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Sant Andreu · 60

Sant Andreu

Sant Andreu de Palomar was a town with its own municipality until its annexation to Barcelona on 20 April 1897, and it keeps that shape: Carrer Gran, Plaça d'Orfila, the market, Casa Bloc and the Fabra i Coats textile compound, where a museum of work opened in May 2026.[1][2][3][4]

Step into Nau F at Fabra i Coats, the former hall where thread was dyed: most of the people who worked here were women, and the museum puts their work at the centre.[2][4][5]

Around the church of Sant Andreu the first cluster of houses formed between the 11th and 13th centuries. The old parish became an independent municipality after the Decree of Nova Planta, and on 20 April 1897 it was annexed to Barcelona.[1][6]

Industrialisation at the end of the 19th century brought Fabra i Coats, La Maquinista and the Fabricació Nacional de Colorants. Casa Bloc, commissioned in 1932, was another answer to the workers' city.[1][6]

Sant Andreu (neighbourhood 60) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sant Andreu: la Trinitat Vella, Baró de Viver, el Bon Pastor, la Sagrera, el Congrés i els Indians, Navas.

Where the name comes from

Etymology: certain[1]

The name joins two references: Sant Andreu, patron of the parish, and Palomar, the name of a place that first appears in a document of 992 (palumbarii).[1]

The two names appear together in 1034. The source consulted does not explain the meaning of Palomar.[1]

Carrer de Rovira i Virgili, Passeig de Santa Coloma, Avinguda Meridiana and the railway tracks.[1]

Before the neighbourhood

Before the factories, Sant Andreu was a farming plain irrigated by the Rec Comtal, which tradition credits to Count Miró in the 10th century but which, according to the Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana, was probably promoted by Ramon Berenguer I in the 11th. The municipality ran from the Besòs to Collserola and from Montcada to Sant Martí de Provençals, far more than today's neighbourhood.[1][7]

How the streets were made

Carrer Gran follows an old Roman road and the other streets formed around it. Industry added large compounds such as Fabra i Coats, which today covers three hectares although the original complex was bigger.[1][7][8][9]

The market was held in the church square until 1849, when it moved to an arcaded square, today's Plaça del Mercadal. Stallholders returned to the rebuilt market in September 2022.[1][7][8][9]

Dates that changed it

  1. 992 and 1034 a document of 992 mentions Palomar; in 1034 Sant Andreu and Palomar appear together.[1]
  2. 20 April 1897 Sant Andreu de Palomar is annexed to Barcelona.[1]
  3. 22 April 1903 the company Hilaturas de Fabra y Coats is set up by a merger.[5][4]
  4. 1932-1936 the Republican Generalitat commissions Casa Bloc and almost all of it is built.[6]
  5. 2005 Fabra i Coats closes its production and former workers found the Amics de la Fabra i Coats.[5][4][2]
  6. 7-10 May 2026 the MUHBA presents (7 May), inaugurates (9 May) and opens to the public (10 May) the history-of-work space at Fabra i Coats.[2][3][4]
  7. September 2026 works begin on Carrer de Sant Adrià and Carrer d'Otger, planned for fifteen months.[9]

People and collective life

Associació Amics de la Fabra i Coats

Founded by former workers after the closure of 2005 to save the factory's memory; with other groups it pushed for the 2026 museum space.[5][2]

Institutions

Fabra i Coats. Museu d'Història de Barcelona

At Carrer de Sant Adrià 20, in Nau F: two permanent exhibitions and a reserve of more than 6,000 pieces; free access.[2][3][4]

Mercat de Sant Andreu

On Plaça del Mercadal since 1849; stallholders returned to the rebuilt market in September 2022.[8][9]

Struggles that left a mark

Saving the factory's memory

Demand: After the closure of 2005 the compound was sold to a property company; a group of former workers founded the Amics de la Fabra i Coats to keep its memory and heritage.[5][2]

Outcome: In 2009 the recovered objects were handed to the Institut de Cultura for a future centre on the city and work; in 2026 the museum space opened in Nau F.[5][2][3][4]

What can still be seen

Recinte Fabra i Coats

One of the few almost intact factory complexes kept within Barcelona's urban fabric; today it covers three hectares, although the original complex was larger.[2][4][5]

