The Unió Cooperatista Barcelonesa was the biggest workers’ consumer cooperative in Barcelona. Located in the poor Batlló neighbourhood of the Eixample district, it was founded in 1927 as a result of the merger of two older entities, with a view to expanding the scope of the cooperative alternative within the society of the time.

The cooperative’s iconic headquarters at 176–180 Carrer del Comte d’Urgell opened in 1931, and became a hub of social activity, popular culture and leisure for the neighbourhood and for the city. During the 1930s and 1940s, the cooperative opened 3 more branches, reached 2,000 members and provided goods for more than 7,000 people in Esquerra de l’Eixample, Les Corts and Raval. Later, in 1962 – a time of economic crisis under the Francoist dictatorship – the building was sold to the Catholic Church and ‘converted’ into Sant Isidor Parish Church. The cooperative ended up disappearing, along with its memory.

The research project behind this book is part of a joint effort to recover the memory and heritage of the Esquerra de l’Eixample’s social and community fabric and the city’s cooperative movement. It is a book that aims to revisit these types of practices and institutions and highlight their importance, so that we may grasp the neighbourhood’s collective history and present situation.