Barcelona’s Raval district is at the centre of a new HBO Max series, Ravalejar, which dramatises the 2021 eviction of Can Lluís, a restaurant that had been open for 92 years.

The series was co-created by Pol Rodríguez, a fourth-generation member of the family that owned the business. It looks at the impact of property speculation on a place that was part of Barcelona’s cultural life for decades.

Can Lluís was founded in 1929 by Lluís Rodríguez and Elisa Vilaplana on Carrer de la Cera. It survived the Spanish Civil War, and later an explosion during the Franco era that killed the founder and his son Ferran, after which the younger son took over.

The restaurant became a meeting point for writers, artists and public figures, and appeared in novels by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and Ruiz Zafón. Its guest books included names linked to the Gauche Divine and the Nova Cançó movement, as well as Harold Pinter, José Saramago and Tony Curtis.

The eviction came after the building was bought by Real Estate Investors 360, described in the source as an Israeli investment fund. The family said the rent rose sharply, from €900 a month to demands of €3,000, €4,000 or even €6,000. Ferran Rodríguez said the building administrators, Clarisó, bought the whole building and resold it four days later to the current fund, which he said left the family unable to keep the premises.

Ravalejar fictionalises the restaurant as Can Mosques. It was co-directed by Isaki Lacuesta and stars Francesc Orella and Lluïsa Castell as the owners, with Quim Àvila and Enric Auquer Sardà as their sons. The series also shows the Raval almost like a documentary, and frames the story as part of the wider damage caused by what Rodríguez called “naked and cynical cosmopolitan capitalism”.

Can Lluís has since reopened under new ownership. A Russian couple, who were former customers, bought the premises from the investment fund and say they want to restore the restaurant’s original spirit and keep serving traditional Catalan food. For more Barcelona coverage, see our Community and Sport pages.

Originally published by VilaWeb Feed. Read original article. For the series itself, see HBO Max.