome: Since 1975 the neighbourhood has improved markedly; the last shacks fell in 1990.[1]

The 2005 collapse

Demand: More than a thousand evacuated people lived for months away from home; the court case was closed without a culprit.[1][2]

Outcome: The bill came to 80 million euros (Generalitat and contractors) and compensation reached 10 million.[1][2]

What can still be seen

Santuari de la Mare de Déu del Mont Carmel

The 1864 chapel, which held only thirty people, proved too small: between 1985 and 1988 a contemporary exposed-brick church by Francesc de Paula Daumal and Miquel Campos was built beside it, and the chapel was restored.[1][4]

Bateries antiaèries del Turó de la Rovira

Remains of the 1938 battery (officers' and troops' pavilions, command post) and of the Canons shanty district, consolidated and opened in 2011.[3][5]

What disappeared

The Canons shacks

Nearly 600 shacks stood around the Turó de la Rovira (Raimon Casellas, Francisco Alegre and the Canons); those of the Canons reused the battery's pavilions and lasted until 1990.[3][5]

The Popular cinema

Widening Carrer de Llobregós meant expropriating 500 families and losing the neighbourhood's only cinema, the Popular.[1]

The neighbourhood today

In 2026 El Carmel had 33,799 residents, a density of 359.6 people per hectare, a 2023 census-section mean income of €18,280, 94 hectares, and 22.9% of residents held non-Spanish nationality.

Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 22.9%

What is changing

The anti-aircraft batteries on the Turó de la Rovira, known as the Carmel bunkers, have closed at night since 2 May 2023 (9:00 to 19:30 in summer, to 17:30 in winter), behind a two-metre fence that cost 1.6 million euros. On 29 May 2026 the city plenary approved regulating access under the Museu d'Història de Barcelona without settling the formula; on 6 July the council set up the Grup d'Impuls i Seguiment del Turó de la Rovira, with more Guàrdia Urbana patrols, signage and a re-naturalisation project, and cameras planned for 2027. Residents doubt it will be enough. As of October 2026 we found no registry-based access system in operation.[7][8][9][10][5]

On 20 December 2025 two reversible escalators opened in Passatge de la Mulassa (2.2 million euros, a 14 metre drop), part of the Pla de Barris del Carmel 2025-2028, worth about 10 million euros, which also plans stairs on Carrer del Doctor Bové and Carrer de la Gran Vista and a lift between Carrer del Portell and Camí de Can Móra.[11][12]

On the site of the 2005 collapse, at Passatge de Calafell 6, there is now an Incasòl building of 15 affordable rental homes, allocated by draw (deadline 18 November 2025). The square in front, as Betevé reported in 2024, is smaller than the temporary one, hard-surfaced and without a definitive name.[13][14]

What the guides leave out

The «bunkers» are an anti-aircraft battery

The popular name hides a Republican battery of 1938 with four guns, and the Canons shanty district that lived there until 1990. The Museu d'Història runs the heritage space.[3][5]

The 2005 hole was filled with concrete

The crater was filled with 15,000 m³ of concrete and more than 5,000 buildings were inspected; today 15 affordable rental homes stand there.[1][2][13][14]

Read it on foot

Start: El Carmel (L5) · End: Bateries antiaèries del Turó de la Rovira[3][5]

Walking (excluding stop time): 31 min · 2340 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 78 min

The geometry follows the pedestrian network between the four marked points, but it has not been verified as step-free. This neighbourhood has steep gradients: check steps, lifts, works and access conditions before setting out. The approach from public transport is not included in the stated distance.

el Carmel (neighbourhood 37) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Horta-Guinardó: el Baix Guinardó, el Guinardó, Can Baró, la Teixonera, Sant Genís dels Agudells, Montbau.

1
Passatge de Calafell
Passatge de Calafell 6
See the new building at number 6, ground floor plus four storeys on Passatge de Calafell, and how much lower it stands on Carrer de Conca de Tremp: there is a drop between the two streets.[1][2][13][14]
This is the site of the 27 January 2005 collapse: the crater was filled with 15,000 m³ of concrete, more than a thousand people had to leave their homes and up to four blocks were demolished. Now it holds 15 affordable rental homes.[1][2][13][14]
Coordinates
41.42394, 2.15463 · OpenStreetMap
2
Biblioteca El Carmel - Juan Marsé
Biblioteca El Carmel, Carrer de la Murtra 135
430 m · 6 min
Find, near the library, Carrer de l'Alguer, with the escalators and the inclined lift that link Carrer de la Murtra with Carrer del Santuari.[1][6]
The library, opened in 2003, bears the name of Juan Marsé, who portrayed this neighbourhood in the 1950s; Carrer de l'Alguer, once narrow, was widened after it was built and the inclined lift arrived in 2010.[1][6]
Coordinates
41.42104, 2.15516 · OpenStreetMap
3
Passatge de la Mulassa
Passatge de la Mulassa
1050 m · 14 min
Follow the two reversible escalator flights, with a resting landing midway, that overcome 14 metres between Carrer del Doctor Bové and Plaça de la Font de la Mulassa.[11][12]
They opened on 20 December 2025 with 2.2 million euros from the Pla de Barris; overhead cables were buried and paving, lighting and furniture renewed.[11][12]
Coordinates
41.42131, 2.16317 · OpenStreetMap
4
Bateries antiaèries del Turó de la Rovira
Turó de la Rovira, Carrer de Marià Lavèrnia s/n
860 m · 11 min
Look for the battery's concrete pavilions and, around the summit, the two-metre fence that closes the site at night.[3][5][7][8][9][10]
The pavilions of the 1938 battery housed the Canons shanty district until 1990; since 2023 the site has closed at night and in 2026 the council is studying how to regulate access.[3][5][7][8][9][10]
Coordinates
41.41939, 2.16170 · OpenStreetMap

Sources for this page

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

  1. [1] Viquipèdia (2026). El Carmel. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  2. [2] Betevé (2025-01-26). Es compleixen 20 anys de l'esvoranc al barri del Carmel. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  3. [3] Viquipèdia (2026). Turó de la Rovira. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  4. [4] Betevé (n.d.). L'ermita del Carmel. Accessed: 2026-10-09.
  5. [5] Museu d'Història de Barcelona (Ajuntament) (2026). Turó de la Rovira. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  6. [6] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Biblioteques de Barcelona (2026). Biblioteca El Carmel - Juan Marsé. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  7. [7] Betevé (2023-04-24). Els búnquers del Carmel, tancats cada vespre des del 2 de maig. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  8. [8] TOT Barcelona (2026-05-29). Barcelona regularà l'accés als búnquers del Carmel. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  9. [9] Betevé (2026-07-06). Grup per gestionar el turó de la Rovira i evitar-hi l'incivisme. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  10. [10] TOT Barcelona (2026-07-06). Veïns del Carmel lluiten contra el turisme massiu als búnquers. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  11. [11] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Servei de Premsa (2025-12-20). Entren en servei les noves escales mecàniques del passatge de la Mulassa. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  12. [12] Betevé (2025-05-27). El Pla de barris del Carmel invertirà 10 M € fins al 2028. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  13. [13] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Habitatge (2025). Comença el procés d'adjudicació de 15 habitatges de lloguer assequible a Horta-Guinardó. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  14. [14] Betevé (2024-04-30). La plaça de l'esvoranc pren forma amb el nou bloc de pisos. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  15. [15] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Padró municipal d'habitants (pad_mdbas) — població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  16. [16] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2021). Densitat de població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  17. [17] 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 · 17 sources consulted

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