During the 20th century, many cities used to host urban commercial galleries that attracted a new type of public to capitals like Barcelona. Getting to know them means hanging around its old commercial past.
Today’s shopping centres offer brands and services that, in the past, used to be far from the urban centre. They have a commercial strategy that is quite different from the one used by old commercial galleries on the emblematic urban streets.
Galleries are looking for some space on the most important commercial avenues, like Paseo de Gracia, and in modern shopping centres. The increase in rents resulting from LAU (Spanish Urban Rentals Law) and their poor presence at street level render their struggle to survive even harder.
However, they’re still part of the commercial and cultural past of shopping paradises like Barcelona.
Today, we’ll go around some of these historical galleries on the city’s main streets: La Rambla, Portaferrisa, Gran Via , Pelai, Tuset and Bori i Fontestà.
Let’s get to know this tiny corner of the history of Barcelona!
Galleries in Ciutat Vella
Astoria Galleries (Rambla dels Estudis, 113)
Located on well-known Rambla dels Estudis and next to Poliorama Theatre, where today is a huge supermarket, Barcelona used to have important commercial galleries.
Opened in 1955, they extended from La Rambla up to Xuclà Street. The heavy traffic of the area made it neccesary to open Pintor Fortuny Street (previously closed) to Las Ramblas.
Four years later, an important part of that area was taken by one of the first supermarkets of the city, thus changing their image completely.
The activity of Astoria Galleries decreased a lot to end up closing in 1968. Its location was occupied by a huge commercial area, which, after some years of development, became what such area is today.
Maldà Galleries (C/ Portaferrissa, 22)
Perfectly located in the Old Quarter, between Portaferrissa Street and Pi Square, Maldà Galleries were the first commercial galleries of the city.
They’re built on the old structure of Maldà Palace and occupy the Baron’s old gardens, an area that became galleries in 1943.
After decades of increasing abandonment, their renewal finally commenced in 2010, which resulted in their corridors being widened and opened to the streets.
Works lasted longer than planned, although the oldest galleries reopened for Christmas in 2012. The rest of the stores, still pending of renewal, are struggling to survive to this situation.
Galleries in Eixample
Avenida de la Luz (C/Pelai, 13-39)
Barcelona had the privilege of hosting one of the first modern commercial galleries of Europe and the fisrt underground gallery of the continent.
Opened in 1940 and located under Pelai Street, Avenida de la Luz (Spanish for ‘Avenue of Light’) is framed by Balmes and Bergara Streets on one side and by Plaza Catalunya on the other.
With an extense area of 175 metres of length and 10 metres of width, the galleries used to house any type of stores, leisure areas (such as cinemas) and even an old radio station.
Their splendour decreased progressively during the sixties and they started to languish in the seventies, until they finally closed in 1990.
Today, there’s a huge French perfume retail chain that is part of shopping centre Triangle d’Or and it also serves as access to the City Hall’s railway service.
Laietanes Galleries (Gran Via, 613)
They don’t exist today. However, they used to exist on Gran Via, just next to Paseo de Gracia. These galleries were founded by an important artistic promoter back to 1915.
At that time, Laietanes Galleries were the cultural starting point of many initiatives and a huge window for Noucentist Art. Their basement used to be a meeting point for artists and intellectuals of those times, as were 4 Gats for modernists.
On their inside, they were decorated with wall paintings by Xavier Nogués, including many types of artistic writings and phrases.
Some years later, the galleries became one of the biggest store rooms. Their paintings were taken in the forties and ended up being part of the estate of the National Art Museum of Catalonia.
Galleries in Sant Gervasi
Pasaje Arcadia (C/ Tuset, 14-16)
The galleries connecting Tuset and Balmes Streets used to be a referent point back in the times of Gauche Divine. It was a hard time for them, although they seem to have awaken during the latest years.
Arcadia means ‘idyllic place’ (heaven), and makes reference to the poetry and art of the area. That was taken by the owners of the old cinema on Tuset Street in order to give name to the galleries. The cinema worked from 1957 to 1998 and was also a point of reference on Pasaje Arcadia.
The galleries, opened in 1960 and envisioned by Sebastià Bonet i Ayet, were a referent point for a whole generation of artists and one of the most emblematic places of those times, with figures like Lola Flores, Salvador Dalí and Sara Montiel.
After their splendour during the sixties and seventies, and their decline of the following decades, today the galleries recover a bit of their magic. The renewal of Diagonal Avenue and the collaboration of the neighbours are the real responsible of such a recovery.
Vía Wagner (C/ Bori i Fontesta-C/ Ganduxer)
Opened in 1985, Via Wagner galleries were part of a project to build huge commercial galleries on the upper area of Barcelona.
They used to be framed by Diagonal Avenue and Bori i Fontestà, Ganduxer and Beethoven Streets. All of them surrounded Wagner Square, thus housing hundreds of little stores, especially of the best fashion brands.
In 1992, the galleries started to decline and the stores closed one by one. The landmark of their closure was a fire in their offices.
The boom of the huge commercial areas and the plans for promoting renewals after the Olympic Games took the little splendour left, a splendour that today is attempted to be recovered.
These are the commercial galleries in Barcelona; an important part of its history.
