Sant Andreu · 57
la Trinitat Vella
La Trinitat Vella is a working-class neighbourhood born in the 1950s among vineyards, a prison and new roads: Montcada's water, the Nus de la Trinitat and the Meridiana have all passed around it without ever ceasing to be its neighbours.[1]
Start where Barcelona's water arrived: the pumping station of the Casa de l'Aigua lifted water from Montcada's wells towards the tank in Trinitat Nova until 1989. Everything around it (the Meridiana, the Nus, the Besòs edge) came later.[2]
La Trinitat Vella lies in north-east Barcelona, in the Sant Andreu district. Its present limits are the Besòs, the Meridiana, the Carretera de Ribes and the Passeig de Santa Coloma. Before it was a neighbourhood it was a remote end of the independent municipality of Sant Andreu de Palomar, known as the Coll de Finestrelles.
Between 1952 and 1954 vineyards gave way to housing blocks and the highest part became a prison. Soon afterwards new roads split La Trinitat into two neighbourhoods, Trinitat Nova and Trinitat Vella.
la Trinitat Vella (neighbourhood 57) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sant Andreu: Baró de Viver, el Bon Pastor, Sant Andreu, la Sagrera, el Congrés i els Indians, Navas.
Before the neighbourhood
In 1413 the chapel of the Trinitat was built; it lasted until it was burned in the Peninsular War, and around 1445 Barcelona's jurisdictional gallows were set up there. It was a very empty area: vineyards on the upper slope, which lasted into the 1950s, and few farmhouses, the best known Can Cagamantes.
How the streets were made
The neighbourhood grew in the 1950s with housing blocks and, on the high ground, a prison. The northern railway disappeared in 1960, the Meridiana extension opened in 1961 and the metro arrived in 1986; in 1992 the Nus de la Trinitat, the junction of the ring roads, opened.
Inside the circle of the Nus lies the Parc Nou de la Trinitat (1989-1992), which Joan Roig i Duran and Enric Batlle designed as green space to compensate for the roads around it.
Dates that changed it
- 1413: the chapel of the Trinitat is built; it lasts until the Peninsular War.[1]
- 1915-1919: Aigües de Montcada builds the Casa de l'Aigua, which works until 1989.[2]
- 1952-1954: vineyards give way to housing blocks and the high ground becomes a prison.[1]
- 1960-1961: the northern railway disappears and the Meridiana extension opens.[1]
- 1986: the metro reaches Trinitat Vella.[3]
- 1992: the Nus de la Trinitat, the junction of the ring roads, opens.[1]
- January 2009: demolition of part of the prison begins after the inmates are moved to La Roca del Vallès.[3]
- 22 March 2018: the whole Casa de l'Aigua complex opens to the public.[2]
- Late June 2026: the City Council approves the deconstruction project for the prison.[4]
People and collective life
Institutions
Centre Cívic Trinitat Vella
The neighbourhood's municipal civic centre.[6]
Biblioteca Trinitat Vella - José Barbero
The neighbourhood's public library, closed for maintenance from 1 September 2026 to January 2027.[7]
MUHBA Casa de l'Aigua
A pumping station in Trinitat Vella and a tank in Trinitat Nova joined by a gallery; the entrance is at Carrer de Garbí 2.[2]
Struggles that left a mark
Closing the prison and building homes
Demand: Mayor Jaume Collboni described the plan to empty the prison and redevelop the site as one residents had demanded for years.[4]
Outcome: A 2021 agreement between the City Council and the Generalitat provided for moving the Trinitat Vella and Wad-Ras prisons to the Zona Franca; the deconstruction project was approved in June 2026.[4]
What can still be seen
MUHBA Casa de l'Aigua
A pumping station of 1915-1919 that lifted Montcada's water to Trinitat Nova; it worked until 1989.[2]
Parc Nou de la Trinitat
A park of 1989-1992 inside the Nus de la Trinitat, listed in the Inventari del Patrimoni Arquitectònic de Catalunya.[8]
What disappeared
The neighbourhood today
In 2026 la Trinitat Vella had 11,307 residents, a density of 139.9 people per hectare, a mean census-section income of €15,413 in 2023, 80.8 hectares and 32.1% of residents holding non-Spanish nationality.
More than sixty years after the neighbourhood began, the prison on the high ground is due to be dismantled to make way for subsidised housing; see “What is changing”.
Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 32.1%
What is changing
Prison (as of October 2026). In late June 2026 the City Council approved the deconstruction project for the prison, with EUR 2 million, according to Metrópoli Abierta (8 July 2026). The site is to hold subsidised housing: 221 homes in total, counting blocks already begun. No source consulted says when demolition actually starts.
Library. The Biblioteca Trinitat Vella - José Barbero (Carrer de Galícia 16) is closed for maintenance work from 1 September 2026 to January 2027.
Pla de Barris 2025-2028 (presented June 2025). It puts EUR 14.5 million into la Trinitat Vella, el Bon Pastor and Baró de Viver, with the second phase of the Passadís de Trinitat Vella, a master plan for the Parc de la Trinitat Vella, the traffic calming on Carrer de Palafrugell and an upgrade of the CEM Trinitat Vella pitch. No source consulted shows how far this had been carried out by October 2026.
What the guides leave out
The Casa de l'Aigua has two halves
The pumping station is in Trinitat Vella, but the exhibitions are visited by entering through Trinitat Nova (Carrer de Garbí 2), and an underground gallery joins the two ends.[2]
Read it on foot
Start: Trinitat Vella (L1) · End: MUHBA Casa de l'Aigua
Walking (excluding stop time): 18 min · 1320 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 42 min
The geometry follows the pedestrian network between the three marked points, but it has not been verified as step-free. The approach from public transport is not included in the stated distance.
la Trinitat Vella (neighbourhood 57) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sant Andreu: Baró de Viver, el Bon Pastor, Sant Andreu, la Sagrera, el Congrés i els Indians, Navas.
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 Sant Andreu (2026-03-31). Història de la Trinitat Vella. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [2] Museu d'Història de Barcelona (MUHBA) (2026-07-31). MUHBA Casa de l'Aigua. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [3] Enciclopèdia.cat (2026). la Trinitat Vella. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [4] Rubén Pacheco (Metrópoli Abierta) (2026-07-08). Barcelona avança en l'enderrocament de la presó de Trinitat Vella. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [5] Viquipèdia (2026). Trinitat Vella. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [6] Ajuntament de Barcelona (2026). Centre Cívic Trinitat Vella. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [7] Biblioteques de Barcelona (2026). Biblioteca Trinitat Vella - José Barbero. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [8] Viquipèdia (inventari IPAC) (2026). Parc Nou de la Trinitat. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
- [9] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Padró municipal d'habitants (pad_mdbas) — població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [10] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2021). Densitat de població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
- [11] 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 · 11 sources consulted