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

Sants-Montjuïc · 18

Sants

Sants, the core of the old municipality of Santa Maria de Sants, grew between the Carretera de Sants and two steam mills, the Vapor Vell and the Espanya Industrial, and is now rebuilding its railway station.[1][2][3]

Leave Barcelona-Sants station and look at how it occupies the ground: around it, works are closing and opening entrances. Then walk towards Carrer de Sants, and within minutes the scale shifts from high-speed rail to a neighbourhood of shops, markets and former mills.[3][2][1]

Sants was the main nucleus of the old municipality of Santa Maria de Sants, annexed to Barcelona on 20 April 1897. Since 2006 the administrative neighbourhood has been smaller: Hostafrancs, la Bordeta, la Font de la Guatlla and Sants-Badal, which historically belonged to it, are named as separate neighbourhoods.[1][2]

It is bounded to the north by Avinguda de Madrid and Carrer de Berlín, to the south by Carrer de la Ferreria, Noguera Pallaresa, Manzanares and Andalusia, to the west by Carrer de Badal and the Rambla del Brasil, and to the east by Avinguda de Josep Tarradellas and the plaça dels Països Catalans.[1]

Sants (neighbourhood 18) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sants-Montjuïc: el Poble-sec, la Marina del Prat Vermell, la Marina de Port, la Font de la Guatlla, Hostafrancs, la Bordeta.

Before the neighbourhood

The first written mention of Sants dates from 991, as villa de Sanctos; the church of Santa Maria de Sants is cited in 780 and was an independent parish by 1130.[1]

In 1789 there were 97 houses in two nuclei, one around the church and one beside the royal road. The Carretera de Sants, begun in 1764, spurred economic activity and building.[1]

How the streets were made

Carrer de Sants and Carrer de la Creu Coberta, which follow the old highway, form what the City Council calls one of the most important commercial axes in Europe. The plaça de Sants sits in the middle of the neighbourhood, where Carrer de Galileu, Joan Güell, Olzinelles and Sant Antoni begin.[2][1]

The railway tracks and the Ronda del Mig are buried, and in 2016 the Jardins de la Rambla de Sants opened, covering the tracks at the entrance to the city. Mills have given way to parks, civic centres and squares.[2][1]

Dates that changed it

  1. 991 first written mention of Sants, as villa de Sanctos.[1]
  2. 1764 the Carretera de Sants is begun.[1]
  3. 1846 the Vapor Vell begins producing cotton corduroy and velvet.[4]
  4. 1854 the first Sants station opens, next to the Espanya Industrial.[5]
  5. July 1855 during the first general strike, the director of the Vapor Vell, Josep Sol i Padrís, is shot dead.[4]
  6. 1875 the depot for mule- and horse-drawn trams is built.[6]
  7. 1897 Sants is annexed to Barcelona (20 April).[2][1]
  8. 1913 the Mercat de Sants, by Pere Falqués, is inaugurated.[7]
  9. 1918 the Congrés Obrer de Sants is held at the Ateneu Racionalista Obrer.[1]
  10. 1984 the Centre Cívic Cotxeres de Sants opens.[6]
  11. 26 October 1985 the Parc de l'Espanya Industrial opens.[8][9]
  12. 2000 the neighbourhood movement succeeds in recovering the Vapor Vell.[4]
  13. 2016 the Jardins de la Rambla de Sants open over the tracks.[2][1]

People and collective life

Joan Güell i Ferrer

Returned emigrant who in 1844 bought the plot on which the Vapor Vell was raised, the first large steam mill in Sants.[4]

Maties Muntadas i Rovira

Director of the Espanya Industrial; Alfonso XIII made him Count of Santa Maria de Sants in 1909.[2][1]

Jacint Laporta i Mercader

Physician (1854-1938) who published the first history of Sants in 1880 and did most to make the town known before and after annexation.[2][1]

Institutions

Cotxeres de Sants

A civic centre since 1984 in the former tram depot at Carrer de Sants 79-81; it hosts the Open d'Escacs de Sants, Hostafrancs i la Bordeta and the Marató de Cinema Fantàstic i de Terror de Sants.[6]

Mercat de Sants

Covered market by Pere Falqués, inaugurated in 1913, 4,118 m² in three naves; remodelled in 2014.[7]

Biblioteca Vapor Vell

The district's central library in the former mill; the same building houses the Escola Barrufet.[4]

Struggles that left a mark

Recovering the Vapor Vell

Demand: In 1977 the Vapor Vell was bought by Jorba Preciados for a department store; it was later expropriated and the neighbourhood movement demanded its recovery.[4]

Outcome: It was recovered in 2000; the main hall and the chimney were kept as public facilities, and there is a library and a school.[4]

A park where the mill stood

Demand: After neighbourhood demands, the City Council bought part of the mill's land in 1979 for a large park.[8][9]

Outcome: The park opened on 26 October 1985 and won a FAD architecture and interior-design prize that year.[8][9]

The depot, for the neighbourhood

Demand: When the depot fell out of use in 1968 a tram museum was proposed, but neighbours asked for a public space.[6]

Outcome: In 1977 the first public-use area opened and in 1984 the civic centre was inaugurated.[6]

What can still be seen

Vapor Vell

Former textile mill declared a cultural asset of national interest, the first large steam mill in Sants.[4]

