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The history of the first eatery in Barceloneta, which has since disappeared, takes us back to the year 1870. But first, let’s talk about the origins of Barcelona’s fishermen’s quarter.
In the fourteenth century, to take advantage of the island of Maians, a dike was built in order to later create the first port, in 1687, and to be able to reach the island by land. The dam was collecting the sediments that came down from the Besòs river and that were consolidating the soil with the sand contributed by the marine currents.
The conversion of the neighborhood came as a result of the events of 1714, with the expulsion of the inhabitants of the Ribera neighborhood for the construction of the Ciudadela fortress and the need to provide a place of shelter for these inhabitants.
The solution was found by the engineer Juan MartÃn Cermeño, who turned the place into a large plot of land in order to build ground- and first-floor houses on land with 321 parcels in 1749. A Port Works Board was created and the decision was made to construction of Barceloneta in 1753 to solve the housing problems of the city.
One of the first restaurants to open inside the old port was the one opened in 1870 by the young couple Manel and Teresa, who founded the Puda de Can Manel.
It was one of those eating houses open to sailors and to the inhabitants of the interior of the wall who dared to go out for dinner, returning before the doors closed.
The main problem with those eating houses was the strong smell of burnt oil that they gave off due to the lack of windows to ventilate the premises and prevent the smell of refried food emanating from their kitchens.
A strong smell that we also find in places where there are fountains and springs of sulfurous water and even in some spas. This was the reason that those eating houses received the name of Puda.
With the creation of the Board of Works of the Port, those premises became taverns and, although the odors were dispersed by the aeration that had been put in the new establishments, the word “Puda” continued to coexist with them.
During the 19th century, the neighborhood experienced an outstanding industrial development. Important metallurgical and mechanical industries were installed, such as the Maquinista Terrestre y MarÃtima or the Nuevo Vulcano shipyards.
With the urbanization of Barceloneta and the expansion of the port, the eating establishments disappeared from the interior and this was the reason why, in 1900, the Puda Manel came to occupy the basement of a building on the original Paseo Nacional (later, Passeig de Joan de Borbó), next to Judici street.
Place where it settled and remained since the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, being one of the places that achieved great popularity for its immeasurable paellas and its fish and seafood dishes and the famous bacallà a la llauna.
One of his regular clients was the Empordà writer Josep Pla. He remembered in his books moments spent inside him and when after eating he drank coffee and the people from the neighborhood played a game of cards in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.
La Puda de Can Manel received from the Barcelona restaurateurs guild in 1989 the title of restaurant “Millenario de Catalunya” for being the oldest restaurant of the guild in Barcelona. On April 22, 2009, he received the gold medal of the Europe Forum 2001, on the XII anniversary.
After many years of being one of the typical flagship restaurants of the Barceloneta neighborhood, where four generations followed the illusions and principles of Manel and Teresa for offering the best of Mediterranean cuisine, Can Manel ended up being a victim of real estate speculation. , suffered by the Barceloneta neighborhood and its tourist boom.
Since 2014, the fourth generation of the family, made up of Josep and Martà Domènech, tried to save the restaurant. Previously, in 1991, the premises acquired a part of the building to gain space and that contract had an expiration date, which was the final straw, with the purchase of the old building by a real estate agency.
The rent skyrocketed in an exaggerated way, impossible to be able to pay the rent and continue offering the quality of its products at a competitive price.
On October 16, 2016, the Puda de Can Manel closed the blinds and left behind 140 years of history. With this, a benchmark for quality food in the neighborhood disappeared.
Of the old restaurants that filled the promenade, only those that in their day acquired the premises or obtained an indefinite contract at that time remain. The primitive names have been lost over time and only a few of the old school remain and Barceloneta loses its identity by leaps and bounds.
