In 1848, Badalona railway station was inaugurated by the sea as part of the first railway line on the Iberian Peninsula, with the aim of linking Barcelona to another city of major industrial importance, Mataró. Led by the businessman from Mataró, Miquel Biada i Buñol, this new infrastructure marked a turning point for all the towns it passed through —an impact that is still visible and actively claimed today.
In Badalona, the change was evident from the moment construction began, when fishermen suddenly lost the space they used to store and protect their boats. This led to strong opposition from the fishing community, which even went so far as to sabotage the works on several occasions. This guild probably anticipated what the arrival of the railway line would inevitably bring: a transformation that was not only urban, but also economic and social.
This entire process of change remained centred on its focal point —the station— and expanded on both sides, always in relation to the coastline. The sea had in fact long been one of the city’s driving forces thanks to fishing. The area then known as the Baix a Mar neighbourhood was the centre of this activity. This changed when the industrial bourgeoisie decided to establish their residences in the area, giving rise to Badalona’s first expansion, which transformed a zone originally devoted to one of the city’s most important productive activities into its social and commercial centre. This event can in fact be extrapolated to a broader shift in perspective: the first sea baths taken by Queen Isabella II at Sant Sebastià and the emergence of the first sports clubs by the beach contributed to a change in the collective perception of the sea, which began to be seen less as a port, a source of food or a means of travel, and more as a place for leisure. The beach became another space for gathering and enjoyment within the city.
The station separates the two new expansion areas: to the east lies the city’s residential, social and commercial centre, characterised by architecture generally influenced by Catalan Art Nouveau; to the west is the industrial expansion area, where the city’s most important factories were established, along with housing for their workers. It was around the Rambla promenade, running parallel to the sea, that large residences for the bourgeoisie were built, such as Ca l’Escanyaralets or the Casa Matamala. The beach, on the other side of the tracks, also began to form part of everyday life and, in summer, became another meeting point where people could cool off. To this end, towards the end of the 19th century bathing establishments began to grow in popularity along the Barcelona coastline, and La Donzella de la Costa, active in Badalona since 1929, remains an example still in use today, having undergone successive adaptations.
One of the most important commercial axes, Carrer del Mar, was also consolidated in the early 20th century. It connects the Rambla promenade perpendicularly with the Town Hall of Badalona. With several notable examples, this street today illustrates the evolution of architectural design for commercial use. From the Catalan Art Nouveau that characterises the design of early 20th century pharmacies and chemists, such as the Boter chemist’s, through to designs like that of the Surroca pharmacy —also by the prolific Badalona-born architect Joan Amigó i Barriga— which represents the transition from a deeply rooted Catalan Art Nouveau to an architecture influenced by Vienna, that is much closer to the modern movement, to the Gubern shoe shop, still retaining some of the features introduced during the second renovation carried out by the MBM studio in the 1970s.
On the other hand, separated by a major axis, Avinguda de Martí Pujol, we find the western expansion area, more closely linked to industry. It was here that such significant industries of the time were established as the Giró factory, also known as Can Casacuberta; the G. de Andreis factory, popularly called “La Llauna”; and Anís del Mono—all three buildings also designed by Joan Amigó i Barriga. The sea played a very different role on this side: it remained primarily a tool of production. In this case, Badalona swapped fishing boats for oil tankers unloading at the Pont del Petroli (Oil Jetty), today one of the city’s most symbolic landmarks.
The route not only traces the transformation the city underwent with the arrival of the railway, but also pauses to observe the evolution of this new early twentieth-century city up to the present day. The Rambla promenade is still where people stroll on Saturdays; the beach continues to welcome bathers in summer. However, where there was once a tin factory now stands La Llauna secondary school, rehabilitated by Enric Miralles and Carme Pinós; where the first mesh fruit bag was patented there is now the Can Casacuberta library; and the Rambla no longer ends at the station, but continues onwards, transforming into a new seafront promenade for the city.
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