The bar at the Puig Antich prison, the Funicular, is saved from becoming a chain bakery.

BarcelonaIt was 1973, and Salvador Puig Antich entered the Funicular bar, run by Agustina Cardete, with a friend. He drank a Kas bitters. The friend ordered an orange soda. Little did he know that he was about to be arrested in a police operation. We already know the tragic ending to the story: the young anarchist and militant of the Iberian Liberation Movement was arrested and sentenced to death by garrote vil. Puig Antich is considered the last official victim of Franco's regime. Well, this is just one episode of many that have happened in this bar on Consell de Cent Street. A working-class establishment with a beautiful red facade.

This June, however, the Funicular bar closed its doors for retirement. The establishment already had a suitor when the news reached the owners of Grupo Confiteria, who specialize in rescuing establishments like Café del Centro, where Puig Antich also used to be. as we explained in this article, the Cat Fountain or, more recently, the World Bar. The one who showed interest was a bakery, one of those that many establishments now have everywhere and that offer very cheap, low-quality pastries. When Enric Rebordosa and Lito Baldovinos found out, although they had no plans to take on any new projects, they felt they were making a move. So, in a few months, already looking ahead to 2026, they plan to reopen the Funicular bar. They will do so as with the rest of their establishments, with a consistent approach but with a sieve of what they know works.

This isn't the first time they've received such proposals. It just so happens that, as their reputation for refurbishing premises precedes them, they also went after them with the Mundial Bar, which was put up for public auction. They were notified, they applied, and they won.