Via Laietana flourishes after works and faces its last year of reform

Once the works of the first phase of Via Laietana were finished, the revitalization of the street was not long in coming. Between Plaça Urquinaona and the Cathedral, the avenue has transformed its sidewalks from being narrow and anodyne to adding more than four meters wide on each side. But, with the reform, the upper part of the Barcelona artery has not only seen its sidewalks widened, but also its activity and dynamism.

While this sector of the avenue already looks reformed, the stretch that continues towards the sea, between the Cathedral and Correos, is still working to finish the works. "We will finish on schedule, within a year," recalls Ricard Font, director of the public company Barcelona d'Infraestructures Municipals (Bimsa). With all the expected archaeological surprises already uncovered and no signs of unforeseen events, the work continues to advance on schedule, largely underground. And it is that "it is not a skin reform, but a very relevant work to also modernize underground facilities," with a long historical service gallery and a collector that cried out for a deep update.

The forecast is that this underground phase will end at the end of this year, and that intense work on the reurbanization of the surface will then begin. In it, not only will the new widened sidewalks be located, but two new large spaces, in Plaça de l'Àngel and in the complex formed by Plaça de Correos with that of Idrissa Diallo. At this point, 16 million of the first section of the reform has been executed, and 40% of the second section, with a total estimated cost of another 18 million.

With this reform, "Via Laietana has gone from being a hostile street that did not invite strolling to being an avenue with street life," highlights the president of the Associació de Veïns i Comerciants de Via Laietana, David González. Thus, Via Laietana will continue to be a thoroughfare and a connectivity route towards the Eixample and towards the sea, but it will also provide reasons to approach the avenue, to shop, try its gastronomic proposals or for the mere pleasure of taking a walk. "But the change is not only perceived by the people who walk along the street; things have also started to happen from an economic and commercial point of view," he added.

Commercially, the reform has been a boost in the field of retail. "We had ground floors of buildings and empty premises that are being reactivated, also in the part that is being reformed now," emphasizes González. The premises, however, are not only filled with shops, but also with proposals that cover other areas, such as culture.

So much so that one of the actors that has made itself known on Via Laietana has been the Palau de la Música, which has appeared on the reformed avenue with a new premises. With this new space, the institution gains visibility by getting closer to passers-by walking along the avenue. With the first phase of the reform, which has included the pedestrianization of Jonqueras street, the property that housed the old Casa de las Mantas has also been activated, changing from commercial to residential use, with 30 homes and two commercial ground floors.

The effects of the reform are also perceived in the office market, which is in a recovery phase in the city as a whole. Thus, the historic Palau del Cinema, closed for more than two decades, will give way to an office block, and coworking companies like Aticco plan to open new spaces on the avenue. The City Council has also been seduced by the reformed street: it is rehabilitating a new administrative headquarters on Via Laietana. Located at number 8 of the avenue, the building will house 700 municipal workers.

Specifically, the City Council will transfer to the new headquarters the services currently located in five buildings distributed throughout Ciutat Vella. The five properties, totaling 5,600 square meters, will be freed up and can be used for other purposes: about seventy public housing units and the new CAP Gòtic, which CatSalut will enable in the building now occupied by the Security Management, in the heart of Portal de l'Àngel.

The street aims to contribute to the economic diversification of the city center and attract visitors with its gastronomic and commercial offerings

The installation of the new municipal offices in the middle of Via Laietana will contribute to revitalizing this street, which wants to reposition itself as an axis of economic and citizen activity and contribute to the economic diversification of the city center. At the same time, it leaves behind its hostile character for pedestrians to try to attract them through a commercial and gastronomic offer framed in a street that, now yes, invites you to stroll.