Besòs Water Tower: Hidden Modernist Icon With Rooftop Views

About Besós Water Tower

The Besòs Water Tower, Torre de les Aigües del Besòs, is one of the most striking modernist industrial landmarks in the Poblenou and Fòrum districts. Built entirely of brick and admired by artists such as Ramon Calsina, Josep M. Subirachs and Joan Pallarès, it remains one of the most beautiful examples of historic water infrastructure in Catalonia.

When the tower was constructed, Poblenou was an industrial zone rather than a residential neighbourhood. The project began after the discovery of a subterranean aquifer containing naturally pure, low‑salinity water. This led to the creation of the Aigües del Besòs water company, which built the tower to gravity‑feed water to nearby factories and to the Ciutadella area of Barcelona.

The tower originally stood 51 metres tall when inaugurated in 1882, with a large water tank added at the top. The exterior spiral staircase wraps around the tank because the central core of the tower was reserved for the up‑flow and down‑flow pipes. The original plan envisioned a second tank beginning at 80 metres, bringing the total height to 124 metres, but this extension was never completed.

Next to the tower stands the Casa de Vàlvules, the valve house. Nearby once stood a now‑demolished boiler building that housed two steam boilers manufactured by the renowned Alexander Hermanos. Initially fuelled with Cardiff coal, the boilers powered four vertical steam engines in the Casa de Vàlvules. These engines drove pumps capable of raising twelve thousand cubic metres of water to 40 metres for the first tank, and another twelve thousand cubic metres to 80 metres for the planned second tank. The pipes and valves, imported from Glasgow, were engineered to withstand pressures of up to 15 atmospheres.

At full capacity, the complex was designed to supply one hundred thousand cubic metres of water every twenty‑four hours. Water from the aquifer entered the tower at basement level and was pushed up through the central shaft to the ceramic‑lined tanks. The downpipe sat just above a movable galvanised iron sieve that filtered impurities. The tanks included measuring instruments and temperature controls to ensure automatic operation of the pumping and descent systems.

The tower was built entirely of solid brick, with structural steel used only for the roof rafters of both the tower and the Casa de Vàlvules. The structure had to withstand not only the immense weight of the water but also the internal pressure forces generated by the pumping system. In plan view, the tower consists of three concentric brick rings: a central core for the pipes (each 30 cm in diameter), a middle ring for structural strength, and an outer ring. The spiral staircase runs between the outer and middle rings, all connected by brick arches and extensive use of the Catalan brick vault.

The tower’s decline began when excessive extraction from the aquifer created a vacuum that drew in seawater from the nearby coastline. The resulting salinisation made the water unsuitable for industrial and residential use, leading to the abandonment of the project and the cancellation of the second tank. The tower eventually fell into disrepair.

Pere Falqués i Urpí (1850–1916), the architect of the Besòs Water Tower, was a prominent figure in Catalan architecture. He became municipal architect of Sant Martí de Provençals in 1873 and later, alongside Lluís Domènech i Montaner, served as Barcelona’s chief architect. Falqués contributed to the 1888 Universal Exhibition in Parc de la Ciutadella and won the competition to remodel Plaça de Catalunya. He is also known for designing much of Barcelona’s iconic iron street furniture, including the lampposts on Passeig de Lluís Companys, the lampposts on Avinguda de Gaudí, and the lamppost‑benches on Passeig de Gràcia in front of Casa Batlló and La Pedrera.

Today, the Besòs Water Tower has been restored and reopened to the public. The Poblenou Historic Archive occupies the Casa de Vàlvules, and the tower itself functions as a museum space offering guided tours and panoramic views from the rooftop.

Besòs Water Tower History

At the end of the 19th century, Barcelona suffered from severe water shortages, with 1875 and 1876 marked by extreme drought. The Besòs Water Tower project emerged as an ambitious attempt to secure a reliable water supply for the rapidly industrialising Poblenou district and the growing city.

• 1877: A report is published proposing the creation of the Besòs Water Company, led by investor Francisco Javier Camps Puigmartí. At the time, European cities consumed far more water per inhabitant — Marseille (420 L), Paris, Dijon and Glasgow (200 L) — while Barcelona averaged only 19 L. The new tower aimed to raise this to 38.22 L.
• 1880: Construction begins on land previously occupied by the brewery of Camps and Kuentzmann. August Kuentzmann Damm, co‑founder of the famous Damm beer, had operated here before the site was repurposed.
• 1882, June 21: Inauguration of the tower and its first water tank, with a capacity of 600 m², supplying drinking water to Barcelona’s residents and nearby factories.
• 1888: The tower begins supplying water to the Can Girona steelworks complex in Poblenou (later known as MACOSA).
• 1889, May: High salinity levels are detected due to seawater intrusion into the aquifer. Residential water supply is terminated. The failure of the project deeply affects Camps Puigmartí, who dies in 1890.
• 1895: The Besòs Water Company is dismantled. The tower is sold to the English-owned Barcelona Besòs Waterworks Company Ltd., and later transferred to the Societat General d’Aigües de Barcelona (SGAB).
• 1895–1922: SGAB uses the tower exclusively for industrial supply, mainly serving the Can Girona steelworks.
• 1922, May 18: Material para Ferrocarriles y Construcciones S.A., successor to Can Girona, is manufacturing railway engines and carriages using water supplied from the tower.
• 1936–1939: During the Spanish Civil War, an anti‑aircraft battery is installed on the tower due to its strategic height and location.
• 1992: Ahead of the Barcelona Summer Olympics, the surrounding factories are demolished and the coastline undergoes major redevelopment, leaving the tower isolated but preserved.
• 1993: Material para Ferrocarriles y Construcciones S.A. closes, and the entire industrial complex is abandoned.
• 1996: The steelworks are demolished, leaving only the water tower and the Casa de Vàlvules standing.
• 2010, January 8: An agreement is signed between Barcelona City Council and SGAB to restore the tower. Architects Antoni Vilanova and Eduard Simó lead the project, assisted by technician Joan Olona and historian Mercè Tatjer.
• 2010–2012: A full conservation programme restores the tower and valve house, preserving as much original material as possible. Two new steel spiral staircases are installed to allow safe visitor access to the upper levels.

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