Plaça de Francesc Macià, Barcelona
Encyclopedia
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Located in one of the main business areas of the city, it's one of the most transited points of Barcelona. It's crossed by Avinguda Diagonal and several other major thoroughfares: Avinguda de Josep Tarradellas, Travessera de Gràcia
Travessera de Gràcia
Travessera de Gràcia is a street in Barcelona named after Gràcia, a district it crosses, even though it spans two more districts. It starts in Plaça de Francesc Macià in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, and ends in Carrer de Cartagena in Horta-Guinardó, where one of the landmarks of the city, the Hospital de...
, Carrer del Comte d'Urgell and Avinguda de Pau Casals. It's part of the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi
Sarrià-Sant Gervasi
Sarrià-Sant Gervasi is one of the biggest districts of Barcelona, situated on the north-west of the city, surrounded by districts of Les Corts, Gràcia, Eixample i Horta-Guinardo, and by the villages of Sant Just, Sant Feliu, Molins de Rei and Sant Cugat...
district, even though it borders two other districts of Barcelona
Districts of Barcelona
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain proper is presently divided into 10 districts. These are administrated by a councillor designated by the main city council, and each of them have some powers relating to issues such as urbanism or infrastructure in their area. The current division of the city into...
: Les Corts
Les Corts
Les Corts may refer to:*Camp de Les Corts - the former home ground of FC Barcelona.*District of Les Corts - a district of Barcelona....
and Eixample
Eixample
The Eixample is a district of Barcelona between the old city and what were once surrounding small towns , constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries....
.
It's named after Francesc Macià i Llussà
Francesc Macià i Llussà
Francesc Macià i Llussà was the 122nd President of Catalonia formerly a Catalan officer in the Spanish Army.-Life:He achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel during his military career....
(1859-1933), Catalan president during the Second Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
who proclaimed a short-lived Catalan Republic
Catalan Republic
The Catalan Republic also known as the Catalan State, is an unrecognized state claimed by the Catalan independentism or nationalism. The Catalan Republic has been proclaimed at least four times:* In 1641, by Pau Claris....
.
The central part of the square contains a pond modelled after the shape of Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
, the birthplace of its architect, Nicolau Rubió i Tudurí, as well as femenine sculpture called Joventut ("youth") designed by Josep Manuel Benedicto, added in 1953.
Spanish-language newspaper La Vanguardia
La Vanguardia
La Vanguardia is Catalonia's leading daily newspaper as well as the fourth best-selling in Spain. It has its headquarters in Barcelona, Catalonia's largest city....
is based in Avinguda Diagonal 477, within square limits.
History
The square was devised by Nicolau Rubió i Tudurí in the 1930s as part of the urban reform envisioned for Barcelona, under the specific name of Proyecto de Urbanización de la Avenida de Alfonso XIII, entre la calle Urgel, desde el Palacio Real hasta el límite del término municipal ("urbanisation project for Alfonso XIII Avenue, between Carrer d'Urgell, from Palau Reial to city government limits"). The square's name has been changed in repeated occasions over time until the transition to democracySpanish transition to democracy
The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
(1975-1978). In 1979 its current name was adopted.
Names
This is the complete list of names given to the square:- 1932: Alcalá Zamora - former president of the Second Spanish RepublicSecond Spanish RepublicThe Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
. - 1936: Hermanos Badía - honouring brothers Josep Badia and Miquel Badia, murdered by FAIFederación Anarquista IbéricaThe Federación Anarquista Ibérica is a Spanish organization of anarchist militants active within affinity groups inside the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo trade union. It is often abbreviated as CNT-FAI because of the close relationship between the two organizations...
members earlier that year. - 1939: Calvo SoteloJosé Calvo SoteloJosé Calvo Sotelo, 1st Duke of Calvo Sotelo was a Spanish politician prior to and during the Second Spanish Republic...
- right-wing monarchist politician during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship and the Second Spanish RepublicSecond Spanish RepublicThe Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
, murdered in 1936, considered a "martyr of the crusade" during Francisco Franco's dictatorshipSpanish StateFrancoist Spain refers to a period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975 when Spain was under the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco....
. - 1979: Francesc Macià
Transport
The square is the terminus of TrambaixTrambaix
The Trambaix is a light rail system operated by TRAMMET connecting the Baix Llobregat area with the city of Barcelona, Catalonia. It opened to the public on April 5, 2004 after a weekend when the tram could be used free of charge....
routes T1, T2 and T3.
It can also be accessed using the following bus lines: 6, 7, 14, 15, 27, 32, 33, 34, 41, 54, 59, 63, 66, 67 and 68.
A Barcelona Metro
Barcelona Metro
The Barcelona Metro , part of the public transportation system of Barcelona, Catalonia, is an extensive network of electrified railways that run underground in central Barcelona and above ground into the city's suburbs. Since July 31, 2010, Barcelona Metro system consists of 11 lines with 165...
station is projected there: Francesc Macià (Barcelona Metro)
Francesc Macià (Barcelona Metro)
Francesc Macià is a projected Barcelona Metro station, which is due to be served by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya L8, as part of the station's enlargement towards Gràcia. It would be located on the Plaça de Francesc Macià, in the district of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi...
See also
- List of streets and squares in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi