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

Sant Andreu · 62

el Congrés i els Indians

El Congrés i els Indians joins a housing estate born of the 1952 Eucharistic Congress and the Indians quarter, where some emigrants returned from the Americas settled; its most singular building is the Canòdrom.[1][2][3][4][5]

On Plaça del Congrés Eucarístic the blocks do not close an ordinary perimeter: closed blocks alternate with open ones. Some three hundred metres to the north-east, the Canòdrom keeps the light building of the greyhound races, raised on steel pillars.[2][4][5]

The official name combines two pieces. The Habitatges del Congrés Eucarístic are an estate of 2,729 homes and 258 commercial premises promoted after the 35th International Eucharistic Congress of May 1952. The Indians are the group of blocks where some emigrants returned from the Americas settled, reaching as far as Passeig de Maragall and Carrer d'Olesa.[1][2][3]

Beside an estate planned in the mid-century stands an older fabric of villas and houses, and the Canòdrom, a 1960s greyhound-racing building that the city council acquired in 2010.[6][4][5]

el Congrés i els Indians (neighbourhood 62) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sant Andreu: la Trinitat Vella, Baró de Viver, el Bon Pastor, Sant Andreu, la Sagrera, Navas.

Where the name comes from

Etymology: certain[1][2][3]

Congrés refers to the 35th International Eucharistic Congress, held in Barcelona between 27 May and 1 June 1952. The congress did not build the homes: its success and surplus led Bishop Gregorio Modrego to promote the estate.[1][2][3][5]

Indians is the Catalan name for emigrants who returned from the Americas, not for people from India. Here it names the old quarter made of a group of blocks where some of those returnees settled.[1][2][3]

The initial core lies between Carrer d'Alexandre Galí, Carrer de Ramon Albó, Riera d'Horta, Carrer de Concepción Arenal, Carrer de Garcilaso, Carrer de Felip II and Carrer de Puerto Príncipe; the Indians sector reaches Passeig de Maragall and Carrer d'Olesa.[1]

Before the neighbourhood

In 1952 the Ros i Ramis family sold 16.5 hectares of the Can Ros estate to the Patronat d'Habitatges del Congrés Eucarístic, on condition that the perimeter of the farmhouse be respected.[2][5]

The farmhouse, Ca l'Armera or Can Ros, dates from the 15th century, was known in the 17th as Can Peguera, was destroyed in 1714 and rebuilt, and the Ros family settled there in the mid-18th century.[5]

How the streets were made

Josep Soteras Mauri, Antoni Pineda and Carles Marqués mixed closed and open blocks around a central avenue, Carrer de Felip II, and the squares of the Congrés Eucarístic and the Doctor Modrego. The City Council approved the partial plan in February 1953.[2]

The first homes were handed over in 1954 and the last block in 1967-68. The parish church of Sant Pius X, foreseen in the project, went up in 1963; the first schools were run by the Germans de la Salle and the Teresianes.[2][7]

In the Indians sector, the City Council singles out Villa Jazmines (1920), one of the summer residences that indianos had built on their return from overseas.[6]

Dates that changed it

  1. 1920 Ferran Tarragó designs Villa Jazmines for José Racionero Torres.[6]
  2. 1952 The 35th International Eucharistic Congress is held (27 May - 1 June) and the Ros i Ramis family sells 16.5 ha of Can Ros to the Patronat.[1][2][3][5]
  3. 1953 In February the City Council approves the partial plan for the estate.[2]
  4. 1954 The first homes are handed over.[2][7]
  5. 1963 The parish church of Sant Pius X is built.[2][7]
  6. 1964 The Canòdrom opens, designed in 1962 by Antoni Bonet and Josep Puig Torné.[4][5]
  7. 1967-1968 The last block of the estate is delivered.[2][7]
  8. 1969 The residents' association begins, first as VCE – Can Ros.[8]
  9. 1973 The association's permanent premises open.[8]
  10. 2006 The Canòdrom closes on 22 February, the last in Spain still operating.[4][5]
  11. 2010 The Canòdrom building passes into municipal hands.[4][5]
  12. 2016 The Canòdrom is presented as the Parc de Recerca Creativa, a link between creative firms and creators.[4][5]
  13. 2020 In November the Ateneu d'Innovació Digital i Democràtica moves in.[4][5]
  14. 2024 On 10 June the new Plaça del Canòdrom opens.[9][4]

People and collective life

Associació de Veïns del Congrés-Indians

It grew out of the tenants' protest over repair costs in 1969 and, since 2005, also covers the Indians; it has published El Butlletí since 1970 and is based at Can Clariana.[8]

Comissió de Festes del Congrés

It organises the Festa Major del Congrés on the first two weekends of October; the Indians festival, in the second half of September, is run by the Associació de Festes de l'Antic Barri dels Indians.[1][8]

Institutions

Canòdrom

Former greyhound track, municipally owned since 2010; since November 2020 it has housed the Ateneu d'Innovació Digital i Democràtica, at Carrer de Concepción Arenal 165.[4][5]

Villa Jazmines (Torre Rosa)

House of 1920 at Carrer de Francesc Tàrrega 22, the Ferton school until 1987 and then a music bar called Torre Rosa.[6]

