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

Sants-Montjuïc · 15

Hostafrancs

Hostafrancs grew along Creu Coberta, the road into Barcelona, where about 1839 a carter from a village in the Segarra opened an inn that gave the neighbourhood its name; with the market, the tram and the factories it became a working-class and artisan district.[1][2]

Creu Coberta owes its name to a boundary cross raised in 1344 at the coll dels Inforcats and later sheltered by a small temple; it was destroyed in 1823, rebuilt, and disappeared around 1866 during roadworks.[1]

Hostafrancs fills a piece of the Sants-Montjuïc district between the Gran Via, Carrer de Tarragona and the neighbourhood of Sants. Until 1839 it was part of the municipality of Santa Maria de Sants, and Plaça d'Espanya marked the boundary between Sants and Barcelona.[1][2]

By the early twentieth century it was almost fully built: 16,474 inhabitants and 1,350 houses. Industry was scarce but was the main employment of those who lived there; trade and the market did the rest.[1][2]

Hostafrancs (neighbourhood 15) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sants-Montjuïc: el Poble-sec, la Marina del Prat Vermell, la Marina de Port, la Font de la Guatlla, la Bordeta, Sants - Badal.

Where the name comes from

Etymology: disputed[1][2]

About 1839-40 Joan Corrades, a carter from Hostafrancs de Sió in the Segarra, built an inn near Creu Coberta that was soon known as the one 'dels Hostafrancs', after the owner's village. Viquipèdia makes it the origin of the name; the City Council adds that, even if it was not the origin, as has been claimed, it at least reinforced the present name.[1][2]

For years the name was thought to come from the words hostal and franc; the City Council recalls that the place was a camping ground for armies (hosts) and that franc also has military connotations.[1][2]

Hostafrancs is bounded by Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, Carrer de Tarragona and the neighbourhood of Sants. Its main axes are Creu Coberta, Carrer del Consell de Cent and the surroundings of the market.[2]

Before the neighbourhood

The place was known from the Middle Ages as the coll dels Inforcats, a crossing of roads where Barcelona's main routes out of the city met. From the fifteenth century to 1715 some of the city's main gallows stood here, and between 1584 and 1785 there were windmills grinding wheat.[1]

Creu Coberta was the road on which the authorities received royalty and celebrities. With the royal road of about 1761 and the aristocratic promenade of 1770 from the Portal de Sant Antoni, the barraquetes rose around it; they were not poor housing but stalls selling food and drink at cheaper prices, and their customers were townspeople, especially on holidays.[1]

How the streets were made

Trade and industry drove growth, and Hostafrancs became a working-class and artisan residential district. The horse tram from La Rambla to Sants (1875), the Gran Via (1883) and the Paral·lel (1894) up to Creu Coberta linked it with Barcelona.[1]

The Mercat d'Hostafrancs (1888) and the Vinyeta slaughterhouse (1891) boosted its trade. The market, at Creu Coberta 93, supplied the workers of the neighbouring factories.[1][2][3][4]

Dates that changed it

  1. 1344 the boundary cross that gives Creu Coberta its name is raised at the coll dels Inforcats.[1]
  2. 1839 the Diputació detaches the stretch from Pont d'en Rabassa to Creu Coberta from Sants and passes it to Barcelona; around these years Joan Corrades builds his inn.[1][2]
  3. 1857 the Àngel Custodi arrives as the neighbourhood's patron and the Festa Major begins.[2]
  4. 1875 the horse tram from La Rambla to Sants arrives.[1]
  5. 1888 the Mercat d'Hostafrancs, designed by Antoni Rovira i Trias, is inaugurated.[3][4]
  6. 1891 the Vinyeta slaughterhouse opens.[1][2]
  7. 1996 the former Hamsa factory, closed in 1992, becomes the squatted social centre CSOA Hamsa.[5]
  8. 2004 CSOA Hamsa is evicted on 4 August and the building is demolished.[5]
  9. 2011 Plaça de Joan Pelegrí opens on the Hamsa site.[5]
  10. 2013 the Casa dels Pollets, at Creu Coberta 26, is demolished.[6]
  11. 2026 works start on Carrer del Vint-i-sis de Gener de 1641; in March they stop when air-raid shelters are found.[7][8][9]

People and collective life

Joan Corrades

A carter from Hostafrancs de Sió, in the Segarra, who built the inn near Creu Coberta about 1839-40; the name of his village ended up naming the neighbourhood.[1][2]

Antoni Rovira i Trias

Architect of the Mercat d'Hostafrancs, inaugurated in 1888, twin of the Mercat de la Concepció.[3][4]

Institutions

Mercat d'Hostafrancs

At Carrer de la Creu Coberta 93; a market of three naves on an iron frame, inaugurated in 1888, with wooden stalls until the 1960s and refurbishments in the 1980s and 1990s.[3][4]

Struggles that left a mark

Wider pavements on Carrer del Vint-i-sis de Gener de 1641

Demand: Residents had long asked to widen pavements that fell short of two metres and to renew a badly worn surface.[7][8][9]

Outcome: Works began in 2026; halted in March by air-raid shelters, they are resuming with the project reworked.[7][8][9]

