You’ve ‘Done’ Barcelona. Now What? Part 4: Colonia Güell 

Most of us living in Britain know something about the model villages built by philanthropic industrialists in the 19th century. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, workers poured in from the countryside to a filthy urban environment. They found, alongside work for long hours in the newly-established factories, hastily built, crowded, poor quality housing with no facilities.

Some philanthropic factory owners decided to do things differently. Robert Owen built New Lanark for his miners. Titus Salt built Saltaire near Bradford for his textile workers. William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme built Port Sunlight for his soap workers. And so on. All these communities offered decent, usually terraced housing with a small amount of outside space. There was a shop, a school, an institute for adult learners, a health-care facility of some kind, certainly a church. There was not however, a pub, or anywhere where alcohol was sold. Workers at the time often drowned out the reality of their miserable lives by drinking, and those philanthropists wanted a different life for their workers, whether they liked it or not.

So we were interested to visit Colonia Güell when we found out about it. It’s a similar set up in a manufacturing area, Santa Coloma de Cervelló, just outside Barcelona. Spain’s industrial revolution came later than ours: but in 1890, industrialist Eusebio Güell realised that if he wanted to attract workers from Barcelona to the factory he was building on his country estate – an essentially rural area – he would have to provide housing. And like his British counterparts, he wanted to do The Right Thing. 

Eusebio Güell didn’t just want to have any old housing. He sought out the best architects of the day, disciples of the Modernista movement: the ideas behind Art Nouveau found particularly vibrant expression in Catalonia. More details here.

He provided decent housing for both workers and professionals in spacious streets, the factory itself of course, a theatre, a doctor’s surgery, a school. The school however was for boys only. In many ways it was progressive, teaching foreign languages as well as the three Rs. But girls had to make do with being taught embroidery and other manual skills that would make them dextrous with machinery when they went to work later on. Nuns at the convent taught them, and also provided a nursery so that mothers could return to work soon after they had given birth. 

Ca l’Espinal, the Factory Manager’s House
A detail from Ca l’Espinal
The schoolhouse, linked by an aerial tunnel to the schoolmaster’s quarters
Ca Ordal: three farming families lived here, supplying much of the fresh food needed in the community

Of course there was a church. And in 1898 Eusebio Güell commissioned the young Antonio Gaudí  to design and build it.  Had it been finished, this church would have been as ambitious a project as Gaudí ‘s still not quite finished Sagrada Familia. Two naves, lower and upper! Towers! A central 40 foot dome!

The building was begun, but in 1914 the Güell family decided to stop funding the project and Gaudí  turned his back on it with only the lower nave completed, now known as the crypt. It was consecrated in 1915. I found it difficult to photograph, but here is a miscellany of shots from the inside and outside of an astonishing building.

During the Spanish Civil War, the mill was collectivised and run by its workers. After the war it was sold back to the Güell family, who sold it on again. Its days were numbered. The textile industry in Europe was collapsing and the factory ceased production in 1973. The factory itself was sold off piecemeal, and the houses to their residents. The settlement was in danger of losing its identity. But in 1990 the Colonia Güell was declared a ‘Heritage of Cultural Interest’ by the Spanish government and the protection of some of its most relevant buildings was established. Nowadays it’s an ordinary working community with an extraordinary history.

We enjoyed walking round and exploring. Sadly, we couldn’t see the factory. On Sunday its current many and various component businesses are shut, the gate to the site barred.

It’s not the easiest place to reach from Barcelona without a car, and as these things are apt to change, I won’t include public transport options. But we’re so glad to have visited, and will go again.

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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

50 thoughts on “You’ve ‘Done’ Barcelona. Now What? Part 4: Colonia Güell ”

  1. My brother lived in Barcelona in the early ’90s so I visited often but knew nothing about this. Looking at the dates, it was probably still being restored then. Great to hear it’s back to being lived in by ordinary people.

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  3. Very interesting. I have been to Barcelona a number of times bit did nit know about this. Perhaps next time I’ll visit. I have been to Park Guell which also was never completely finished.

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  4. This is fascinating history, so well told in pics and words. Thank you Margaret for this interesting lesson and powerful presentation. You are an excellent photographer/reporter, amongst many other qualities you have! I would love to visit but chances are slim we ever return to Barcelona and this treasure. I bet the Guell family regretted in hindsight the stopping of this extraordinary architectural masterpiece .

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  9. Such a shame that the church was never finished, but nice to know that the community is being preserved and that it is a place where people still live. Thanks for taking us there.

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  15. Such an enlightening post with beautiful photos! The manager’s house is beautiful. What an interesting idea to build a city for someone’s employees. Thanks for sharing this great post.

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  16. Beautiful photos and fascinating historical information, Margaret! Such a revolutionary idea and great effort to build these decent houses, facilities… for workers. Thank you for sharing with us!

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  17. So this is the chapel you ‘teased’ us with some time ago. What an amazing building, even if unfinished! And the story behind the factory, housing etc is interesting in the way it echoes our model villages, as you say 

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  18. It’s extraordinary, and has Gaudi’s signature for sure. I’m not surprised you found it difficult to photograph. In some ways I found it difficult to look at. But I can only applaud the concept.

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