Previous state

The beginnings of industrialisation meant that farmland in the municipality of Santa Coloma -situated on the left bank of the river Besòs- became gradually occupied by factories and housing in response to the sharp rise in population in the second half of the 20th century (from15,281 inhabitants in 1950 to 133,138 in 1991). From that time, planning to cater for this growth was non-existent, and the buildings, which had become the main features of the landscape, spread over the municipal territory and up hillsides and even occupied the banks of the river. The agricultural holding, la Torre Roja, one of the oldest farmhouses in Santa Coloma, escaped the development process as it was located on the edge of the municipality. Although alterations had been made to the farmhouse, and it was extremely dilapidated, much of its land was still unoccupied until the eighties. The Torre Roja was located on the terraces adjacent to the banks of the river Besòs, at the bottom of Puigfred hill. The tuberculosis sanatorium for the poor, the Hospital de l'Esperit Sant, was built on top of this hill in 1917. As time went by, the site became fragmented, but still had an important role as an important connecting zone: it was one of the places where people could cross the river Besòs by means of precarious and dangerous wooden bridges which were easily swept away by floods.