Mercat de Sants

Local cultural asset: three equal naves under a metal frame, a façade with three arched windows and a mosaic of the city's old coat of arms.[7]

What disappeared

The Vapor Nou

The Vapor Nou, the Muntadas family's textile mill, gave way to the park opened in 1985; what survives of the mill is not the complex but the name and a few pieces, such as the Casa del Mig and the entrance arch on Carrer de Muntadas.[2][1][8][9]

The neighbourhood today

The administrative Sants neighbourhood had 46,676 residents in 2026, a density of 426.3 people per hectare, average census-section income of €25,562 in 2023, an area of 109.5 hectares, and 29.2% of residents held non-Spanish nationality.[10][11][12][13]

Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 29.2%

What is changing

Sants station under works

As of October 2026: according to El Nacional (26 June), access to Barcelona-Sants through the plaça dels Països Catalans closes from late September until the end of 2028 while the new high-speed vestibule is built. Meanwhile travellers enter by the plaça de Joan Peiró and by new side entrances, the sea-side one from late September 2026 and the mountain-side one planned for the end of 2026. The Rodalies vestibule will grow by 85% and the high-speed one by 175%.[3]

What the guides leave out

The first fiction film

In 1897 the Sants filmmaker Fructuós Gelabert shot Baralla en un cafè in the courtyard of the Vapor Vell, considered the first fiction film made in Spain.[4]

Read it on foot

Start: Sants Estació (L3/L5) · End: Mercat de Sants[7]

Walking (excluding stop time): 23 min · 1750 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 78 min

The geometry follows the pedestrian network between the five marked points, but it has not been verified as step-free. The approach from public transport is not included in the stated distance.

Sants (neighbourhood 18) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sants-Montjuïc: el Poble-sec, la Marina del Prat Vermell, la Marina de Port, la Font de la Guatlla, Hostafrancs, la Bordeta.

1
Barcelona-Sants
Barcelona-Sants, Plaça dels Països Catalans
Look for the works hoardings on the plaça dels Països Catalans and the signs pointing to the other entrances, by the plaça de Joan Peiró and beside the Parc de l'Espanya Industrial.
The first Sants station dates from 1854, beside the Espanya Industrial; the present one came into service in 1979. Access through the plaça closes from late September 2026 until the end of 2028.[5][3]
Coordinates
41.37901, 2.13996 · OpenStreetMap
2
Parc de l'Espanya Industrial
Parc de l'Espanya Industrial, Muntadas 1
420 m · 6 min
Go to the edge of the lake and find Andrés Nagel's dragon with open wings over the water, then Peña Ganchegui's lighthouse towers.
Part of the Espanya Industrial mill stood here; the City Council bought land in 1979 after neighbourhood demands, and the park, with a 10,000 m² lake, opened on 26 October 1985.[8][9]
Coordinates
41.37775, 2.14092 · OpenStreetMap
3
Cotxeres de Sants
Cotxeres de Sants, Carrer de Sants 79-81
600 m · 8 min
Read the names of the civic centre's buildings: Jacint Laporta, Antoni Pérez i Moya, Francesc Masclans and Modest Feu, all people of the neighbourhood.
The depot for mule- and horse-drawn trams was built here in 1875; it fell out of use in 1968 and neighbours asked for a public space, not a tram museum. The civic centre opened in 1984.[6]
Coordinates
41.37522, 2.13685 · OpenStreetMap
4
Vapor Vell
Vapor Vell, Passatge del Vapor Vell 1-7
360 m · 5 min
Find the chimney and the main hall of the old mill, surrounded by housing blocks and now occupied by a library and a school.
Joan Güell bought the land in 1844 and the mill produced from 1846; in July 1855 its director was shot dead here during the first general strike. It closed in 1890 and the neighbourhood recovered it in 2000.[4]
Coordinates
41.37690, 2.13460 · OpenStreetMap
5
Mercat de Sants
Mercat de Sants, Carrer de Sant Jordi 6
370 m · 5 min
Look at the façade with three arched windows and the mosaic of the city's old coat of arms, and the narrow windows with green ceramic pieces.
Municipal architect Pere Falqués designed it and it was inaugurated in 1913; it covers 4,118 m² in three naves and was remodelled in 2014.[7]
Coordinates
41.37467, 2.13339 · OpenStreetMap

Sources for this page

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

  1. [1] Viquipèdia (2026). Sants. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  2. [2] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Districte de Sants-Montjuïc (2026). Història de Sants. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  3. [3] El Nacional (2026-06-26). L'accés a l'estació Barcelona Sants per la plaça Països Catalans, tancat al setembre i fins al 2028. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  4. [4] Viquipèdia (2026). Vapor Vell (Sants). Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  5. [5] Viquipèdia (2026). Estació de Barcelona-Sants. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  6. [6] Viquipèdia (2026). Cotxeres de Sants. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  7. [7] Viquipèdia (2026). Mercat de Sants. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  8. [8] Viquipèdia (2026). Parc de l'Espanya Industrial. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  9. [9] Ajuntament de Barcelona (n.d.). Parc de l'Espanya Industrial. Accessed: 2026-10-09.
  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 (2023). Renda disponible de les llars per persona. Seccions censals. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  12. [12] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2021). Densitat de població per barri. 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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