Work begins on the Teatro Principal de la Rambla (four years late)

BarcelonaThe year 2021 was announced with great fanfare. A new cultural project for Barcelona's Teatre Principal, spearheaded by a private investor and approved by Ada Colau's City Council, has finally begun. Construction didn't start in 2022, but four years later, just a few days ago, and will last two and a half years, meaning it could reopen at the end of 2028. The budget has also changed, rising from the initially planned €25 million to €45 million. The project involves the renovation of 10,000 square meters.² of a complex that includes the city's oldest theater and would entail restoring cultural activity to one of the emblematic spaces at the head of La Rambla.

The artistic and architectural project remains as planned. As announced in 2019Businessman José María Trénor (owner of the Praktik hotel chain and the Cotton House in Barcelona), through Atir Hospitality, reached an agreement with the building's owners, the Balañá family, to manage the space for 50 years. The Batlle i Roig firm will be responsible for restoring the space, preserving its most iconic features, such as the original eight-meter-high stained-glass windows and the Venus Dome, a work by Francisco Daniel Molina from the mid-19th century. There is also a second small theater on the ground floor, the Teatro Latino, and the Jai Alai fronton, both the result of Adolf Florensa's work in the early 20th century. The Teatro Principal was originally built in the late 17th century and was later rebuilt in a style reminiscent of the Teatro Principal. Art Deco in 1934 after several fires. Batlle i Roig's project is of great importance because the rooms will be connected by an interior space that will also be an open passageway linking the Rambla with the small Anna Murià square. In order to provide cultural and recreational facilities for the entire complex, it was necessary to offset the use of other spaces at a different location.

After the fiasco of the brief reopening that took place between 2013 and 2015, and that ended with the arrest of the responsible person And with the space, converted into a nightclub, now sealed off, the current project aims to "host theater, musical theater, live music, and temporary exhibitions, complemented by a range of dining options." They have announced that the project will benefit from "the advice of leading professionals in the cultural sector": Jordi Sellas, director of the immersive space Ideal; Julia Gómez Cora, producer of large-scale musicals; and Ventura Barba, until recently part of the Sónar team. The goal, they state, is for "it to reopen its doors so that artists, musicians, and Barcelona residents can reconnect with the cultural tradition at the end of La Rambla."