What happens when the people who make light stop?

Continue to the three brick chimneys at the edge of the Paral·lel. They are remnants of the former electricity complex associated with Barcelona Traction, Light and Power — La Canadenca — a pioneer of large-scale electricity production in early twentieth-century Catalonia. In 1919 a labour conflict that began within the company's orbit expanded dramatically. Barcelona Metròpolis records that on 22 February electricity workers across the city joined the strike and Barcelona was left in darkness. That makes these chimneys a perfect night-time object: industrial infrastructure is usually invisible as a social relationship until power disappears. Look at the preserved machinery fragments in the gardens. The story is not simply that electricity illuminated Barcelona; workers operated the system, and in 1919 their collective action demonstrated what the city depended on.