Ca l'Armera

The Can Ros farmhouse at Carrer del Cardenal Tedeschini 32, surrounded by a garden and a small vegetable plot, with a chapel attached.[5]

Struggles that left a mark

Who pays for repairs

Demand: In the late 1960s the Patronato de Viviendas del Congrés Eucarístic put the cost of repairing roofs and pipes on residents; as tenants, they refused in an assembly of some 800 people.[8]

Outcome: The residents' association was founded, in April 1969.[8]

Schools on the laboratory site

Demand: In the 1980s the association asked for the site of Dr Ferran i Clua's laboratory to go to educational facilities rather than car parking and housing.[8]

Outcome: The Escola Doctor Ferran i Clua and the Institut l'Alzina were built there.[8]

What can still be seen

Canòdrom

A lens-shaped building with two paraboloid floors on steel pillars and a concrete brise-soleil over the cantilevered stands; listed as a property with elements of interest (category C).[4]

Ca l'Armera

A farmhouse listed as a local cultural asset of interest; the 1952 land sale required its perimeter to be respected.[2][5]

What disappeared

The greyhound races

About 700 greyhounds lived in kennels in Santa Coloma de Gramenet and some sixty raced at the Canòdrom; until 2006 the track filled most of the block between Concepción Arenal, Riera d'Horta, Pardo and Ignasi de Ros.[4]

The grand villas

According to the City Council, the district had other grand villas besides Villa Jazmines: Can Biosca, the Torre de l'Italià and the Torre de Gallinaire.[6]

The neighbourhood today

In 2026 el Congrés i els Indians had 15,254 residents, 373 people per hectare, mean census-section income of €23,047 in 2023, 40.9 hectares, and 19.2% non-Spanish nationality.

Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 19.2%

Read it on foot

Start: Congrés (L5) · End: Canòdrom

Walking (excluding stop time): 13 min · 990 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 45 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 Congrés i els Indians (neighbourhood 62) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sant Andreu: la Trinitat Vella, Baró de Viver, el Bon Pastor, Sant Andreu, la Sagrera, Navas.

1
Villa Jazmines
Villa Jazmines, Carrer de Francesc Tàrrega 22
Look for the central tower, the old balcony and the palm trees in the garden, at the corner of Carrer de Pinar del Río and Carrer de Francesc Tàrrega.[6]
Ferran Tarragó designed it in 1920 for José Racionero Torres; the Ajuntament describes it as one of the summer residences of returned indianos. It was the Ferton school until 1987 and then a music bar called Torre Rosa.[6]
Coordinates
41.42267, 2.18042 · OpenStreetMap
2
Plaça del Congrés Eucarístic
Plaça del Congrés Eucarístic
410 m · 5 min
Notice how the blocks around the square mix closed and open courtyards, and find the church of Sant Pius X, which presides over the space.[2][7]
Soteras, Pineda and Marqués drew the plan that the City Council approved in February 1953: 2,729 homes and 258 commercial premises. The church was in the project from the start but was built only in 1963.[2][7]
Coordinates
41.42576, 2.18094 · OpenStreetMap
3
Ca l'Armera
Ca l'Armera, Carrer del Cardenal Tedeschini 32
230 m · 3 min
Look through the railings at the garden, the small vegetable plot and the attached chapel, with its rose window and bell-gable.[2][5]
This is the Can Ros farmhouse, dating from the 15th century. In 1952 the Ros i Ramis family sold the land around it to the Patronat d'Habitatges del Congrés Eucarístic on condition that its perimeter be respected; today it is a local cultural asset of interest.[2][5]
Coordinates
41.42584, 2.18320 · OpenStreetMap
4
Canòdrom
Canòdrom, Carrer de Concepción Arenal 165
350 m · 5 min
Look up at the two light levels on steel pillars and at the concrete brise-soleil sheltering the cantilevered stands.[4][5][9]
Antoni Bonet and Josep Puig Torné designed it in 1962; it opened in 1964 and closed on 22 February 2006. Since November 2020 it has housed the Ateneu d'Innovació Digital i Democràtica, and the track has been a square since June 2024.[4][5][9]
Coordinates
41.42749, 2.18332 · OpenStreetMap

Sources for this page

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

  1. [1] Viquipèdia (2026). El Congrés i els Indians. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  2. [2] Viquipèdia (2026). Habitatges del Congrés Eucarístic. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  3. [3] Enciclopèdia Catalana (n.d.). El Congrés Eucarístic de Barcelona. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  4. [4] Viquipèdia (2026). Canòdrom de la Meridiana. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  5. [5] Viquipèdia (2026). Ca l'Armera. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  6. [6] Ajuntament de Barcelona (Meet Barcelona) (2026). Villa Jazmines. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  7. [7] Ajuntament de Barcelona (2026). Associació Camí d'Esperança - Parròquia de Sant Pius X. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  8. [8] betevé (2019-05-08). L'Associació de Veïns del Congrés-Indians celebra 50 anys. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  9. [9] betevé (2024-06-04). La nova plaça del Canòdrom s'obrirà al veïnat a partir del 10 de juny i sense verd per la sequera. 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.

Last reviewed: 3 October 2026 · 12 sources consulted

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