Walking through Mare de Déu del Coll forces you to constantly look up. The Finca Sansalvador, the Creueta and its Chillida, homemade trencadís framing the Turó del Carmel, the uniqueness of Villa Conchita… Until a gateway that at first glance goes unnoticed not only makes you look up, but stop your feet. A monumental door gives way to a path that continues climbing up the hill and does not reveal much more. If it weren't for the sign to the right of the door, there would be no clue to suggest that it is a hostel. And not just any hostel.
Going up the path that the gateway opens to gives an idea that the hostel holds surprises, one inside another, like a matryoshka. First, a sea of trees emerges, climbing even further up the mountain; then, suddenly, the Casa Marsans appears. The cream-colored palace dotted with stained glass windows overlooks the city, as if welcoming travelers who stay within its stately walls. It was the first hostel of the Generalitat, the one that launched the Xanascat network, as Miquel explains from the management. More than 40 years later, the hostel remains one of the most emblematic of the network.
Clothes drying in the sun on the upper floor blend with the flags that preside over the building, above the main access, on a facade that reflects the sun on stone extracted from Montjuïc. Before crossing it, the glass engravings on the entrance door already warn that the interior will be out of the ordinary. And crossing it does not disappoint: an endless number of white marble columns form neo-Arab style arches in which gold, blue, and orange predominate in delicate plasterwork, and blur to the sound of the colors filtered by the stained glass window on the ceiling, like a kaleidoscope that has just turned.
The patio is now the hostel's reception, surrounded by large rooms where angels and clouds look at travelers from molded ceilings that suddenly lean more towards rococo than Mudejar. With one style or another, modernism permeates the entire space, allowing one to travel from one style to another in a couple of steps. And it's no coincidence: that desire to travel was behind the design of the house and its commission. It came from the hand of Josepa Marsans Peix, from the founding family of Banca y Viajes Marsans. Josepa commissioned the construction of the house to be the summer residence for her and her husband, the wealthy businessman Frederic Cases. The author of the project was Juli Marial i Tey, who had previously worked with the family on one of the city's other preserved icons: the then bullring of Las Arenas, whose execution Marial was in charge of, based on a project by the architect August Font.
The ground floor, which now houses the reception, lounge, and game rooms, was conceived as a reception and meeting space, also with a dining room and office. A marble staircase leads to the upper floor, which was designed with five bedrooms, a dressing room, and several chambers. Now, the hostel's bunk beds and sober white and yellow rooms replace the intricate and colorful designs of the main floor. Mosaics and stained-glass windows insist on making it clear that the hostel is an architectural jewel of the city that stretches out beneath its windows, while Nolla's colored porcelain stoneware finishes it off. Further up, the rooftop and service rooms; below, the basement, with the kitchen and wine cellar.
The mansion eventually became the habitual residence of the Marsans and Cases couple; however, Marsans died shortly after, in 1911. After her premature death, Cases remained as the usufructuary of the house, but it became the property of Josepa's brother, Joaquim Marsans, who was then 20 years old and resided in the house with the couple. The arrival of the Civil War shook the city strongly, and the mansion, despite being far from everything, was not exempt. It was occupied by the FAI and, as the conflict progressed, it became a field hospital.
After the war, the Marsans family recovered the property, but it was confiscated in 1946 to house a reception residence for Polish children orphaned by World War II. As a plaque at the main door still recalls, 130 boys and girls studied and lived in the house between 1946 and 1956. Two years later, the house was bought and left the Marsans family, to become a women's residence. A quarter of a century later, the operation that led the house to what it still is now arrived: the Generalitat bought it to convert it into the first youth hostel in Catalonia, within the Xanascat network, in 1983. For this, a new building was erected, without damaging the original: it was built independently, and is joined to the palace by a bridge.
During this convoluted history, in which the house went from a field hospital to an orphanage-school, the palace maintained its essence and attractiveness, although it lost some of its most unique elements, such as one of the engraved glass panes of the main door. Miquel, in charge since 2017, recalls how they recovered the glass based on old photographs, with a sketch of the engraving and working with glassmakers. He explains this while walking through the main floor and pointing out the marks made on the ceiling to install a panel years before, highlighting the importance of protecting jewels like the house converted into a hostel, and declared European Cultural Heritage. Thus, the palace preserves its unique Neo-Arab architecture with a modernist essence, while welcoming travelers who arrive in the city with the same spirit that led the Marsans family to build their agency and, also, the house that still bears their name, where Vallcarca meets el Coll in the heights of the city.