Social, cultural and recreational associations enjoyed a new lease of life in these first years of democracy. They had played an important role during the Francoist dictatorship, both as catalysts for dissident concerns and as instruments for residents’ demands, or repositories of an alternative culture. With the transition, they combined this socio-political role with that of serving as a tool for organising life in the neighbourhood.

Gràcia’s streets and squares became memory spaces for the new democratic, Catalanist and popular culture. On 3 April 1981, Plaça del Diamant was packed to pay tribute to the writer Mercè Rodoreda. The event was organised by the Municipal Council and schools of the District to publicise Rodoreda’s novel, inspired by Gràcia. The same year, the neighbourhood’s streets and squares provided the setting for the shooting of Francesc Betriu’s film, La Plaça del Diamant.

In November 1982, in memory of the linguist from Gràcia, Pompeu Fabra, the District Council erected a Montserrat stone monolith in the middle of Plaça Lesseps.