Avinguda Diagonal (; in Spanish: Avenida Diagonal) is the name of one of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

's broadest and most important avenues. It cuts the city in two, diagonally with respect to the grid pattern of the surrounding streets, hence the name. It was originally projected by engineer and

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, tow ...

Ildefons Cerdà as one of the city's wide avenues, which along with Avinguda Meridiana would cut the rationalist grid he designed for l'

Eixample The Eixample (, ) is a district of Barcelona between the old city (Ciutat Vella) and what were once surrounding small towns (Sants, Gràcia, Sant Andreu, etc.), constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its population was 262,000 at ...

( Catalan for ''extension''). Both would meet at Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, which Cerdà envisioned as the new city centre. However, Plaça Catalunya, equally a new addition to the city of Barcelona, and connecting Ciutat Vella and

, and therefore occupying a more privileged position in the urban area, would finally become the centre. Avinguda Diagonal remains to this day a much-transited avenue and many companies and hotels use it as a privileged location, as can be seen in its architecture. The avenue starts in the Les Corts district on the western edge of the city and runs to the Sant Martí district on the eastern edge. To its west, it connects with the

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

highway and Ronda de Dalt in the neighbouring municipality of

Esplugues de Llobregat Esplugues de Llobregat () is a municipality of the Barcelona metropolitan area. Formerly in the ''Barcelonès'', since 1990 it has been part of the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Baix Llobregat. During recent decades Esplugues has evolved fro ...

. To its east, it meets the Ronda del Litoral on the border with the municipality of Sant Adrià de Besòs. It is consistently wide and about long.

Name

The different regimes that held power in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

and Spain during the 20th century sought to change the city's street names, and Avinguda Diagonal was permitted no exception. It has been known under the following names: * Gran Via Diagonal – original name which Ildefons Cerdà and Víctor Balaguer intended to call the avenue. * Avinguda d'Argüelles – 1891. Named after

Agustín Argüelles Agustín Argüelles (18 August 1776 in Ribadesella, Asturias – 26 March 1844 in Madrid) was a Spanish liberal politician. He served as the 81st and 94th president of the Congress of Deputies. Biography He studied Law at the University ...

(1776–1844). * Avinguda de la Nacionalitat Catalana – 1922. Mancomunitat de Catalunya, (in English, Commonwealth of Catalonia). * Avenida de Alfonso XIII −1924. During

Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, Grandee, GE (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a Spanish dictator and military officer who ruled as prime minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during the last years of the Resto ...

's dictatorship, named after King

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

. * Avinguda del Catorze d'Abril – 1931.

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

(1931–1939). * Gran Vía Diagonal – 1939, provisional name imposed the day after the

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

capture of

as an attempt to eliminate references to the Republic. * Avenida del Generalísimo Francisco Franco – 1939. During the authoritarian regime of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

. * Avinguda Diagonal – Its current name, adopted following the restoration of democracy in 1979. The name "Diagonal" has always prevailed in popular usage.

History

Early history

Ildefons Cerdà's so-called Pla Cerdà was not totally successful in transforming Barcelona's urban reality, as only parts of it were finally approved. The construction of Avinguda Diagonal is one of the projects it entailed that became reality, when a Royal Decree from Queen Isabella II of Spain and

Leopoldo O'Donnell Leopoldo O'Donnell y Jorris, 1st Duke of Tetuán, GE (12 January 1809 – 5 November 1867), was a Spanish general and Grandee who was Prime Minister of Spain on several occasions. Early life He was born at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Cana ...

Spanish government The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the o ...

allowed him to start the construction of the avenue in 1859. The city council of Barcelona had previously requested the approval of Antoni Rovira i Trias's alternative project instead, which had been rejected. Avinguda Diagonal 070

After the completion of its central section, from the current Plaça de Francesc Macià towards Glòries, it soon became one of Barcelona's most popular avenues and an ideal place for the Catalan

aristocrats Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

and

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

to exhibit their carriages. Francesc Cambó, leader of

Lliga Regionalista Regionalist League of Catalonia (, ; 1901–1936) was a right wing political party of Catalonia, Spain. It had a Catalanist, conservative, and monarchic ideology. Notable members of the party were Enric Prat de la Riba, Francesc Cambó, Agust ...

proposed the construction of a new palace for the then monarch

in 1919 (the royal palace in Ciutat Vella had been destroyed in the fire of 1875).

