Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni has unveiled an ambitious €260 million plan to transform the long-neglected Sagrera area into a new green metropolitan hub, complete with the city’s largest park, thousands of new homes, and a bustling economic centre. This comprehensive urban renewal project aims to create a vibrant new district before the long-awaited Sagrera high-speed train station becomes fully operational.

Speaking at the annual ‘L’alcalde respon’ (The Mayor Responds) conference, organised by the Col·legi de Periodistes de Catalunya, Collboni outlined his vision to heal an “historic urban fracture.” For decades, open railway lines had divided the districts of Sant Andreu and Sant Martí. “We will not wait for everything at the station to be finished to build neighbourhoods and the city,” Collboni declared, emphasising a proactive approach to developing the area concurrently with the station’s construction.

An Urban ‘Stitch’ for a Divided City

The plan’s core involves covering the vast trench of railway tracks to create a new, unified urban landscape. The city will phase the investment, allocating €45 million before the end of the current term in June 2027 and executing the remaining €215 million by 2031. While the full project is set for completion by 2035, the mayor expressed confidence that the railway infrastructure for the station will be ready by 2027, with the station building itself expected to open around 2032.

The project’s primary goal is to “sew the neighbourhoods together” across the tracks. Beyond housing and green spaces, the plan also includes 20 new public facilities to serve the growing community. These facilities will feature a new nursery school at Les Casernes, a permanent building for the 30 Passos school, a new primary care health centre (CAP) in La Sagrera, and an expansion of the Salvador Seguí Institute.

Barcelona’s New ‘Central Park’

At the heart of the new Sagrera will be a 36-hectare linear park stretching four kilometres over the covered railway lines. Mayor Collboni illustrated its scale by stating it would be “as large as going from Plaça d’Espanya to Plaça de Tetuan.” Once complete, the park will become the largest green lung in Barcelona, twice the size of the Parc de la Ciutadella and four times larger than the redeveloped area around Glòries. This initiative forms part of a wider city strategy to enhance public spaces, which has also seen recent investments in bridge and park restoration projects.

“We want that when the new station emerges, the city is already present,” Collboni stated. He explained that the first sections of the park will be planted by the end of 2027. This proactive approach will allow trees and vegetation to mature before the station welcomes its first passengers, creating an established green corridor connecting the city centre with the Besòs River.

Addressing the Housing Crisis

Responding to public concern about affordable housing, the Sagrera transformation will construct 11,347 new flats, expected to house around 30,000 people. Crucially, the city will designate nearly half of these homes-5,540 in total-as protected or subsidised housing. This initiative aligns with Barcelona’s broader efforts to tackle the housing shortage; a strategy for which its housing plan recently won a prestigious Bloomberg Prize.

  • Prim: 3,538 flats (54% protected)
  • Sagrera Station Area: 2,297 flats (42% protected)
  • Casernes de Sant Andreu: 2,132 flats (62% protected)
  • Former Mercedes Factory: 1,358 flats (40% protected)
  • La Maquinista: 1,010 flats (49% protected)
  • Colorantes: 1,012 flats (30% protected)

A New Economic Engine

Beyond its residential and recreational offerings, the new Sagrera will also become a significant economic driver. The plan allocates over 480,000 square metres for offices, hotels, retail, and other economic activities, potentially creating over 10,000 new jobs. This development aims to establish a new “metropolitan centrality,” as reported by Metrópoli Abierta, thereby diversifying Barcelona’s business districts.

The future Sagrera station itself will become a critical transport interchange, connecting high-speed AVE services with Rodalies commuter lines (R1, R2, and R11) and the Metro network (L4, L9, and L10). This enhanced connectivity should cement the area’s role as a new gateway to the city, complementing the existing hub at Sants Estació.