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Sarrià-Sant Gervasi · 26

Sant Gervasi - Galvany

Sant Gervasi - Galvany is the lower, denser part of the old Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, built over the Camp d'en Galvany from 1866 around a monumental brick-and-iron market, and known today for its shops and night life.[1][2]

Four stops explain the neighbourhood: a park that was once an amusement park, the market that took nearly thirty years to finish, gardens on an old estate and a neo-Gothic house saved by its neighbours.[3][4][5][6][7]

The neighbourhood occupies the lower part of the old municipality of Sant Gervasi de Cassoles. It is bounded by the Diagonal, Avinguda de Sarrià, Ronda del General Mitre, Balmes and Via Augusta, and includes the Camp d'en Galvany, urbanised from 1866.[1][2]

The oldest core of the neighbourhood lies around Carrer de Sagués and Carrer d'Amigó; from the 1950s many buildings went up, the most luxurious between Muntaner and Alfons XII. Today it has a lively night life, above all around Carrer de Santaló.[1]

Sant Gervasi - Galvany (neighbourhood 26) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi: les Tres Torres, Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova, el Putxet i el Farró, Vallvidrera, el Tibidabo i les Planes, Sarrià.

Where the name comes from

Etymology: certain[1][4][6][2]

Galvany comes from the Camp d'en Galvany: Josep Castelló-Galvany i Quadras (1829-1880), owner of the Can Galvany estate, began urbanising it in 1866 and in 1868 gave the land for the market in memory of his mother, Maria Galvany.[1][4]

Sant Gervasi recalls the former municipality of Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, annexed to Barcelona in 1897; its old nucleus is shared between la Bonanova and Galvany.[2]

Before the name Galvany, in the division into neighbourhoods of 1897 the area corresponded roughly to the Lledó neighbourhood, from the Mas Lledó; the estate took its name from the merchant Pau Lledó i Pi, who bought it in 1672.[6][1]

Its limits are the Diagonal, Avinguda de Sarrià, Ronda del General Mitre, Balmes and Via Augusta.[1]

Before the neighbourhood

Where the Jardins de Moragas lie there was a farming estate of medieval origin, Can Rifós and later Can Romanyà; in 1672 the merchant Pau Lledó i Pi bought it and gave it his name (Can Lledó). In 1833 it passed to the lawyer Joan de Balle i Ruira.[6]

How the streets were made

In 1863 the building of the Sarrià railway to Barcelona split the estate in two; its owner, Nicolaua Tavern, and her neighbours Josep Castelló-Galvany and Francesc Vinaròs agreed to urbanise it with streets such as Tavern, Muntaner and Santaló and Plaça d'Adrià, in a plan approved in 1876.[6]

Dates that changed it

  1. 1672 the merchant Pau Lledó i Pi buys the estate that becomes Can Lledó.[6]
  2. 1863 the Sarrià railway splits the Can Lledó estate.[6]
  3. 1866 Josep Castelló-Galvany i Quadras begins urbanising the Camp d'en Galvany.[1][4]
  4. 1868 Castelló-Galvany cedes the land of the future market on condition that it is built.[3][4]
  5. 1876 the plan to urbanise the old Lledó estate is approved.[6]
  6. 1897 Sant Gervasi de Cassoles is annexed to Barcelona.[2]
  7. 1900 Enric Sagnier designs Casa Sagnier.[5]
  8. 1912–1929 the Turó Park operates as an amusement park.[7]
  9. 1927 the Mercat de Galvany is inaugurated (26 February).[3][4]
  10. 1934 Rubió i Tudurí's Turó Parc opens.[7]
  11. 1959 the Jardins de Moragas open to the public (26 January).[6]
  12. 1996–2002 neighbours campaign for the Casa Sagnier site and, in 2002, the gardens open.[5]

People and collective life

Josep Castelló-Galvany i Quadras

Owner of Can Galvany; he began urbanising the Camp d'en Galvany in 1866 and ceded the market's land in 1868.[1][4][3]

Pere Falqués i Urpí

Municipal architect who designed the Mercat de Galvany, inaugurated in 1927.[3][4]

Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia

He designed Casa Sagnier in 1900 on the site of a tower belonging to his father, Lluís Sagnier i Nadal.[5]

Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí

Director of the Servei de Parcs i Jardins, he designed the layout of the Turó Parc, opened in 1934.[7]

Institutions

Mercat de Galvany

Land ceded in 1868, a project by Pere Falqués and inauguration on 26 February 1927 after nearly thirty years of works and auctions.[3][4]

Espai Jove Casa Sagnier

Enric Sagnier's house of 1900; neighbours won public gardens there in 2002 and since 2018 it has been a space for young people aged 12 to 29.[5]

Jardins de Moragas

Public gardens opened on 26 January 1959 on the Can Lledó estate, covering 3,455 m².[6]

Struggles that left a mark

Salvem els jardins de Brusi

Demand: In 1996 neighbours mobilised under this slogan to claim the Casa Sagnier site and its gardens.[5]

Outcome: In 2002 the gardens opened to the public and, in 2006-07, an agreement with the Universitat de Barcelona made the building a civic centre.[5]

What can still be seen

Mercat de Galvany

Greek-cross plan around a large octagonal space, a dome on four brick arches, modernista stained glass, 28 iron columns and a lantern with a clock of 1928.[3][4]

Casa Sagnier

A square three-storey block with side wings in a Gothic decorative repertoire with modernista details: gargoyles, tall windows and a crenellated cornice; listed in the Inventari del Patrimoni Arquitectònic de Catalunya.[5]

Turó Parc

A 2.88-hectare noucentista park designed by Rubió i Tudurí, with a sculpture by Apel·les Fenosa dedicated to Pau Casals.[7]

What disappeared

Former Turó amusement park

In 1912 a large amusement park, the Turó Park, opened here and closed in 1929; before it there had been the Lawn Tenis del Turó.[7]

The neighbourhood today

Sant Gervasi - Galvany had 49,202 residents in 2026, a density of 294.8 residents per hectare, a census-section mean income of €44,003 in 2023, 166.9 hectares, and 20.4% held non-Spanish nationality.

Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 20.4%

What is changing

In March 2026 the City Council said a remodelling project for the Mercat de Galvany, agreed with the stallholders, was being processed to improve its roof and sustainability. In 2024 the press put the investment at about 7.8 million euros, with works planned from late 2026; in February 2025 a seven-month, 1.3-million-euro renewal of the electrical network had already begun. As of 3 October 2026 no confirmation has been found that the main reform works have started.[4][8][9]

Sources for this page

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

  1. [1] Viquipèdia (2026). Sant Gervasi-Galvany. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  2. [2] Wikipedia (2026). Sant Gervasi de Cassoles. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  3. [3] Viquipèdia (2026). Mercat de Galvany. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  4. [4] Ajuntament de Barcelona - Mercats de Barcelona (2026-03-20). Historia y arquitectura en el Mercado de Galvany: un viaje al corazón de Sant Gervasi. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  5. [5] Viquipèdia (2026). Casa Sagnier. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  6. [6] Viquipèdia (2026). Jardins de Moragas. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  7. [7] Viquipèdia (2026). Turó Parc. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  8. [8] Diari el Jardí (2024-06-13). El Mercat de Galvany apunta a una reforma el 2027, l'any del seu centenari. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  9. [9] betevé (2025-02). Comença la renovació de la xarxa elèctrica del Mercat de Galvany. 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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