Commuters travelling through one of Barcelona’s busiest interchanges may soon see a significant change to their station signs. The Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) has tabled a proposal to rename the metro, bus, and tram stops currently known as “Glòries” to the full “Glòries Catalanes station”. This move aims to align them with the official name of the square they serve. Therefore, this initiative seeks to reverse what campaigners describe as a lingering anomaly from the Franco dictatorship, which systematically removed references to Catalan identity from the urban landscape. The proposal will be presented to the Barcelona City Council plenary session on 30 January.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Home » Glòries Catalanes Station Renaming Proposal to Erase Francoist Legacy
Correcting a legacy of the dictatorship
The square was originally named Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes in 1863 to honour the region’s civic and military achievements. However, following the fall of Barcelona to Francoist forces in 1939, the regime stripped the word “Catalanes” from the title. Consequently, it was renamed simply “Plaza de las Glorias”. While the city’s first democratic government restored the square’s full name in 1980, the public transport network did not follow suit. According to local reporting by Tot Barcelona, the metro station opened in 1951 under the Spanish name “Glorias”. During the transition to democracy, this was merely translated to the Catalan “Glòries” rather than being fully restored.
Jordi Coronas, an ERC councillor, described the current situation as an “anomaly” maintained by pure inertia. He argues that it makes little sense for a square officially named Glòries Catalanes to be served by stations that still bear a shortened designation imposed by the Franco regime. In addition, the party asserts that adding the missing word is a straightforward way to normalise the language and ensure consistency across the city map. This aligns with broader government initiatives to strengthen the use of Catalan in other public spheres, such as commerce.
Restoring heritage to the Glòries Catalanes station
The proposal also highlights how modern infrastructure projects have perpetuated the error. When the Trambesòs tram line opened its stop at the interchange in 2004, it adopted the shortened name rather than the full toponym. Meanwhile, the ERC is urging the municipal government to instruct Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) and the Metropolitan Transport Authority (ATM) to update all relevant signage. This directive illustrates the Catalan government’s involvement in transport infrastructure issues on matters of public importance.
Beyond the station names, the initiative seeks to return physical monuments to the square. Before recent renovation works, the area featured 12 basalt plaques commemorating key figures and moments in Catalan history. These included the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch and the concept of ‘Peace and Truce of God’. However, they were removed during construction and stored in municipal warehouses. The management of these historical artefacts falls under the wider umbrella of the Catalan government’s administrative role in managing public assets and heritage.
The Sant Martí district council unanimously approved the return of these plaques in December 2025. Furthermore, the upcoming plenary session will formally request that Mayor Jaume Collboni’s government executes both the signage changes and the restoration of the plaques. As the proposal is being presented as a formal request (prec), it does not require a vote if the government accepts it directly.
Join Barcelona English Speakers WhatsApp Community .
