Estació de Sants stop
Sants is Barcelona’s main railway station, where high-speed trains connect the city to the rest of Spain and a number of European cities. But in addition to its importance as a transport hub, the Sants district played a vital role in the history of 19th-century industrial Barcelona, evidence of which is still visible on its streets.
Industrial district and transport hub
The Red Route of Barcelona Bus Turístic connects to the city’s most important railway station, located in one of the districts central to Barcelona’s 19th-century industrialisation process, where numerous factories were installed at sites that have gradually been recovered for use by residents.
One of the most outstanding cases is that of Vapor Vell, a textile factory that is now a library, and the most paradigmatic case is that of Vapor Nou, which is now the site of Espanya Industrial Park.
What to see
Espanya Industrial ParkNine lighthouse towers watch over an open space of water and plant life that was formerly home to one of Barcelona’s largest textile factories.
SantsThe old town of Santa Maria de Sants was one of the centres of 19th-century industrial Barcelona. Currently, the district of Sants is not only home to the city’s main railway station and its high-speed rail connections, but also a major shopping area.