Community Celebrates Quarter-Century Milestone
The El Poble-sec – Francesc Boix Library is marking 25 years since its opening in 2001. Located at Carrer Blai, 34, the public library has organised a series of events between September and December 2026 to commemorate its legacy and role in the Sants-Montjuïc district. Inaugurated on 15 September 2001, the building originally opened in 1889 as a school run by the charitable society Juntas de Señoras de Salas de Asilos. Over time it served various civic functions before becoming Poble-sec’s official neighbourhood library.
A Tribute to a Local Hero
The library bears the name of Francesc Boix i Campo (1920–1951), a native of Poble-sec known as the 'photographer of Mauthausen'. As a young photojournalist during the Spanish Civil War, he joined the Republican forces and later endured exile and deportation to the Mauthausen concentration camp. While working in the camp’s photographic archive, Boix helped conceal over 2,000 negatives documenting Nazi atrocities. These images were later used as evidence in the Nuremberg and Dachau trials.
Naming the library after him is an effort to pay tribute to a Catalan who fought so that events like those he and his companions experienced would not be repeated.
Today, the library hosts the Francesc Boix Fund, a dedicated collection of around 850 items related to his life and work. It includes biographies, essays, novels, poetry, films and documentaries about the Spanish Civil War, World War II, antisemitism and Nazism. All materials are accessible on the first floor under the code FB.
Autumn Programme Honours Memory and History
A range of free public events will continue through December. On 30 October 2026 at 18:30, the Centre Cultural Albareda will screen the documentary Francesc Boix, a Photographer in Hell by Llorenç Soler, followed by a talk with producer Oriol Porta and historian Benito Bermejo. Later screenings include Arcadi on 18 November and Transmissions. Memories of Lluís Sala on 16 December, both at the same venue. Exhibitions form a key part of the anniversary programme. On 9 November, the exhibition Francesc Miró i Pomares, the Argelès Native opens with a talk by historian Pau Vinyes Roig at 18:30. From 3 December, Cabrero Arnal, the Illustrator Who Looked Death in the Eyes will run at the Centre Cultural Albareda until 30 December. Other activities include a historical walk titled Francesc Boix Route through Poble-sec, scheduled for Saturday 28 November from 11:00 at the library’s courtyard. The walk will last two hours and explore local sites linked to Boix’s life. On 12 November at 18:30, a talk titled Traces of a Woman. Rosa Boix, the Forgotten Illustrator will be presented by Sergio Romero of the Associació Francesc Boix – Memòria Històrica, with an introduction by historian Josep Fabra. Members of Rosa Boix’s family will attend. All events are free. Full details and schedules are available via the Centre Cultural Albareda's official page.
Primary sources: ajuntament.barcelona.cat, barcelona.cat, bibliotecavirtual.diba.cat. Reported by el3.cat, barcelona-metropolitan.com.
