Sant Andreu de Palomar is a neighbourhood 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 ...

. It's the oldest part of the Sant Andreu district. It was an independent old town with over 1,000 years of recorded history before being annexed to Barcelona on 20 April 1897. It has an area of 174 hectares and has a population of about 55,000 inhabitants. Its boundaries are: the street Rovira i Virgili, old Riera de Horta, Passeig de Santa Coloma, the Meridiana Avenue and the railroad tracks. History: Around the 8th century, in a document of towns near

, Sant Andreu de Palomar was mentioned. It is known that there have been three religious buildings in the history of the town (all

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

): the primitive "Ermita de San Andres", Hermitage of the Segadors (reapers in English, named after the revolt of the reapers of the Catalan peasants against the Hispanic monarchy) which is currently abandoned and the church of Sant Andreu which continues today. Siemore was a town of peasants, considered by the ancient citizens of Barcelona as "poor peasants." With the New Plant Decrees (made by Philip V to eliminate the Catalan language, culture and institutions) he made the town of San Andres de Palomar official (in Spanish, for the elimination of the Catalan language) In the 19th century, during the

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, the famous Fabra i Coats textile factory came into operation. At the end of the 19th century, it was annexed by

. In the 20th century, urbanization began following the Cerdà urban plan. Here, an army barracks was installed, which was taken by the anarcho-syndicalists in the civil war. During Franco's dictatorship, a large part of its territory was taken away, creating the

Nou Barris Nou Barris (, "nine neighbourhoods") is one of the ten districts into which Barcelona has been officially divided since 1984. The name refers to the original nine neighbourhoods it was composed of, even though nowadays it is made up of thirteen. ...

district (nine neighborhoods). In the 21st century, it became a highly sought-after place to live, thanks to its neighborhood atmosphere (many describe it as a village atmosphere), the beauty of the old town (the best preserved of the old towns in Barcelona). In recent years, a strong independence feeling emerged within the town, defending that Sant Andreu has to be a town again (it is the most marked independence feeling of the old’s towns of

). During the patron saint festivities, in the church, a banner is displayed that says SANT ANDREU IS NOT BARCELONA. In 2015, a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

was held where 93% of the inhabitants over 18 years of age voted and it came out that 83% wanted independence.

References

Sant Andreu de Palomar Sant Andreu de Palomar {{Barcelona-geo-stub