Reclaiming La Rambla for the people of Barcelona

Illustration © Irene Pérez

La Rambla, one of Barcelona’s most iconic thoroughfares, is undergoing a transformation led by the KM_Zero team, aiming to reclaim it for local residents while preserving its cultural identity and value. The project seeks to save the promenade from the impact of mass tourism, prevent the exodus of residents and turn it into a greener, more accessible and inviting space. Alongside enhancing mobility and accessibility, the proposal includes the creation of green spaces, the preservation of historic elements and support for local businesses. The aim is to transform La Rambla into a vibrant, authentic space with a forward-looking vision, moving away from a model driven solely by tourism.

Urban spaces have, since their origins, been places of connection and socialisation. From the foundation of the earliest cities, public squares served as hubs for social, economic, cultural and religious interaction. Undoubtedly, architecture and urban spaces define the unique character of our cities, which are constantly evolving and transforming.

Today, urban design – especially in historic and heritage city centres – faces new global challenges: on the one hand, the pressing issues of climate change, and on the other, the socio-economic impact of mass tourism. It is in the most emblematic and unique areas of the city that these challenges must be addressed in all their complexity.

Architecture and urban planning can solve many of the issues associated with modernising urban infrastructure, organising and optimising public spaces, improving functionality, enhancing mobility and accessibility, and promoting climate resilience and comfort. Yet, in certain critical areas of the city, these measures are not enough. Additional urban strategies are needed to address related issues, such as housing, culture and the socio-economic effects of mass tourism.

As architects, we have a dual responsibility: to enhance our architectural and urban context with a forward-looking perspective that responds to current challenges, while respecting the historical and cultural heritage of each place. However, architecture cannot do it all. It must be supported by parallel management strategies to achieve meaningful change.

A necessary intervention

Tourism has significant positive economic impacts on certain sectors, but it also brings serious negative consequences for residents as a whole. These include the displacement of locals from their neighbourhoods, the dominance of tourism-related businesses, overcrowding in historic centres and conflicts over shared spaces, particularly at night. This is not a problem unique to Barcelona; cities such as Paris, Rome, Venice, Prague and Lisbon face similar challenges.

In Barcelona, La Rambla – a cultural axis and backbone of the historic centre – has long been internationally recognised as a symbol of the city’s identity. Historically, the various uses of La Rambla – newsstands and flower stalls along the central promenade, shops and cafés at street level, and palaces and cultural buildings lining its course – have created a rich diversity of activity and a vibrant urban complexity serving its citizens.

In recent years, the character of the city’s heart has undergone significant transformations, greatly damaging its original essence. Among the most pressing issues are the loss of residents, overcrowding and the dominance of tourism-focused businesses along the central promenade and at street level. The impact of tourism has led to a decline in the value and identity of one of the city’s most emblematic thoroughfares and its historic centre.

In 2016, with the aim of regenerating La Rambla, an international competition was held and won by the multidisciplinary team KM_Zero, led by architects Itzíar González, Olga Tarrasó and myself. The competition was thoughtfully designed with an innovative dual approach: firstly, an urbanisation project, and secondly, strategies for urban intervention. The KM_Zero team worked closely with residents, local authorities, technical experts and other stakeholders to build consensus around the renewal project and bring to life one of its central aims: reclaiming La Rambla for the people of Barcelona.

Reclaiming identity

Reclaiming La Rambla means, above all, restoring the identity of this thoroughfare, which has been damaged, largely due to uncontrolled, low-value tourism monoculture. This phenomenon has eroded the city’s historical and cultural image and alienated its residents.

The effort to reclaim La Rambla focuses on transforming it into a shared public space, rather than a commercialised one. To this end, the Comunitat Rambles was established during the project’s development. This group ensures that the space remains a collective asset, free from being entirely shaped by commercial dynamics. All proposals related to culture, housing, high-quality commerce, the environment and tourism management invite the Comunitat Rambles to oversee public policies aimed at redressing the balance in tourism.

The focus now must be on a new model of city: one that is lively, active, diverse and inclusive – a city that is authentic and real, avoiding the globalised model created solely for tourists. The proposal advocates for a contemporary urban regeneration that is practical, comfortable, accessible, inclusive, resilient and respectful of the urban context, architectural heritage and cultural facilities.

