Sarrià-Sant Gervasi · 27
el Putxet i el Farró
El Putxet i el Farró are two neighbourhoods under one name: above, a hill built up from 1870 with summer villas and a park with a lookout; below, passages of terraced houses, modernista villas and an astronomer's house, divided by Ronda del General Mitre.[1][2]
Four stops cover both worlds: the park on the summit, a modernista house a developer once wanted to demolish, a passage of terraced houses and the house where an astronomer discovered an asteroid.[2][3][4][5]
The neighbourhood is made up of el Putxet to the north and el Farró to the south; it is bounded by Avinguda de la República Argentina, Plaça de Lesseps, Avinguda de la Riera de Cassoles, Via Augusta, Carrer de Balmes and Passeig de Sant Gervasi, and has a non-standard spelling, 'el Putget i el Farró', that is still seen in print.[1]
El Putxet is a small mountain between Sarrià - Sant Gervasi and Vallcarca i els Penitents, where a chapel had stood in the 17th century; it was not until 1870 that villas began to be built there for the Barcelona bourgeoisie. El Farró is the sector below Ronda del General Mitre, around Carrer de Saragossa and Carrer de Vallirana.[1]
el Putxet i el Farró (neighbourhood 27) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi: les Tres Torres, Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova, Sant Gervasi - Galvany, Vallvidrera, el Tibidabo i les Planes, Sarrià.
Where the name comes from
Etymology: certain[1]
El Farró is named after Silvestre Farró, who built the first houses there in the early 19th century.[1]
Its limits are Avinguda de la República Argentina, Plaça de Lesseps, Avinguda de la Riera de Cassoles, Via Augusta, Carrer de Balmes (Plaça Molina) and Passeig de Sant Gervasi; in 1879 el Putxet formed, with la Bonanova and Lledó, the old municipality of Sant Gervasi.[1]
Before the neighbourhood
A 17th-century chapel stood on the hilltop; the land of the present park belonged to Torre Espanya, owned by the Morató family, and in 1917 the area was included in a plan to preserve green spaces.[5]
El Putxet began as a summer-residence district; with the Sarrià railway to Barcelona, the metro and trams, such as the one on Carrer de Saragossa, it became a place of permanent residence.[1]
How the streets were made
El Farró is notable for low houses with inner courtyards and passages of terraced houses, such as Sant Felip and Mulet, often around colonial- or modernista-style villas built for summer stays; some have been replaced by blocks of flats, but several remain.[1]
Ronda del General Mitre was opened in the 1970s: a property company tried to buy Casa Tosquella to demolish it, and the demolition of the neighbouring estate damaged the building and cost it part of its garden.[2]
Dates that changed it
- 17th century a chapel stands on the hilltop of the Putxet.[5]
- 1868 urbanisation of Passatge de Mulet begins.[4]
- 1870 summer villas begin to be built on the Putxet.[1]
- 1889 Joan Caballé i Fàbregas designs Casa Tosquella.[2]
- 1899 Josep Comas i Solà settles at Vil·la Urània.[3]
- 1906 Eduard Maria Balcells remodels Casa Tosquella.[2]
- 1915 Comas discovers the asteroid Hispania from Vil·la Urània (20 March).[3]
- 1949 a city regulation sets a maximum height of 7.80 metres for Passatge de Mulet.[4]
- 1963 the observatory at Vil·la Urània is dismantled.[3]
- 1970 the public park on the Putxet hill is formalised.[5]
- 2018 Vil·la Urània opens as a civic centre (March).[3]
- 2021 the city buys Casa Tosquella (November).[2][6]
People and collective life
Josep Comas i Solà
An astronomer who lived at Vil·la Urània from 1899, discovered the asteroid Hispania there in 1915 and bequeathed the house to the city.[3]
Antoni Mulet i Orfila
A Menorcan living in Gràcia who bought a plot of Can Regàs and began Passatge de Mulet there in 1868.[4]
Eduard Maria Balcells i Buïgas
The architect who remodelled Casa Tosquella in 1906–1907.[2]
Institutions
Struggles that left a mark
Saving Vil·la Urània
Demand: From the 1990s onwards the house came close to being sold and demolished several times; neighbours and the Comas family, backed by historians and architects, demanded its conservation.[3]
Outcome: The city took on its conservation and in March 2018 the restored house opened as a civic centre.[3]
What can still be seen
Casa Tosquella
A modernista house on a square plan with a central stair, two lookout towers, glazed tile, sgraffito and wrought iron; listed as a cultural asset of national interest.[2]
Passatge de Mulet
About twenty terraced houses with small front gardens, a height regulation of 1949 and the modernista Casa Josep Sendrós of 1912.[4]
What disappeared
The neighbourhood today
El Putxet i el Farró had 30,795 residents in 2026, a density of 363.1 residents per hectare, a census-section mean income of €34,779 in 2023, 84.8 hectares, and 20.5% held non-Spanish nationality.
Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 20.5%
What is changing
The city bought Casa Tosquella in November 2021 to turn it into a centre for older people. In December 2024 a 3.5-million-euro rehabilitation was planned, with works from summer 2026, and the city ordered changes to the competition-winning design after criticism from neighbours and experts. As of 3 October 2026 no confirmation has been found that works have started.[2][6]
The press places the L9 sinkhole of 7 July 2026, on Carrer de Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, Carrer de Rubinstein and Carrer de Teodora Lamadrid, in the Putxet area; those streets officially belong to the neighbourhood of Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova.[7]
Sources for this page
Dates, figures and historical claims are linked to the records used for this page.
- [1] Viquipèdia (2026). El Putxet i el Farró. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [2] Viquipèdia (2026). Casa Tosquella. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [3] Viquipèdia (2026). Vil·la Urània. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [4] Viquipèdia (2026). Passatge de Mulet. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [5] Viquipèdia (2026). Jardins del Turó del Putxet. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [6] Diari el Jardí (2024-12-10). La rehabilitació de la Casa Tosquella ja té calendari. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [7] Tot Barcelona (2026-09-07). Dos meses del socavón de la L9 en Sant Gervasi: «Es un viacrucis». 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