Walking through Barcelona is like reading an open-air book. Every plaque we come across on a street corner is an echo of a person, a trade, or an era that shaped the pavement beneath our feet. To keep that connection alive, Barcelona has just launched the new Nomenclátor portal, the virtual archive that preserves the official, current, and historical identity of all the city’s public spaces, streets, and gardens.
The launch of this platform comes after twenty years of service from the previous website, which was in desperate need of a major overhaul in terms of functionality and accessibility. Starting today, residents are just a couple of clicks away from the detailed history of the more than 4,600 streets that make up the Catalan capital, with an interface that not only makes it easier to look up information or complete administrative procedures but also opens the door for Barcelona residents themselves to suggest future names for the city.
A Journey into Your Neighborhood’s Past
The new search engine moves beyond a simple technical listing to become a much more visual and interactive space. Anyone curious about the origin of their street’s name will now find much more centralized information:
- Full context: The story behind the name and the year of approval.
- Routes and location: The exact route of the street on a current map of Barcelona and photographs of the surrounding area.
- Easier paperwork: The portal introduces a very practical feature for everyday use, allowing users to directly obtain certification of a street name change—a document that is often essential for certain administrative procedures.
Your Voice on the Street Map
One of the platform’s major new features is the direct line to the Secretariat of the Nomenclature Committee. The website has incorporated a dedicated channel so that any resident can submit inquiries and, most interestingly, propose names for new spaces in the city. This system aims to streamline and modernize citizen communication, making the process much more efficient and accessible.
More than just a guide to help us find our way, the Nomenclátor is a map of our collective memory. Its names reflect the values and struggles we have chosen to preserve.
This digital overhaul goes hand in hand with the Strategic Plan for Memory Policies 2026–2030, which identifies the revision of the street name registry as a key element for the city. The goal is clear: to apply criteria of democratic memory and incorporate a gender perspective into our squares and avenues. The aim is to correct the imbalances of the past by making visible groups that for years were left out of the public narrative. The result is the proactive policy Barcelona is promoting to make its urban space more inclusive of women and the growing recognition of key figures in LGBTI history.
