Barcelona City Council has approved 30 new street and space names across the city, including gardens dedicated to playwright Josep Maria Benet i Jornet in Sant Martí. The decision, taken at the second nomenclature committee meeting of the year, is also part of an effort to increase the representation of women in Barcelona’s street names.
The new Josep Maria Benet i Jornet Gardens will be located in Sant Martí, between Carrer de Tànger and Carrer de Pamplona. The tribute recognises one of Catalonia’s most influential contemporary dramatists, who was also a television screenwriter.
Among the other names approved are writers Isabel Clara-Simó, Teresa Pàmies and Anna Maria Moix, together with artists Aurèlia Muñoz and Bronisława Wajs, known as Papusza. The council also approved locations for names agreed earlier, including sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs and artist Manolo Hugué. For more on local coverage, see News.
In Parc i la Llacuna del Poblenou, a new square will be named after Joan Antoni Solans, an architect and urban planner linked to Catalonia’s urban development during the Transition. In the same area, gardens will be dedicated to Josep Maria Subirachs, between Passatge d’Aymà and Passeig de Calvell, after his 2014 recognition did not yet have a specific site. The council also approved renaming Carrer de Guillem de Llúria to Carrer de Manolo Hugué in Poblenou. More city updates are available on the Barcelona news tag.
Other changes include Plaça de Sant Josep de Calassanç in Camp de l’Arpa being renamed Plaça de les Tortugues, recovering a popular local name. In Sants-Montjuïc, a street in La Marina de Port will be dedicated to Teresa Pàmies, between Carrer dels Ferrocarrils Catalans and Camí de Can Clos, while nearby gardens in La Marina del Prat Vermell will be named after Anna Maria Moix and Joan Josep Tharrats.
The list also includes placeta del veïnat de la Vinya and placeta de la Castanyera Angeleta in La Marina del Prat Vermell, plus new names for Carrer de Victor Hugo and Carrer de Voltaire in the same neighbourhood. In Gràcia, Vallcarca i els Penitents will get a square for Capitán Trueno, honouring writer and artist Víctor Mora, and the Luis Eduardo Aute Gardens, between Carrer d’Esteve Terradas and Avinguda de Vallcarca. Barcelona City Council says the changes are part of its ongoing work to recognise cultural, social and historical figures while improving the balance of women’s names in public space.