HORTA: A FAMILY NAME AND AN OLD VILLAGE
The area occupied by the current district originated with the village of Horta, where several important noble families possessed land. There are also references to the Horta family dating back to the year 1034; they promoted the construction of the parish of San Juan de Horta, around the year 1095.
Horta was declared an independent municipality in 1718, under the Nueva Planta decrees. Between the 16th and the 19th Centuries, its urban core experienced rapid population growth due to the abundant presence of water, which allowed for the installation of several clothes-laundering facilities that serviced the city of Barcelona.
Currently, the neighborhood of Horta maintains the structure of its original urban nucleus around the Plaza Ibiza, surrounded by an urban expansion made up of residential buildings and isolated apartment blocks.