Associació d’Amics, Veïns i Comerciants de la Rambla i la Plaça Catalunya

Like all stories, the one about the current Association Amics de la Rambla also has its prehistory, the one that Mr. Amadeu Bagues imagined and promoted and of which Mr. Joan Deulofeu, who was part of the first board of directors, retains memories. He explains that his first memories of the changes that occurred in La Rambla date back to the 50s.

"In those years," says Mr. Deulofeu, "the children of the bourgeoisie of La Rambla and Carrer Ferran began to move to Passeig de Gràcia and to live in Sant Gervasi and other areas of the upper part of the city. At that time, the cattle breeders who brought calves to Barcelona would still come down, closing deals without signing any papers, just shaking hands as was tradition. It was in the year 1957 when Josep Maria de Porcioles was appointed mayor. And during his term, a lot was built."

Indeed, much was being built, and poorly. The Catalan capital was growing uncontrollably at that time due to the strong immigration from the Spanish provinces and the subsequent chaotic urbanization.

The "Urban Planning Plan of Barcelona and its area of influence" from 1953 acknowledged that the city was in a situation of urban disorder that could lead to collapse and drag the prestige of the city down La Rambla. Paradoxically, it was one of the same authors of the Urban Planning Plan who had written: "one of the first concerns that the Plan carries is to prevent the formation of an immense city which, like a chimerical Mesopotamia, constitutes an amorphous body, a living machine and where its inhabitants are nothing but slaves to their own greatness."