Day 4: Gironella - l'Ametlla de Merola

Here I began the industrial section of the Llobregat. In the late nineteenth century, the river provided energy for the textile factories that drove the industrial revolution in Catalonia. Wealthy factory owners built their empires from scratch. First however, they needed a strategic segment along the river that maximized vertical drop. The higher the drop, the more kinetic energy they could capture from the Llobregat to power their mills. But while the energy they captured from the river was critical, they also needed old fashion human labor as well. And since these factories were being built along the shores of the Llobregat where few towns existed, the factory owners decided to build housing for the factory workers. This way, workers lived next to the factory, and could bring their family with them to the place of their new employment. And with the families, came the need for schools, entertainment and of course the church. The factory owners provided these services, and created small enclaves where the workers lives revolved entirely around the labor and services near the factory. Each colony was given the name of its owner, and with it, new, modern and mini-industrial societies were born, complete with cafe's, the church, and theatre.

The towns along the Llobregat have organized into a tourism board to promote the restoration of the colonies. The headquarters of the Concorci pel Parc Fluvial de les Colonies del Llobregat is located at la Torre de l'Amo at Viladomiu Nou. Neus Santamaria gave us an excellent tour of the home of the factory owner.

In the afternoon, we met up with Angel Miralda, who grew up in the colony of l'Ametlla de Merola. We met in Puig-reig and together, we walked south passing the colonies of Cal Marcal, Cal Vidal, and Cal Riera. Angel participated in an MIT-Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya study on the Llobregat. I had seen the study cited but had not seen a printed copy until Neus showed me one at the Concorci. I would like to obtain a copy because it was written by a team of urban planners with the intent of promoting the corridor of industrial colonies along the Llobregat. Oriol Nel.lo first told me about this study in January 2008, and I must admit that that conversation first sparked my interest in studying the Llobregat at all. I hope to contact both the Catalan and American coordinators of this project to gain more insight on this part of the Llobregat from a planning perspective.