Barcelona City Council has named a bus stop in Torre Baró after Manolo Vital, the historic neighborhood leader and driver of line 47, famous for hijacking a bus in 1978 to take it to this neighborhood for the first time. This space of memory was presented in a tribute that was held at the confluence of Castellví and Lliçà streets, where Vital climbed the 47 46 years ago.
Municipal officials have taken the opportunity to announce that next December the government will present a proposal to the gazetteer’s presentation to name Plaza Manolo Vital on the roundabout at this point.
The granddaughter of the neighborhood activist, Joana Vital, participated in the event; neighbors of Torre Baró, and Marcel Barrena and Clara Segura, director and leading actress respectively of the film ‘El 47’, which has recovered the figure of Vital.
During the event, the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, recalled that residents have set the City Council’s agenda since the first democratic councils. “We have a neighborhood plan to invest more resources in those areas that need it most, like Torre Baró. We will continue working because it is everyone’s goal for Barcelona to be Barcelona,” he stressed.
The roundabout that will bear the name of Manolo Vital and where the stop that pays tribute to him is located was precisely the point where the bus driver entered Torre Baró with the number 47 on May 7, 1978 and where he was waiting for many neighbors and neighbors to support the action, some making way for the vehicle and others getting on. With the feat of taking the articulated vehicle through the steep and unpaved streets, Vital wanted to demonstrate to the authorities of the time that public transport could also reach Torre Baró. A few months later, the long-awaited connection became a reality.
With the decision to name a square with the name of Manolo Vital, Barcelona City Council responds to the historic demand of the neighborhood’s residents to dedicate a space to the memory of the neighborhood leader.
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