One of the most disturbing legends in the history of Barcelona is the one that arises around the Casino of La Rabassada. This emblematic building, which was the temple of gambling in Barcelona, went from total luxury to ruin.
Many claim that paranormal phenomena can be perceived as soon as one travels along the Rabassada road. The halo of mystery revolves around the Casino de la Rabassada, cataloged as a monumental construction of the early twentieth century that received the Catalan upper class of the time. Today, however, it is a complete ruin.
How the Casino of La Rabassada used to be
In the midst of the full expansion of the city, a truly majestic casino hotel was inaugurated in Sant Cugat del Vallés in 1899. Symbol of the luxury and economic prosperity of the Barcelona of this century, it had large halls where dances were held and there was a lot of music and joy.
It also had restaurants for which the most renowned French chefs cooked. Surrounded by splendorous gardens, it had its own amusement park and concert halls. From there you could have the most wonderful views of Barcelona.
One of its huge rooms was an exclusive gaming room for playing roulette. There, many earned large sums and others lost their fortune. Legend has it that the Casino had a soundproof chamber with a pistol to make it easier for desperate broke people to take their own lives.
The decline of the Casino of La Rabassada
The fall of the majestic Casino was preceded by many misfortunes that fed the legends about the place. Many of them is that the luxurious construction was a silent witness to the frequent suicides of large bourgeois owners who lost everything after gambling.
Others also claimed that the hotel was simultaneously a brothel where wealthy men of the time satisfied their desires. It was also said that many celebrities of the time visited it, such as the famous murderess and alleged Barcelona vampire Enriqueta Martí.
In 1912, in the midst of the Primo de Rivera dictatorship, gambling was banned, bringing ruin to this wasteful world. Initially the Casino fell and then the hotel. During the Civil War, the place was used as headquarters and a place for firing squads.
At present, all that can be seen is a mountain of ruins amidst an atmosphere of mystery and many dead people from the past without identity.
If you dare to visit the ruins of the Casino de La Rabassada, you should take the church road between Sant Cugat del Vallès and Barcelona. The ruins are a reminder of what was once a majestic and luxurious place. Today a legend.
