Sometimes (few) news are good and not bad and tell us about beautiful places that open and not emblematic places that close. It already happened with the Arnau hall and this time it happens again with the Capitol, the mythical theater of Las Ramblas that will reopen its doors with all its splendor after having closed due to the pandemic.
This has been announced by the Barcelona City Council, which has acquired the Capital Theater to become public property, in an operation that seeks to strengthen La Rambla as a cultural hub of the city.
What will the new Capitol Theater be like?
After more than five years closed, the building will reopen in autumn 2027 with a dual function: it will once again be a stage space and will also house the offices of the Central Services of the Barcelona Library Consortium.
In this new phase, the Capitol will retain its two theaters, with seating capacities of 402 and 198 respectively. Their management will be decided by public tender, as is the case with other municipal facilities such as El Molino or Paral-lel 62.
In addition to stage programming, the building will also serve as the administrative headquarters of the Library Consortium, which will enable the City Council to save the cost of current rents and improve the distribution of work, training and logistics spaces for the library network. Some 900 m² are expected to be made available for these new uses.
When will the Capitol reopen?
The city’s mayor, Jaume Collboni, has announced that the works will be ready in 2027 and celebrated the Capitol’s recovery as a “great day for Barcelona, the theater and La Rambla”.
The Capitol opened as a cinema in 1926 and was converted into a theater in 1997. It closed its doors after a flood in July 2019, and the last performance took place on March 12, 2020, just before the confinement by Covid-19. Throughout its career it hosted 379 shows, more than 14,000 performances and more than 2.7 million spectators.
To make this action possible, the City Council will promote a Modification of the General Metropolitan Plan (MPGM) to requalify the properties at 7 and 9 Santa Anna Street and at number 2 Fontanella Street.
The agreement with the property of the building contemplates an exchange of urban uses that will allow the transfer of the Capitol to the City Council. In exchange, the Fontanella 2 property, also owned by the current owner, will have a different use that will generate a capital gain to finance much of the rehabilitation of the theater and the adequacy of the offices of the Consortium of Libraries.