Until not many years ago, many outsiders perceived this neighbourhood to be the “Catalan Manchester”, in other words, somewhere full of chimneys, with workers heading towards factories in the early hours of the morning, or a fisherman’s neighbourhood set apart from the sea. Today, however, as a result of the major urban transformations of the time, the physiognomy of the neighbourhood is changing rapidly and, little by little, this is being left in the past.

Historical Archive of Poblenou (2001). El Poblenou: més de 150 anys d’història (p. 7).