Barcelone et son arrière-pays, le dialogue interrompu

Abstract

A highlight of industrialisation in Catalonia was the close link between Barcelona, its harbour and its surrounding land. As soon as in the 1870’s, this link was fully operative and the following thirty years brought great industrial as well as cultural and political developments. The paper analyses this productive period that has left a poorly known and unloved heritage: the industrial colonies set up along the middle parts of the Rivers Ter and Llobregat, where cotton textiles were produced. Their location was due not only to the presence of hydraulic energy, but also to the availability of a particularly inexpensive female work force. The deindustrialisation that occurred during the last third of the 20th century, emptied the colonies factories and the associated working-class villages lost their raison d’être. So, today, what to do with this heritage?

Keywords

• industrial colony
• workers’ village
• territorial system
• industrialization