Ajuntament del Masnou

El Masnou would like to welcome everyone visiting us. El Masnou is a town that is at once open to the modern world and also firmly rooted in its traditions and characteristic way of life.

El Masnou is one of the principal municipalities of the Maresme district. The town is well communicated and offers a wide range of activities and attractions making it worth a visit any time of the year.

The town's many artistic and monumental attractions include the Nautical Museum, with its large collection of nautical, archaeological and ceramic exhibits, the 18th Century Church of St Peter with its neoclassic façade dominating the town's tranquil sloping streets, the Town Hall, in the late neoclassic style, and the community centre, (known as the Casino). In the old part of town you can still find many typical houses from the last century.

Masnou has a number of outstanding buildings, including modernist structures such as the Casa Benèfica, or the Casa de Cultura, and several old manor houses such as the 17th Century Cal Teixidor or the 16th Century Ca l'Antic.

Along the seafront, next to the beach, are the Pleasure Port facilities (Port Esportiu), famous throughout the local area for their good food and entertainment. Our town also offers a wide range of shops and services.

El Masnou is lively the whole year round, but in summer you can especially enjoy the Ple de Riure International Comedy Festival, and the Festivities of Sant Pere.

One item of interest is the Green Meridian, a line which leaves Dunkirk, cuts through Paris, and ends up in Catalonia, right in our town. This is one of the foremost land meridians in the western world, and was used in its time to define the length of the Metre and to create the Decimal Metric System.

We are open to all-comers from around the world and would like to invite you to discover our town. We are sure that you will be pleasantly surprised when you leave.

The town's historical origins can be traced back to Iberian and Roman settlements built around the Maresme district, and the Roman town of Cal Ros de les Cabres is one of the first vestiges of the inhabitants of what is currently El Masnou.
 
The lands on which Masnou is built belonged to the towns of Sant Feliu d'Alella and Sant Martí de Teià, settlements that were set some distance inland to protect them from pirate attacks. The population was engaged in farming and fishing activities, and small fishing communities were established on the beach.

Fortified manor houses were gradually built close to the sea, and we first hear of the town itself in the privilege granted to Ferdinand the Catholic in 1505 in which he was granted a lieutenant to exercise his functions while he was absent at the battle of Teià.

From 1812, coinciding with the proclamation of the Liberal Constitution, the town elected a mayor. The people living in the beach settlement made the most of any opportunity to press for independence, and so it was in 1820, during a new period of liberalism, that the population of El Masnou once again gained their independence.

The Municipal Board met on the 28th of October 1825 to establish the municipality, the mayor, the councillors, deputies and corporations, thus meeting the terms of a Royal provision granted by Ferdinand VII.

Today, El Masnou still maintains a certain historic title: Illustrious Council of the Charitable Town of El Masnou.

The title Illustrious was granted the town in 1909 by Alfonso XIII because it was built without any help from the Escola Nacional, currently called the Escola Ocata.

The title of Charitable Town was granted in 1902 by Alfonso XIII thanks to the building of an alms house, the Casa Benèfica.