Barcelona City Council has approved a €1.7 million plan to rehabilitate Can Bruixa, the 19th-century farmhouse in the Can Batlló complex in La Bordeta. The building is in an advanced state of deterioration, and the project is now open for public consultation until 18 June.

The consultation period comes before the construction tender. According to the council, the work will restore the former farmhouse, also known as Cal Paretó, which is a municipal building with a ground floor and an upper floor. It does not have a specific heritage listing.

Can Bruixa predates the textile factory at Can Batlló. Early factory buildings in the area were surrounded by market gardens, small farmhouses and irrigation canals. Historian Agus Giralt, a member of Patrimonis Invisibles, told Infobarris that the building’s origins are closely linked to the Canal de la Infanta, which helped turn dry land into irrigated fields and encouraged the appearance of farmhouses.

The farmhouse was built in the mid-19th century by Josep Elias i Anglí, who grew and sold vegetables. Giralt also pointed to oral history from the last residents, three siblings from the Rovira family, who remembered Can Bruixa as both an agricultural work base and a play area in an already industrial neighbourhood. He said the name came from an old family link to another farmhouse in L'Hospitalet, also called Can Bruixa.

The rehabilitation plan includes structural and functional work across the building. A preliminary diagnostic report commissioned by BIMSA recommended waterproofing the roof and ground-contact areas, preventive shoring, reinforcement of walls and vaults, crack repairs, structural consolidation, a new vertical core with a lift and evacuation staircase, replacement of damaged timber elements, roof repairs and better accessibility.

The project also includes a metal pergola on the east façade, in the market garden area, plus energy-saving measures such as improved insulation, renewed enclosures, photovoltaic panels and a rainwater cistern for irrigating the community gardens. The planned future use includes space for community garden users and areas linked to the neighbourhood’s memory. More local news