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On the occasion of the Spanish Succession War (1705-1714), the church and convent of Santa Madrona, in 1706, suffered the effects of war, when the convent was occupied by the army to serve as a base for the attack on Montjuïc, since which, due to its situation, was a strategic place from which the city could be attacked.
In 1713, the Capuchins evacuated it and the place was used for the defense of Barcelona. Until it fell into the hands of the Bourbon forces, who destroyed it with cannon fire.
After the war, the Capuchins tried on several occasions to rebuild the convent, but its reconstruction was never authorized, since it was a building built outside the wall, which could make it difficult to control the city, since they saw it more as a barracks than as a place of worship.
In 1717, they got Felipe V to authorize the purchase of some plots of land in the old Huerto del Vidrio (Hort del Vidre), which were located near Las Ramblas on Fernando street, where the Plaza Real is located today. , so that they could build their convent.
The laying of the first stone took place in 1718 and the inauguration of the convent took place in 1723. Its opening served for the return of the relics of Santa Madrona to the headquarters of the Capuchins.
The church of the convent was located at the current intersection of the Rambla and Calle Fernando and was located perpendicular to the first. The cloister and convent rooms were next to the church (on the sea side), next to the orchard.
In 1822 the place was expropriated and passed into the hands of the City Council, which demolished it in 1823. In 1824 the decision was made to rebuild it again on the slope of Montjuic, at the same time that its surroundings were urbanized. The Capuchins sold part of the land to cover the costs of building the new church that was located on Fernando street.
In 1835, after anti-clerical riots against religious orders, the Capuchins left the buildings. The convent was used as a school and the church was converted into a theater, which prevented its demolition.
After the riots had ended and social calm had been achieved, the convent was demolished, and construction began on its site in 1850 of a neoclassical square designed by Francesc Daniel Molina i Casamajó, which is today’s Plaza Real.
At the end of their journey on Fernando street, the Capuchins decided to rebuild again the church and convent on Tapioles street. A false door was placed on Calle Margarit, which had belonged to the old monastery of San Juan de Jerusalén, demolished in 1882, which the Bishop of Barcelona, ??Jaume Catalán, ordered to save.
The church was inaugurated in 1888, an act that was an event for the Poble Sec neighborhood, since the ceremony was attended by the Queen Regent María Cristina and her son Alfonso XIII.
Originally the church did not have a bell tower, so, at the beginning of the 20th century, it was decided to build it over the entrance portico with a total height of 50 meters, so that it could be seen by the residents of the neighborhood.
On Friday, June 22, 1899, La Vanguardia, on page 2, wrote:
The parish of Santa Madrona (new church), will celebrate on Sunday, the feast of Saint John the Baptist, a solemn service in honor of the glorious Precursor, whose ancient image and Holy Relic, from the demolished convent of Saint John of Jerusalem, are venerated in the same.
In 1909, due to the events of the Tragic Week, the church of Santa Madrona, like other convents and churches, suffered attacks by anarchists, which left it badly damaged. Later, the interior was rebuilt but its façade was badly damaged.
During the civil war, in 1936, the bell tower was decapitated, since its dome (made of dark ceramic pieces) made it an easy target for bombing by the rebel forces, whose demolition works on the bell tower spared the rest of the building.
Confiscated by the Public Order Police Station, it was part of the educational project CENU (Consell de l’Escola Nova Unificada), rationalist and secular. However, the Socialized Wood Economic Council managed to seize the building, which turned it into a garage, vehicle repair shop (inside they made a hole that allowed trucks to be repaired) and a warehouse, with the purpose of creating an industry self-sufficient
In 1938, the Economic Council of Socialized Wood signed a temporary assignment of the workshops to the Ministry of Defense for war purposes.
Santa Madrona, whose name day is celebrated on March 15, has not been forgotten by the city. In Poble Sec there are two churches dedicated to her name and with a meeting in honor of the saint that is held in spring.
