In the Arxiu Històric de Roquetes (Historical Archive of Roquetes), Nou Barris, there are documents referring to the construction of the leprosy hospital at Casa Masdeu (Can Masdeu), in the grounds of the Hospital de la Santa Cruz y San Pablo.

There is a typed letter, dated 29 September 1931, to Las Noticias, in response to a query from the editor of the newspaper. It relates that the new Hospital de San Lázaro will be built in the grounds of the Hospital de la Santa Cruz y San Pablo. This is near the old building in which people with leprosy are currently housed, known as Casa Masdeu. Two religious orders are collecting alms for the construction.

Another typed letter, dated 28 March 1935 in Barcelona, from the Administration of the Hospital de la Santa Cruz y San Pablo to the City Council, requests financial help for the construction of the new leprosy hospital. The letter mentions that a similar request was sent to the Governor General of Cataluña. Appreciating the importance of the work in question [percatándose de la importancia de la obra de que se trata], the latter authority has offered a subsidy of 125 000 pesetas, and suggested contacting the City Council. The letter ends with a final appeal to the Council’s understanding of the hospital problem and enthusiasm to find a solution, as well as its appreciation of the humanitarian service that the hospital provides.

A report dated 25 August (?) 1936 informs that the Administration of the General Hospital of Catalonia have proposed a subsidy for the construction of the leprosy hospital at Horta. The various parts of the leprosarium already built, and those planned, are described. The report is signed by representatives of the construction syndicate, the association of builders and the architects (?) syndicate of Catalonia.

A communication dated 5 January 1955 from the Provincial Minister of Health for Barcelona to the Director-General of Health, requests the monthly statistics for the leprosarium of San Lázaro; these were not sent the previous year.

A one-page report from the Dirección General de Sanidad, Sección de Lepra, shows monthly statistics of patients in the Centro Leprologico de San Lazaro (Horta) Barcelona, for April 1956. It shows that thirteen men and thirteen women were in the hospital the previous month, of which one man died and the other was transferred to Fontilles. One man was admitted during the month, from Cartagena. There are six spaces available.

An undated, typed, two-page document, with handwritten notes, entitled Nota instructa, briefly describes the history of the leprosarium at Casa Masdeu, and requests funding from the Generalidad de Cataluña (Catalan autonomous government) to complete the construction work. Patients were transferred to this site from the Hospital de San Lázaro, which was founded in the ninth century. Casa Masdeu was acquired for this purpose in 1902, and each patient was given a plot of land on which to grow flowers and vegetables. Later, the conditions there were found to be inadequate, and a project for a new leprosy hospital was formulated. A Committee was set up in order to collect alms and construction began. It was temporarily suspended when funds ran out and further funding was provided by the architect, Don José Ma Pericas. However, this document announces a current shortfall of 5 000 000 pesetas. If the work can be finished, the capacity of the leprosarium will rise from twenty-nine beds to fifty, and the institution’s social and hygienic importance to the region is emphasised.

Entry updated January 2016