Parc del Camp de la Bota

Barcelona, Spain, Spain

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Parc del Camp de la Bota in Barcelona, Spain, occupies the site of the former Campo de la Bota, a notorious shantytown that emerged in the 1920s to house migrant workers for the 1929 International Exhibition and later became infamous for over 1,700 executions by Franco's regime from 1939 to 1952.

Originally a military artillery practice area during the Napoleonic occupation—named after the French "butte" for shooting mounds—it featured a four-towered castle built in 1858 as an artillery school and powder magazine, surrounded by informal barracks that grew post-Civil War amid poverty and marginalization.

Transformed in the 2000s through urban renewal for the Forum of Cultures and Olympic legacies, the area now forms part of the modern Parc del Fòrum with green spaces, cultural venues like the Natural Sciences Museum, and memorials honoring its dark history, including a 2025 "Bosc d'Empremtes" sculpture.