Barcelona closes the scar of the Glòries: this is how it has changed

BarcelonaAfter nearly twenty years of construction, Barcelona closed the scar of Glòries this Saturday. Two decades and €640 million later, a major civic celebration welcomed what is now one of the city's main green spaces. A transformation that began in 2003, with which the Catalan capital aims to leave behind the times when this space—the only point where the city's three main avenues intersect and which was once a headache for Ildefons Cerdà—seemed cursed.

In fact, during the inauguration, Mayor Jaume Collboni referred to the surrounding residents, who for nearly 15 years have lived surrounded by construction. Collboni brought forward his visit to the festival at the last minute due to the forecast of rain, which didn't prevent the events from starting as planned, but did force the musicians playing children's songs to stop shortly afterward.

The square was filling up with umbrellas lining up to get to the tables where different workshops were being held, such as one on making bird nesting boxes. However, the longest queue, which held up even when the rain intensified, ended at the table where hot chocolate was being handed out. Meanwhile, groups of families discussed whether to wait for the rain to stop or find another plan to continue their morning. "It's cold now, but we'll enjoy it in the summer," Carmen said to the friend she came with today, already thinking about returning to the square with her grandchildren another day.

In one corner of the square, there was also an exhibition of historic photographs of Glòries. You only had to look at them to see how this part of the city has changed since 2003, when talk began about how to undo the Olympic botch job of building the double link in 1992.

Comparing the seed images with the one from today makes evident one of the main transformations of the space. It has gone from being a transit area designed primarily for crossing by car to a resting area. The new design, which has been replaced by a number of obstacles, has allowed the tens of thousands of vehicles entering and leaving the city via Gran Via to cross the square below. The upper part of the square has given way to public transport, with the new interchange between Line 1—and its iconic exit at the new immersion garden—and the tram, which, with the connection to Verdaguer opened in November, has become one of the symbols of the new park.

A park or a square?

The renovation of Glòries Square aims to once and for all put an end to the debate over how to resolve a space that, despite the numerous transformations it has undergone since its inauguration on May 13, 1919, has never quite settled. However, new controversies are sure to arise—albeit minor ones—such as the debate raised by the City Council's chief architect, Maria Buhigas, over whether it can still be called a Glòries Square or should now be openly referred to as a park, given the nine hectares gained. A large esplanade with plenty of green space houses new spaces such as the shade house, which will offer almost 700 square meters of shade and is expected to frequently host events to escape the sun, which, until the trees grow, will be one of the square's handicaps. Also featured is the Berta Cáceres Sensory Agora, a space of more than 2,500 square meters surrounded by a crown of bamboo trees that will grow to be gigantic when grown, serving as a multipurpose outdoor space and even hosting theater performances or concerts. Finally, the park also has a new dog recreation area and a super children's play area of almost 2,000 square meters, which this Saturday already demonstrated that it will be one of the busiest areas.

All of this is in addition to the part of the park that opened in 2019 and features the great Clariana. A complex that promises to turn Glòries into one of the main leisure spots for Barcelona residents, who starting this Saturday will make their own a new park that is sure to be a highlight on days like La Mercè and that, at first glance, seems far from the tourist overcrowding.

What's still missing

Despite this Saturday's opening party, the new Plaça de les Glòries is not yet complete. Still pending, for example, is the completion of the urbanization of the section of Gran Via to Rambla del Poblenou before the summer, or the completion of the remodeling of the mountain corner of the square, where demolitions will have to be carried out before the park balcony can be built and the twenty families who still live there will be relocated.

There are also missing facilities that must accompany others already completed, such as the Design Museum, the new Encants, the Leonor Serrano Nursery School, and the Escola dels Encants. Among the pending projects are the primary schools in Fort Pienc and La Laguna and Poblenou, a residence for the elderly, and the final location of the Gaia School in the former Umbrella Factory. Also pending is the arrival of the park's new residents. Those on Illa Glòries—238 subsidized public housing units already built and awaiting a drawing—and the remaining buildings still await construction. This Friday, the neighborhood associations of Fort Pienc, Sagrada Familia, Clot - Camp de l'Arpa, and Poblenou criticized the municipal government's "compromising approach" to the park's opening and warned that, considering the pending amenities, construction is still "little more than halfway done."