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Sabadell
«Sabadell es una importante ciudad industrial con tradición textil.»Sabadell is an important industrial city with a textile tradition.
Sabadell is in the Ripoll valley, twenty kilometres north of Barcelona, and is one of the most populous cities in Catalonia. Built on the wool industry in the nineteenth century, it preserves the steam-powered factories that gave it its shape, now transformed into museums, schools, and civic halls.
Did you know
A water tower that never worked.
The modernist Water Tower has become the city's civic symbol despite never having entered into operation due to structural problems.
How they talk in Sabadell
Catalan and Castilian coexist daily, with strong bilingualism. «Vapor» in Sabadell appears in the names of former textile factories and indicates the steam-powered industrial system that marked the 19th century.
déu-n'hi-do
Not bad; quite something; truly remarkable. Interjection or adverb to express surprise, admiration, importance, or a considerable quantity.
Everyday life in Sabadell
The «vapors» turned into something else
The old steam textile factories, with brick chimneys, are still standing: inside there are now libraries, theatres and offices. The chimney remains, because no one tears it down.
«Antes aquí había fábricas.» — Before, there were factories here.
The «riu Ripoll» as a park
The valley of the river that powered the spinning mills is today a green belt in the middle of the city: people run, cycle and there are still the walls of the old dye works among the trees.
Five minutes from Terrassa
The two cities are attached and have always competed, textile against textile, team against team: those from one say so immediately, and never confuse them.
What to eat in Sabadell
Arròs negre
Rice with squid ink, dark and glossy, served with alioli on the side.
Xató
Escarole salad with salt cod, tuna and anchovies, with almond and ñora sauce.
Botifarra amb mongetes
Grilled Catalan sausage with white beans sautéed in fat.
Festivals in Sabadell
Festa Major
the first weekend of September
Giants, «correfoc» and the city in the streets: the fire passes through the people and those watching cover themselves with a hat.
What to see in Sabadell
Vapor Badia
A 19th-century steam factory turned into a public space, with the chimney left standing.
Museu d'Història de Sabadell
The history of the city inside a stately home, from the hand loom to the factory.
Casa Duran
18th-century noble house, with furnishings and garden left as the family left them.
Parc de Catalunya
The city's large park, with a lake and meadows, built where the fields used to be.
Where Sabadell comes from
The Catalan Manchester
Roman era
Arraona
Small settlement in the Ripoll valley, on the road to the interior.
11th century
The village
The village is born around the church of Sant Salvador.
19th century
Steam
Wool and steam looms transform it: they called it the Catalan Manchester.
20th century → today
After textiles
With the factories closed, the «vapors» become museums, schools and theatres.
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