Recent history

Avinguda Diagonal suffered several attacks by the Basque separatist organisation

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

in 2000. On 2 November, a

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, van bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roug ...

exploded injuring a security officer and a municipal officer. A few days later, on 21 November, a car used by the killers of Ernest Lluch exploded in the middle of the avenue. On 20 December a municipal officer was shot dead. Four venues in the area hosted competitions for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

. During 2010, Diagonal reform proposals were on the headlines, as the Barcelona city council had plans to make the tram cross the whole avenue. A ''popular consultation'' (the word ''referendum'' being banned by Spanish law) was scheduled for May 2010 between two reform proposals, the so-called ''rambla'' or ''boulevard''. It resulted in a big political failure for the city mayor, Jordi Hereu. There was a bare participation of 12% of potential voters, and about 80% voted for the third option ''none of the former two'', that is, against any change.
Opción C: Varapalo al alcalde Hereu
'' a ''La Vanguardia'' 16 May 2010

Buildings and places of interest

Architecture

* Casa del Baró de Quadras ( Museu de la Música) – designed by

Josep Puig i Cadafalch Josep Puig i Cadafalch (; 17 October 1867 in Mataró – 21 December 1956 in Barcelona) was a Spanish architect who designed many significant buildings in Barcelona, and a politician who had a significant role in the development of Catalan regio ...

(1904–1906) * Casa Comalat – designed by Salvador Valeri i Pupurull (1906–1911) * Església del Carme – designed by Josep Domènech i Estapà, neo-Byzantine style (1909) * Casa Serra – also designed by

, became a school. * Casa de Terrades, also known as Casa de les Punxes – Eixample's widest building, designed by Puig i Cadafalch (1903–1905) * ME Barcelona hotel, designed by Dominique Perrault (2007). * Palau Pérez Samanillo * Casa Sayrach – (1918) * Palau Reial de Pedralbes (1921), built for Alfonso XIII of Spain and its gardens. (1924). *

Torre Agbar ''Torre'' (plurals ''torri'' and ''torres'') means ''tower'' in seven Romance languages ( Portuguese, Spanish, Galician, Catalan, Italian, Occitan and Corsican) and may refer to: Biology * Muir-Torre syndrome, the inherited cancer syndrom ...

– designed by

Jean Nouvel Jean Nouvel (; born 12 August 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of ''Mars 1976'' and ''Syndicat de l'Architecture'', France’s first labor union for architects. He has ob ...

, next to Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes (2005). *

La Caixa Headquarters La Caixa (La Caixa Headquarters) is a complex of three buildings, including a skyscraper in Barcelona, Spain. Completed in 1974. ''La Caixa 1'' has 26 floors and rises 85 meters, ''La Caixa 2'' has 14 floors and rises 48 meters. - emporis.com ''La ...

* Disseny Hub Barcelona

Shopping centres

* L'Illa. * El Corte Inglés Avinguda Diagonal * El Corte Inglés Francesc Macià * Diagonal Mar * Glòries * Pedralbes Centre

Cinemas

*CINESA Diagonal Mar *Boliche *CINESA Diagonal *Glòries Multicines

Education

Avinguda Diagonal is also home to several schools of both

Universitat de Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public university, public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. Wi ...

(UB) and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, in the area that is commonly known as '' Zona Universitària''. The following UB faculties and schools are located on the avenue: *Biology (Av. Diagonal, 645) *Chemical Engineering (Av. Diagonal, 647) *Chemistry (Av. Diagonal, 647) *Business school (Av. Diagonal, 696) *Economics (Av. Diagonal, 690) *Law (Av. Diagonal, 684) *Materials Engineering (Av. Diagonal, 647) *Physics (Av. Diagonal, 647) Diagonalbcnpan

Transport

Metro

The avenue is served by a number of metro stations: * Zona Universitària ( L3, L9) * Palau Reial ( L3) * Maria Cristina ( L3) *

Diagonal In geometry, a diagonal is a line segment joining two vertices of a polygon or polyhedron, when those vertices are not on the same edge. Informally, any sloping line is called diagonal. The word ''diagonal'' derives from the ancient Greek � ...

( L3, L5) – In and around Passeig de Gràcia. * Provença ( L6, L7) – In Carrer Provença, linked with

station. * Verdaguer ( L4, L5) – In Plaça Verdaguer * Glòries ( L1) – in Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes. * Selva de Mar ( L4). * El Maresme Fòrum ( L4).

Tram

Trambaix *Zona Universitària ( T1, T2, T3) *Palau Reial ( T1, T2, T3) *Maria Cristina ( T1, T2, T3) *Numància ( T1, T2, T3) *L'Illa ( T1, T2, T3) *Francesc Macià ( T1, T2, T3) Trambesòs *Verdaguer ( T4) *Sicília ( T4) *Monumental ( T4) *Glòries ( T4, T5, T6) *Ca L'Aranyó ( T4) *Pere IV ( T4) *Fluvià ( T4) *Selva de Mar ( T4) *El Maresme ( T4) *Fòrum ( T4)

References

Sources

* ALBAREDA, Joaquim, GUÀRDIA, Manel i altres. Enciclopèdia de Barcelona, Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana, Barcelona, 2006.

External links

Article on Avinguda Diagonal by journalist Lluís Permanyer

.
The new tile of Diagonal in Barcelona
{{Authority control Venues of the 1992 Summer Olympics Streets in Barcelona Les Corts (district) Eixample Sant Martí (district) Shopping districts and streets in Catalonia Tourist attractions in Barcelona