Avinguda Diagonal - Name

Name

The different regimes that held power in Catalonia and Spain during the 20th century sought to change the city's street names. Avinguda Diagonal was no exception to that. It has been known under the following names:

• Gran Via Diagonal – original name which Ildefons Cerdà and Víctor Balaguer intended to call the avenue.
• Avinguda d'Argüelles – 1891. Named after Agustín Argüelles (1776–1844).
• Avinguda de la Nacionalitat Catalana – 1922. Mancomunitat de Catalunya, (in English, Commonwealth of Catalonia).
• Avenida de Alfonso XIII −1924. During Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, named after King Alfonso XIII.
• Avinguda del Catorze d'Abril – 1931. Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939).
• Gran Vía Diagonal – 1939, provisional name imposed the day after the Fascist capture of Barcelona as an attempt to eliminate references to the Republic.
• Avenida del Generalísimo Francisco Franco – 1939. During the authoritarian regime of Francisco Franco.
• Avinguda Diagonal – Its current name, adopted following the restoration of democracy in 1979.

It should be noted, though, that in popular usage the name "Diagonal" has always prevailed.