Several accessibility studies have shown that Barcelona’s residents move across La Rambla in a transverse manner – from the Gòtic to the Raval neighbourhood – whether to move between neighbourhoods or to visit cultural venues such as the Teatre Poliorama, the Liceu, La Virreina or the Centre d’Arts Santa Mònica. In contrast, most visitors walk along La Rambla in a longitudinal direction.

Km_Zero © Km_Zero

To improve both longitudinal and transversal accessibility, the project rationalises the use of public space, transforming La Rambla into a traffic-calmed axis that prioritises pedestrians. The pavements and central promenade are widened, while traffic is limited to one lane in each direction, with designated loading and unloading zones operating during restricted hours. To improve accessibility, the project also proposes the installation of an adapted, inclusive and unified pavement stretching from facade to facade, helping to create a coherent and harmonious urban space as a whole.

The project also addresses accessibility issues at both the seafront and mountain ends. With the new design, the central promenade extends uninterrupted to Columbus monument, thanks to the removal of the cross-lane that connected to the Drassanes [Royal Shipyards] and the scattered flowerbeds. This change opens up a spacious square-like area in front of the Maritime Museum of Barcelona, which is integrated into the area with biodiverse plantings of trees and shrubs, incorporating most of the existing greenery.

The central promenade now connects with the sea, flanked by new green spaces on both sides, which highlight the former city gateway (on Carrer Ample) and the Maritime Museum, one of the city’s key cultural institutions, housed in the Royal Shipyards, an important Cultural Asset of National Interest.

At the mountain end, near Plaça de Catalunya, the pavements are widened to accommodate the heavy flow of pedestrians. In addition, the project seeks to enhance the surrounding urban context. To this end, it proposes the creation of three main squares, which we refer to as “major spaces”, around three iconic locations known for their architectural and heritage significance: Portaferrissa-Virreina, Pla del Os and Pla del Teatre. Each of these spaces is designed as a unique pedestrian-prioritised platform, forming a continuous sequence of squares that promotes transversal movement.

Recognising the historical significance of La Rambla also involves marking and showcasing the five former city gates. To achieve this, the pavement – uniform from facade to facade along the entire length of the promenade – features a distinctive two-tone design (using porphyry and granite) that marks the locations of these old gates: the Santa Anna – Canuda gate, Portaferrissa, the Pla del Os gate, the Pla del Teatre gate (Carrer d’Escudellers) and the gate on Carrer Ample.

La Rambla with a vision for the future

On the other hand, we must plan the city of today with a vision for the future. The climate change crisis we are currently facing also compels us to consider the creation of a resilient urban space – one that celebrates the existing trees and introduces new biodiverse green areas (at the end of the axis and in Pla del Teatre). The expansion of the central promenade will improve the conditions of the historic tree canopy (mainly plane trees from the Devesa de Girona park) through the creation of larger, more permeable tree pits, soil aeration and the integration of an automatic irrigation system. This approach will help address the suffocation and soil compaction that the trees currently suffer from.

The start of this project was marked by a deeply challenging moment following the terrorist attack in August 2017, in which 16 people lost their lives and over a hundred were injured. In the wake of this tragedy, the KM_Zero team was tasked with incorporating the Memorial for La Rambla 17A into the pavement of the Pla del Os, near Joan Miró’s mosaic, where the community spontaneously gathered to mourn. This event also necessitated the integration of anti-terrorism security measures, which have been included in the project through the installation of special bollards to ensure pedestrian safety.

Urban renewal also involves streamlining and rethinking the use of public space. The flower stalls and news kiosks are an essential part of the historic, iconic and distinctive urban landscape of La Rambla. For this reason, the project proposes preserving them, with some being relocated as necessary. The flower stalls, historically situated in front of the Boqueria market, will remain in the same area in recognition of the original florists who started their trade at this spot. As for the news kiosks, the plan proposes their restoration (designed by Pep Alemany and Enric Poblet, FAD Award 1972) and their relocation along the promenade in line with the criteria established in the approved Special Plan.

With the urbanisation project now underway, the restoration of La Rambla has already begun. The next step is to roll out the strategies outlined in the plan to tackle tourism management, housing recovery, investment in culture and the revitalisation of local, neighbourhood businesses, putting Barcelonians at the heart of it all.

Illustration © Irene Pérez Illustration © Irene Pérez

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