The Riera d’Escuder is one of the most unique streets in Sants, specifically, the lower section, between Daoiz i Velarde and Canalejas. This segment of the street preserves the original bed of the torrent, currently used as a backyard for some homes. It is about two meters below the current street level. Transit through this section is carried out along a narrow walkway.
This peculiar street goes from Socors to Canalejas and follows the course of the old stream from which it takes its name. For this reason, its layout is not straight, but forms angles and between the streets of Sants and Càceres it forms a sinuous path, marked by the old watercourse. It was one of the numerous streams that crossed the plain of Barcelona from Collserola to the sea. Many of them, like Escuder, have given names to some streets and have historically marked borders, such as the Riera Blanca, the road that still today separates Barcelona ––previously, the independent municipality of Sants–– and L’Hospitalet.
The fact that the current street was a stream explains that most of the buildings that face it are actually the back part of the properties, whose main facades, with some exceptions, are in Sant Medir and Tinent Flomesta.
In the section between Daoiz i Velarde and Canalejas is where this phenomenon is most evident, which explains why the old bed of the torrent has been used to enable the aforementioned backyards. A part of this surviving bed is set up for playing petanque, and members of the Riera d’Escuder club have practiced there for years.
It has not been only the old streams that have determined the urban planning in this area of ??Sants. The Riera d’Escuder crosses Blanco Street, which currently runs from this point to Joan Güell Street. With an irregular and winding layout, it was an ancient Roman road that connected Barcino with the Via Augusta and which in the Middle Ages became Cami Ral, a precedent for modern roads.