The Hamsa social centre

Demand: In 1996 the former Hamsa factory, 10,000 m² and closed since 1992, was occupied as a self-managed social centre with concerts, workshops, a library and assemblies.[5]

Outcome: It was evicted by force on 4 August 2004 and the factory demolished; Plaça de Joan Pelegrí opened on the site in 2011.[5]

What can still be seen

Mercat d'Hostafrancs

Listed as a local cultural asset of interest according to Viquipèdia; its three-nave iron structure is nearly identical to that of the Mercat de la Concepció, of the same year and architect.[3][4]

What disappeared

La Creu Coberta

The boundary cross of 1344, destroyed in 1823, was raised again and vanished around 1866 during repairs to the road.[1]

La Casa dels Pollets

A house at Carrer de la Creu Coberta 26, beside the old inn, with a chick shop open until the 1980s; it was demolished in January 2013.[6]

The Hamsa factory

A foundry of moulded iron and steel on Carrer de Miquel Bleach, closed in 1992 and demolished in 2004; Plaça de Joan Pelegrí now stands in its place.[5]

The neighbourhood today

In 2026 Hostafrancs had 17,021 residents, a density of 415.1 people per hectare, average census-section income of €23,353 in 2023, an area of 41 hectares, and 32.8% of residents held non-Spanish nationality. According to the City Council, the neighbourhood began to lose its working-class character at the end of the 1960s, and the disappearance of factories has brought more urban professionals and middle classes.[10][11][12][13][1]

Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 32.8%

What is changing

What is changing (as of 3 October 2026)

Carrer del Vint-i-sis de Gener de 1641, between Plaça de la Vidriera and Creu Coberta, is being rebuilt to widen pavements that were under two metres, a long-standing request from residents. Works began in February 2026; in March, excavation found three entrances to Civil War air-raid shelters and halted the work. According to a report of 22 September 2026, the project has been reworked with a budget of 2.2 million euros and is being unblocked, at the cost of about 95 parking places. More broadly, the Pla de Manteniment Integral lists thirty works in Hostafrancs in 2026, such as the repaving of Carrer de Sant Roc.[7][8][9]

Read it on foot

Start: Espanya (L1/L3) · End: Plaça de Joan Pelegrí

Walking (excluding stop time): 7 min · 550 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 34 min

The geometry follows the pedestrian network between the three marked points, but it has not been verified as step-free. Works on Carrer del Vint-i-sis de Gener de 1641 may affect neighbouring streets.

Hostafrancs (neighbourhood 15) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sants-Montjuïc: el Poble-sec, la Marina del Prat Vermell, la Marina de Port, la Font de la Guatlla, la Bordeta, Sants - Badal.

1
Creu Coberta 26 (antiga Casa dels Pollets)
Carrer de la Creu Coberta 26
Look at number 26 Creu Coberta, where the Casa dels Pollets stood until January 2013, and compare it with the neighbouring façades that still stand.[6][1][2]
The house was built beside the Hostal d'Hostafrancs, which Joan Corrades had named after his village in the Segarra; the chick shop lasted here until the 1980s.[6][1][2]
Coordinates
41.37528, 2.14724 · OpenStreetMap
2
Mercat d'Hostafrancs
Mercat d'Hostafrancs, Creu Coberta 93
300 m · 4 min
Look up at the three-nave iron structure, the central one higher and glazed with arches, and the small air openings at the top of the façade.[3][4]
Antoni Rovira i Trias designed it and it was inaugurated in 1888, like the Mercat de la Concepció; it supplied the workers of neighbouring factories and had wooden stalls until the 1960s.[3][4]
Coordinates
41.37503, 2.14384 · OpenStreetMap
3
Plaça de Joan Pelegrí
Plaça de Joan Pelegrí
250 m · 3 min
Notice the hard, sparsely planted square ringed by blocks: it is the site of a large factory that closed more than thirty years ago.[5]
The Hamsa factory stood here, closed in 1992 and squatted as a social centre from 1996 to 2004; the square opened in March 2011 and its design was criticised for lack of greenery.[5]
Coordinates
41.37621, 2.14228 · OpenStreetMap

Sources for this page

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

  1. [1] Ajuntament de Barcelona, districte de Sants-Montjuïc (2009). Història d'Hostafrancs. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  2. [2] Viquipèdia (2026). Hostafrancs. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  3. [3] Ajuntament de Barcelona, Mercats (2026). Mercat d'Hostafrancs. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  4. [4] Viquipèdia (2026). Mercat d'Hostafrancs. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  5. [5] Viquipèdia (2026). Fàbrica Hamsa (CSOA Hamsa). Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  6. [6] Viquipèdia (2026). Casa dels Pollets. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  7. [7] Ona de Sants (2026-03-20). Hostafrancs suma 30 actuacions per millorar l'espai públic el 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  8. [8] Metròpoli Oberta (2026-09-22). Barcelona desencalla la transformació d'un cèntric carrer de Sants amb refugis de la Guerra Civil. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  9. [9] betevé (2025-07-07). Barcelona ampliarà les voreres del carrer del Vint-i-sis de Gener de 1641, al barri d'Hostafrancs. 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.
  13. [13] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Població per nacionalitat i sexe. Barris. Accessed: 2026-07-17.

Last reviewed: 3 October 2026 · 13 sources consulted

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