It has been 60 years since a series of construction accidents during the building of Barcelona's L1 metro line in Sant Andreu killed at least four people and damaged more than 200 homes. The events, largely suppressed at the time by the Francoist regime and Barcelona's city council under Mayor José María de Porcioles, remain a painful memory for survivors. One resident, M. del Carme Conejero Corbera, who was 14 at the time, recalled: "It was an unforgettable night. I haven't gotten over it."
On the night of 28 August 1966, a building at number 59 on Coroleu Street collapsed, forcing the evacuation of two adjacent buildings at numbers 61 and 63. According to historian Jordi Petit, a loud noise around 10pm alerted residents. The homes had already shown signs of structural stress due to tunneling work for L1, with cracks previously dismissed as war damage from the Spanish Civil War. La Vanguardia reported that a storm the day before had heightened fears of collapse in homes adjacent to the metro works.
"We heard a loud noise. Part of the house next door, Mrs. Cirera's, collapsed," Conejero said. Her family lived on the first floor of number 61. Though their home did not fully collapse, it was severely damaged. Firefighters evacuated them, and they never returned. Most of their belongings remained inside. They spent the first night with a neighbour without official assistance and later lived with relatives for months before buying a new home. As tenants, they received only minimal compensation, insufficient for a down payment on a property.
Widespread Damage and Unmarked Deaths
Petit's 2014 research detailed how the Francoist Ministry of Public Works eventually accepted responsibility, with Fomento de Obras y Construcciones compensating and expropriating affected homes, which were later demolished. The damaged properties spanned Coroleu, Montsec, Riera de Sant Andreu, Plaça de la Pomera, and Ignasi Iglesias streets. Among the demolished was the Rabasseda bar-farm, a well-known local business at the intersection of Riera de Sant Andreu and Sant Adrià streets.
Cèsar de la Cruz, then 14 and living nearby on Rubén Darío street, remembers seeing bodies recovered at Plaça d'Orfila. He criticised the shallow tunnel construction, noting it still causes vibrations in homes. "The tunnel was built very close to the surface," he said. "In the mornings, when it's quiet, I hear the metro."
While official records cite four deaths between August and October 1966, including three workers buried in a landslide on 11 August and one drowned in a flooded tunnel on 16 October after heavy rain, some witnesses believe the true death toll was as high as eleven, according to a 2005 article in Avui.
A Legacy of Silence
The metro finally reached Sant Andreu in March 1968, with the opening of Torras i Bages and Sant Andreu stations. Yet, no official celebration marked the 50th anniversary, reflecting lingering resentment. At the Centre Ignasi Iglesias, a local historical association, emotions remain strong among those who lost homes. "There was a lot of concealment," Petit said.
"There was a lot of concealment." , Jordi Petit, Sant Andreu historian
This tragedy is not the only forgotten metro construction disaster in Barcelona. A century ago, on 12 April 1924, 11 workers died in a tunnel collapse on Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes during construction of the Transversal del Metropolitano, the precursor to L1. The collapse occurred at 4.10am between Villarroel and Casanova streets. Initial reports cited four deaths, but by the next day, all 11 bodies had been recovered via a works shaft on Viladomat street, still used today as a ventilation point. The victims were taken to Hospital Clínic for autopsy. None of the dead were officially commemorated with a memorial plaque.
The L1 line was inaugurated on 10 June 1926, the same day Antoni Gaudí died. Despite the scale of the 1924 disaster, it too has faded from public memory.
Reported by totbarcelona.cat, Toni Sust, Tot Barcelona.