Casa Bloc

A rationalist estate of minimum housing for the working class by Sert, Torres Clavé and Subirana; a cultural asset of national interest since 1992.[6]

What disappeared

The «Bloc fantasma»

In 1948 a block of homes for police families was built on one of Casa Bloc's squares; the «Bloc fantasma» was demolished in July 2008.[6]

The neighbourhood today

In 2026 Sant Andreu had 59,330 residents, a density of 317.8 people per hectare, a mean census-section income of €24,597 in 2023, 186.7 hectares and 12.6% of residents holding non-Spanish nationality.

Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 12.6%

What is changing

The new Fabra i Coats space of the Museu d'Història de Barcelona, devoted to the history of work, was presented on 7 May 2026, Mayor Jaume Collboni inaugurated it on the afternoon of 9 May, and it opened to the public on 10 May with free admission until 31 August. The museum's website lists free access and opening hours from Tuesday to Sunday.[2][3][4][9][8]

In September 2026 works began to remodel Carrer de Sant Adrià and Carrer d'Otger: more than 5,500 square metres, EUR 3.5 million and fifteen months planned. Carrer de Sant Adrià, between Carrer Gran and Carrer del Segre, will become a single-level platform; until a few years ago the market's provisional tent stood there.[2][3][4][9][8]

Read it on foot

Start: Sant Andreu (L1) · End: Fabra i Coats

Walking (excluding stop time): 12 min · 880 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 62 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.

Sant Andreu (neighbourhood 60) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sant Andreu: la Trinitat Vella, Baró de Viver, el Bon Pastor, la Sagrera, el Congrés i els Indians, Navas.

1
Plaça d'Orfila
Plaça d'Orfila
Stand in the square and look at the church of Sant Andreu de Palomar at its far end: this is the first nucleus of the town.[1]
The first cluster of houses formed around the church between the 11th and 13th centuries, and the Almoravids destroyed it in 1114. Saint Andrew is the parish's patron saint and Palomar a name already documented in 992.[1]
Coordinates
41.43600, 2.19103 · OpenStreetMap
2
Mercat de Sant Andreu
Mercat de Sant Andreu, Plaça del Mercadal 41
380 m · 5 min
Look at the market building at the centre of the square and, beside it, the annexe facing Carrer de Rubén Darío.[8][9]
Until 1849 the market was held in the church square, when it moved to this arcaded square. Stallholders came back in September 2022, after five years in a provisional tent on Carrer de Sant Adrià.[8][9]
Coordinates
41.43483, 2.18839 · OpenStreetMap
3
Fabra i Coats
Fabra i Coats, Carrer de Sant Adrià 20
500 m · 7 min
Look at the long single-storey brick hall on Carrer de Sant Adrià, with doors and windows framed in brick: this is Nau F, where thread was dyed.[5][4][2][3]
Since 2026 it has been MUHBA Fabra i Coats: it opened on 10 May, after the inauguration of 9 May. The company was founded in 1903, reached 3,000 workers and closed in 2005.[5][4][2][3]
Coordinates
41.43303, 2.19067 · OpenStreetMap

Sources for this page

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

  1. [1] Viquipèdia (2025). Sant Andreu de Palomar. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  2. [2] Ajuntament de Barcelona, Servei de Premsa (2026-05-07). El Museu d'Història de Barcelona obre a la Fabra i Coats un nou espai dedicat a la història del treball. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  3. [3] Ajuntament de Barcelona, Servei de Premsa (2026-05-09). Collboni inaugura el nou espai museístic dedicat a la història del treball a la Fabra i Coats de Sant Andreu. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  4. [4] Museu d'Història de Barcelona (2026). Fabra i Coats. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  5. [5] Viquipèdia (2025). Fabra i Coats. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  6. [6] Viquipèdia (2025). Casa Bloc. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  7. [7] Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana (n.d.). Rec Comtal. Accessed: 2026-10-09.
  8. [8] Viquipèdia (2025). Mercat de Sant Andreu. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  9. [9] Exprés de Sant Andreu (2026-09-29). En marxa les obres per crear una illa verda a Can Fabra. 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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