Carrer de Balmes, Barcelona
Encyclopedia
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
philosopher and ecclesiastic Jaume Balmes
Jaume Balmes
Father Jaime Luciano Balmes y Urpiá , Catalan Spanish Catholic priest, eminent as a political writer and a philosopher.-Biography:Balmes was born and died at Vic in Catalonia, Spain....
, is one of the most important avenues in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
(Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
). It was devised in 1859 as part of Ildefons Cerdà
Ildefons Cerdà
Ildefons Cerdà i Sunyer was the progressive Catalan Spanish urban planner who designed the 19th-century "extension" of Barcelona called the Eixample.-Biography:...
urban plan.
Balmes is along Carrer Muntaner the longest road stretching from the sea towards the mountainside. It starts in the crossing of Pelai and Bergara streets and crosses the Eixample
Eixample
The Eixample is a district of Barcelona between the old city and what were once surrounding small towns , constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries....
and Sant Gervasi
Sarrià-Sant Gervasi
Sarrià-Sant Gervasi is one of the biggest districts of Barcelona, situated on the north-west of the city, surrounded by districts of Les Corts, Gràcia, Eixample i Horta-Guinardo, and by the villages of Sant Just, Sant Feliu, Molins de Rei and Sant Cugat...
districts, ending in Plaça John Fitzgerald Kennedy, by Avinguda del Tibidabo and Tramvia Blau
Tramvia Blau
Tramvia Blau is one of Barcelona's three tram systems. It is a heritage streetcar line serving a hilly area of the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district between the terminus of FGC Barcelona Metro L7 and the Funicular del Tibidabo...
. The Sant Gervasi part of the street was constructed after 1908.
It is considered the central street of Eixample, with Dreta de l'Eixample
Dreta de l'Eixample
Dreta de l'Eixample is a neighborhood in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia . It's located east of Carrer de Balmes...
to its right, and Esquerra de l'Eixample to its left. As with most of the other large streets in the area, it is 20 metres wide, with the difference that its sidewalks are less broad than the average.
The street is expected to come under an extensive reform project in 2009, which will see its five lanes be reduced to four - one of them reserved for buses and taxis like it is today. The pavements on either side will also be enlarged and trees will be planted to make the busy street more pedestrian-friendly.
Carrer de Balmes is also part of the so-called Gaixample
Gaixample
The Gaixample is the nickname of a central area in Barcelona's Eixample district where, since the end of the 20th century, lots of gay shops, bars, discos and restaurants have appeared. Meanwhile, the gay population has risen enormously, because lots of members of the LGTB collective have settled...
, Barcelona's gay village
Gay village
A gay village is an urban geographic location with generally recognized boundaries where a large number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people live or frequent...
and hosts one of its most famous clubs, Arena.
Banc Sabadell is headquartered at the crossing of Carrer de Balmes with Avinguda Diagonal. Pompeu Fabra University
Pompeu Fabra University
Pompeu Fabra University is a university in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is widely considered to be one of the best universities in Spain and in Europe, and was ranked 1st in scientific productivity in Spain in 2009. Founded in 1990, it is named after the Catalan philologist Pompeu Fabra...
owns a building in this street.
Architecture
- Palauet Pérez Samanillo (1910), by Joan J. Hervás i Arizmendi, hosts Círculo Ecuestre.
Transportation
- Barcelona MetroBarcelona MetroThe Barcelona Metro , part of the public transportation system of Barcelona, Catalonia, is an extensive network of electrified railways that run underground in central Barcelona and above ground into the city's suburbs. Since July 31, 2010, Barcelona Metro system consists of 11 lines with 165...
and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de CatalunyaFerrocarrils de la Generalitat de CatalunyaFerrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya , or FGC, is a railway company which operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia, Spain....
(FGC) commuter trains - Provença (L6Barcelona Metro line 6— Line 6, coloured navy blue, is the name of a metro-like commuter train service in Barcelona operated by FGC, and part of the ATM fare-integrated transport system. It links Plaça Catalunya, the city centre, with Sarrià-Sant Gervasi...
, L7Barcelona Metro line 7— Line 7, coloured brown , is a metro-like commuter train line in the Barcelona Metro network operated by FGC, and part of the ATM fare-integrated transport system. Also known as Línia de Balmes, as it climbs Carrer de Balmes uphill into Tibidabo, it shares three stations with FGC L6...
, L3Barcelona Metro line 3— Line 3, currently known as Zona Universitària - Trinitat Nova, coloured green and often simply referred to as Línia verda , is a metro line in Barcelona operated by TMB, and therefore part of the fare-integrated ATM transport network of the urban region...
, L5Barcelona Metro line 5— Line 5, currently known as Cornellà Centre - Vall d'Hebron, its termini, and often simply called "Línia Blava" is line belonging to the Barcelona Metro network operated by TMB, and part of the ATM fare-integrated transport network....
).
Notable individuals
The writer Mercè RodoredaMercè Rodoreda
Mercè Rodoreda i Gurguí was a Spanish Catalan novelist in the Catalan language.She is considered by many to be the most important Catalan novelist of the postwar period...
was born at number 340 of career de Balmes in 1908.