La Borda was established in Sants, a neighbourhood with a long tradition and presence of cooperatives. Cooperatives are present in almost all sectors of the economy: agriculture, finance, labour, goods consumption or services, and housing. All kind of cooperatives have something in common: a group of people working together
in collective to solve their social and economic needs and concerns.

Can Batlló is a former industrial site built in the late nineteenth century. Along with both Espanya Industrial and Vapor Vell, the three of them were the industrial core in the south of Barcelona. In 1976, the General Metropolitan Plan (PGM) established the industrial activity must cease, and equipment, public housing and green space must be installed. Since then, the neighbours of La Bordeta never stopped claiming what was agreed. In 2011, the transformation of the site was still blocked by both Gaudir Real Estate and the involved administration. Sick of waiting, that year Sants and La Bordeta neighbours entered the site and occupied the the Bloc11 building, where a participatory process was engaged to define the uses and projects the neighbourhood wanted for Can Batlló.

More information: