Nou Barris · 52
la Prosperitat
La Prosperitat is a dense neighbourhood of 59 hectares that grew from 1957 with migration, apartment blocks and few facilities, and won what it lacked square by square: the first square in 1976, plaça d'Àngel Pestaña in 1986, the Casal de Barri in 1988.[1][2][3]
Begin in plaça d'Àngel Pestaña when no event is on and watch what happens without a stage: children, older people, terraces, everyday crossings. In 1986 it was the cleared site of the Santa Engràcia shacks.[1][3]
La Prosperitat covers 59 hectares between Via Júlia, Avinguda Meridiana, Passeig de Valldaura and Via Favència. A partial urban plan of 1957 set off intense growth with blocks and flats, but without the facilities the plan foresaw: in a little over fifteen years migrants from the rest of Spain and speculative building transformed the neighbourhood.[1][2]
There were 21 private academies and no public school until the first opened in 1969. The facilities were won later by the residents: the first square in 1976, plaça d'Àngel Pestaña in 1986, the Casal de Barri in 1988 and, in 1991, a neighbourhood redevelopment plan that committed to completing the outstanding improvements.[1][2][3]
la Prosperitat (neighbourhood 52) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Nou Barris: Vilapicina i la Torre Llobeta, Porta, el Turó de la Peira, Can Peguera, la Guineueta, Verdun.
Where the name comes from
Etymology: disputed[2]
The name has no certain origin. The place name first appears in a building licence for a house in 1920. Several published sources attribute it to a cooperative of the 1930s, but more recent studies say nobody knows to what or whom it is due.[2]
Between Via Júlia, Avinguda Meridiana, Passeig de Valldaura and Via Favència; 59 hectares.[1][2]
Before the neighbourhood
Until the first third of the twentieth century the land held farmland, some farmhouses and country houses of the Sant Andreu middle classes. Migration in the 1920s and 1940s began an unplanned settlement of shacks.[1][2]
How the streets were made
The neighbourhood is densely built, with narrow streets. Commerce concentrates on Via Júlia and neighbouring streets such as Joaquim Valls and Font de Canyelles, and Carrer de Pablo Iglesias, with wide pavements, acts as a central rambla. Plaça d'Àngel Pestaña, opened in 1986 on the site of the Santa Engràcia shacks, is the central space, with the Casal de Barri beside it.[1][3][2]
Dates that changed it
- 1920 a building licence for a house is the first document in which the place name la Prosperitat appears.[2]
- 1957 a partial urban plan sets off the neighbourhood's growth with blocks and flats.[1][2]
- 1969 the neighbourhood's first public school opens.[1][2]
- 1976 the neighbourhood's first square is laid out; according to Barcelona Secreta, Maruja Ruiz organises the hijacking of the number 12 bus.[1][3]
- 1986 plaça d'Àngel Pestaña opens on the site of the Santa Engràcia shacks.[1][3]
- 1988 the Casal de Barri, run by the residents themselves, starts work.[1][3]
- 1991 a Pla Especial de Reforma Interior (PERI) commits to completing the improvements the neighbourhood needs.[2][3]
- 2009 the complex of the former Ideal Plástica Flor factory, expropriated for public facilities, is demolished.[4][5]
- 2026 on 14 September works begin on the Ideal Plástica Flor facility.[4][5]
People and collective life
Maruja Ruiz Martos
A neighbourhood activist of la Prosperitat. In 1976, according to Barcelona Secreta, she convinced about fifty neighbours, after two assemblies, to hijack the number 12 bus and take it up into the neighbourhood; in 2011 she refused the city's Medal of Honour over cuts to public services.[6]
Institutions
Struggles that left a mark
The bus that would not climb
Demand: The number 12 bus did not reach the neighbourhood, on the excuse that it could not climb its slopes.[6]
Outcome: In 1976, according to Barcelona Secreta, a neighbourhood action took it up into the neighbourhood to show that the problem was political, not physical; afterwards bus lines began to serve la Prosperitat.[6]
The factory plots
Demand: In the 1980s residents claimed the plots of the closed Harry Walker and Hispano Villiers factories, and of the still active Ideal Plástica Flor, as facilities for the neighbourhood.[4][5][1][3]
Outcome: Works on the Ideal Plástica Flor facility began on 14 September 2026, after decades of demands.[4][5][1][3]
What can still be seen
What disappeared
The neighbourhood today
In 2026 la Prosperitat had 28,174 residents, a density of 476.7 people per hectare, a €18,709 mean census-section income in 2023, 59.1 hectares, and 21.6% non-Spanish nationality.
Every square, school, tree and community room delivers exceptional social value; density also amplifies heat, noise and conflicts over use.
Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 21.6%
What is changing
As of October 2026 the neighbourhood has three recent works or openings. On 14 September works began on the facility on the former Ideal Plástica Flor factory, at passeig de Valldaura, after decades of demands. The building will hold the largest library in the district, an auditorium of 350 seats, a local cultural centre, a small gym and a green square with play areas.[4][5]
In May a new square and a community space opened on the ground floor of the Torre Júlia, next to the school IE El Molí, as part of a 2.9 million euro Pla de Barris project. And plaça d'Àngel Pestaña is due a 1.15 million euro rebuild of its seating and beds: in April it was announced that the works, of about four months, would end this autumn; whether they have finished is not on record.[7][5]
What the guides leave out
Nobody knows where the name comes from
The name is often attributed to a cooperative, but the place name first appears in a building licence of 1920 and the most recent studies say nobody knows to what or whom it is due.[2]
Read it on foot
Start: Via Júlia (L4) · End: Torre Júlia[7]
Walking (excluding stop time): 13 min · 960 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 47 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.
la Prosperitat (neighbourhood 52) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Nou Barris: Vilapicina i la Torre Llobeta, Porta, el Turó de la Peira, Can Peguera, la Guineueta, Verdun.
Coordinates
Coordinates
Coordinates
Coordinates
Sources for this page
Dates, figures and historical claims are linked to the records used for this page.
- [1] Ajuntament de Barcelona, Districte de Nou Barris (2026). Història de la Prosperitat. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [2] Viquipèdia (2026). La Prosperitat. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [3] Ajuntament de Barcelona, Districte de Nou Barris (2024). 1980-1990. La gran transformació. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [4] Línia Nou Barris (2026-09-14). Arrenquen les esperades obres de l'antiga Ideal Plástica Flor. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [5] Ajuntament de Barcelona, Servei de Premsa (2026-04-25). Barcelona invertirà 1,15M€ en la millora del verd de la plaça d'Àngel Pestaña, a Nou Barris. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [6] Barcelona Secreta (2025-02-12). Maruja Ruiz, the woman who kidnapped "El 47" two years before Manolo Vital. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [7] Ajuntament de Barcelona, Servei de Premsa (2026-05-29). La Prosperitat estrena un nou espai comunitari i una nova plaça a l'entorn de la Torre Júlia, impulsats pel Pla de Barris. 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