Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

Work is getting under way on ten escalators and five lifts in public spaces to save residents having to deal with sharp ascents and descents and to improve quality of life in neighbourhoods with steep slopes. Similarly, twenty escalators are set to be renewed and a further fifteen will get bidirectional mechanisms. The overall cost of the work is 25.8 million euros.

Barcelona had 85 escalators and 46 lifts at the start of 2019. The work on the new infrastructures will give the city another twenty escalators and ten lifts, an increase of 23%. Eleven escalators and five lifts were installed in the city between 2019 and 2022, and between this year and next year work will begin on nine new escalators and five new lifts.

The new infrastructures will save users 500 metres of ascent and descent and should get used around 10 million times a year. Every year the city’s escalators get used over 22.2. million times, while lifts make around 6.8 million journeys.

Where are the nine new escalators to be installed?

• Five in C/ Agudes with Av. Rasos de Peguera (Nou Barris).
• Two in the Parc de les Glòries, facilitating access to the metro station (Sant Martí).
• Two in Passeig de la Font de la Mulassa (Horta-Guinardó).

Where are the five new vertical lifts to be installed?

• Two in the neighbourhood of Canyelles (Nou Barris).
• Two in the neighbourhood of Can Peguera (Nou Barris).
• One in C/ Torrent de Can Mariner (Horta-Guinardó).

Renewal of escalators

All escalators in the city over twenty years old will also be renewed next year. This means 22 escalators in all, located in the districts of Nou Barris, Horta-Guinardó and Gràcia. Fifteen escalators in the districts of Horta-Guinardó, Gràcia and Sarrià – Sant Gervasi will also be equipped with bidirectional mechanisms.

The work is being funded by the EU’s Next Generation funds.