Social and cultural activity hub

Can Batlló is today a hub for social and cultural activity with a community bar, a library, a printing facility, a vegetable patch and more, making it a microcosm for groups and organisations that form part of the self-managed Community and Local Residents’ Space at Can Batlló.

This green lung became reality in 2024 with the opening of the newParc de Can Batlló: nearly 30,000 square metres of greenery, with spaces for people to meet and spend time in, sports courts, a large children’s play area and a dog area.

The park's design includes some walls and elements of the former industrial site, preserving historical memory as these buildings are recognised as an Asset of Local Cultural Interest. The central unit (block 8) is to house the Barcelona city archive.

A regained factory

Built in the 19th century for the textile manufacturing industry, Can Batlló has a surface area comparable to the Camp Nou and in its day was one of the most important textile bastions of the time, along with the Vapor Vell and the Espanya Industrial. During the 20th century, the textile factory gradually lost its competitiveness and in 1964 it closed down. Can Batlló then became a small industrial estate for sublet workshops and warehouses, which moved out definitively around the turn of the 21st century.

Besides the community space, the former textile site is home to the Escola de Mitjans Audiovisuals, the cooperative space Bloc4BCN and housing, where the development of La Borda stands out as the first housing cooperative built on public land in Barcelona through a leasehold agreement. This building is the work of the architects of LaCol, a group of young professionals that teamed up in the struggle by local residents and were tasked with bringing the abandoned industrial units to life.