The smallest municipality in Baix Llobregat is also one of the densest, with 10,000 inhabitants per km². We are talking about Esplugues de Llobregat, the town in Barcelona where Lamine Yamal and Gerard Martín, two of the players who will be in the spotlight this coming weekend in the final of the Copa del Rey between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, were born.
With an area of just 4.6 km², it is located on the outskirts of Barcelona, between Cornellà de Llobregat, Sant Just Desvern, Sant Joan Despí and l’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
Can Clota, Can Vidalet, Centre, Ciutat Diagonal, El Gall, Finestrelles, La Mallola, La Miranda, La Plana and Montesa form the network of neighborhoods in this municipality which, despite its size, is one of the 70 with the highest purchasing power in Spain. The median income is 28,283 euros.
The presence of international schools such as the German School of Barcelona and the American School of Barcelona has brought in families with high purchasing power and foreign residents over the last decade. This, together with its proximity to Camp Nou and FC Barcelona’s Sant Joan Despí sports complex, has led to many FC Barcelona soccer players currently residing in Esplugues.
What to see in Esplugues de Llobregat
Beyond soccer, the tourist attractions of Esplugues are several. Historically it has been a prominent center of ceramic production in the Barcelona area, with renowned factories such as Pujol i Bausis (“La Rajoleta”), which supplied ceramics to architects such as Gaudí and Domènech i Montaner. The Museu de Can Tinturé houses a unique collection of tiles from the 14th to the 19th century.
For inveterate hikers, it belongs to the Collserola mountain range and has a natural viewpoint at an altitude of 400 meters from where you can see the entire metropolitan area of Barcelona.
The origin of Esplugues de Llobregat
The name “Esplugues” comes from the Latin Spelunca or Speluncae, which means cave or grotto, in reference to the orography of the municipality, characterized by the presence of torrents and limestone and clay soils that facilitate the formation of caves. There are vestiges of an Iberian settlement at the top of the mountain of Sant Pere Màrtir.
During the Middle Ages, the municipality was organized around farmhouses and a population center near the castle and an old inn.
Today, the extension of Barcelona has turned its economy towards the service sector and is directly connected to the economic activity of the Catalan capital since the great urbanization processes of the 50s and 60s.