District of Eixample

Eixample, also known as Expansion district in Catalan is the name of second district of Barcelona.

It takes up the central area of the city, in a big area of 7,46 km2 . Designed by Ildefonso Cerdà. It is the most populated district of Barcelona and of all Spain in absolute numbers (262.485 inhabitants) and the second to related to the surface (35.586 inhabitants/ km2).

Notable areas

In the Eixample District, there are the big streets and avenues and popular squares of Barcelona, like: Passeig de Gràcia, Rambla Catalunya, Plaça Catalunya, Avinguda Diagonal, Carrer d’Aragó, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, Carrer de Balmes, Ronda Sant Antoni, Ronda de Sant Pere, Passeig de Sant Joan, Plaça de la Sagrada Familia, Plaça Gaudí, and at one end there is Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes and at the opposite end Plaça Francesc Macià.

There are also touristic places like Basílica de la Sagrada Família, Casa Milà, Casa Batlló, Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, Auditori de Barcelona, Plaça de Toros Monumental, la Casa de les Punxes, as well as a lot of movie theaters, restaurants, hotels, and other leisure places.

Historic context

During the first half of 19th century Barcelona saw a booming Industrial Revolution. The cities with a medieval street structure and many of them surrounded by walls were collapsing under the expansion of recently born industries. For this reason the population increased a lot.

The city of Barcelona, like many other european cities, was limited in its growth by the its walls. Behind the walls it was considered military zone. This implied the no construction of industries. This zone only could be use to agriculture.