Introduction and History by Andrea Lamoso

The district of El Raval, located in the medieval city quarter of Barcelona, was until recently
one of the most densely populated urban areas in the world and had one of the highest
mortality rates among Europe. Recent and ongoing regeneration schemes have dramatically
altered the social and environmental characteristics of some parts of the quarter. However,
many of the streets, usually narrow passageways, remain little touched since the Middle
Ages.

In 1800, the majority of El Raval had not been built up, but consisted of small market gardens
that supplied the city. By 1850 the Industrial Revolution was leading to El Raval rapidly
filling with tenement blocks (for the workers from the countryside) and textile mills, powered
by coal. These buildings were built several storeys high to maximise space, for this was the
district for the new industries of a Barcelona still tightly contained within its defensive walls.
The tenement blocks were high-rise slums.

Today much of the area has changed enormously. It still has an industrial flavour, but its surviving industry consists of small old-fashioned workshops in trades like printing, furniture or building supplies. Although many of the old tenement blocks have been demolished, most of them remain. There is a growing trend to modernise those blocks in best condition, but many remain with old electric wiring and poor or inadequate water supply. The aim of the project of reconstruction has been to change the area of El Raval to attract new people and to change the reputation of the city as a whole.

An important element of the neighborhood of el Raval is what we called the process of gentrification, with the construction of a students’ residence, a new police station and office blocks and flats on the demolished sites. The changes have attracted higher socio-economic groups into the inner city and thus have increased the land values and the lower income citizens had to leave the district.

Focusing on one space in el Raval, we find the space of Carrer de Joaquin Costa, an exquisite street whose existence dates to the year 1819. Until 1923, the street's former name was Carrer Ponent, but after the street was named as the 19th century Aragonese intellectual, economist and Liberal politician Joaquín Costa.

The street has been in a continuous process of gentrification during the 2000s and has become more mainstream attention in recent years for its bars, restaurants, shops... as well as a residential area home to many Filipino and Pakistani immigrants.

Before introducing my perception of El Raval and specially the street of Joaquin Costa, I want to point out that I am from Gran Canaria and the district little reminds me to Vegueta, the original settlement that gave birth to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria at the end of the 15th Century. In both districts we can find contemporary art museums, as well as a church, bars and shops. From my perspective, El Raval is a multicultural neighborhood, where you can find tourists, as well as immigrants and locals. It is a modern and hipster district where you can enjoy going to bars with friends, sit down in the street near MACBA and discover street alternative cultures like skaters and artists.

References:

Massey, D. (1994). Space, place and gender. Cambridge: Polity Press. Night Out in Barcelona: Carrer Joaquin Costa. (2018). [Blog]. Retrieved from from https://www.shbarcelona.com/blog/en/night-out-in-barcelona-joaquin-costa/ Lees, L. (2012). Article The geography of gentrification: Thinking through comparative urbanism. King's College, London. Romanoff, S. (2018). El Raval Barcelona - alternative neighborhood, rich history and more. Retrieved from https://www.santjordihostels.com/el-raval-barcelona-neighborhood/