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The old municipality of Sant Andreu, annexed to Barcelona in 1897, has a long history as a town, since the presence of man in prehistoric times has been sufficiently documented in Sant Andreu with several witnesses. The first population centers of the Roman period arose next to the road connecting Barcino with the Via Augusta del Vallès, which passed through the current Carrer Gran de Sant Andreu, to join at the height of the square of Mossèn Clapés, with other main roads that crossed the Plan de Barcelona.

When the modern age arrived, the geographical position of Sant Andreu favored the development of the population, especially because it was located on the road, which in medieval times was called Camí Ral, which connected the main centers of the Plan de Barcelona with the the Vallès region and the entire hinterland. Another advantage was its location in the middle of the course of Rec Comtal, a canal of Roman origin that carried water from the Besos river, and later from the Montcada mine, towards the city, allowing the existence of Sant Andreu of an important orchard, and likewise, he made possible one of the most important activities of the period, the flour mills.

With the Nova Planta decree of 1716, Sant Andreu became an independent municipality. At the beginning of the 20th century, Sant Andreu was no longer the basically rural world of the previous centuries, textile factories had been installed there for half a century and the subsequent railway occupation of a large part of the territory had contributed a lot of 'industrial work, transforming, logically, the composition of the municipality.

Carrer Gran de Sant Andreu, the old Roman road, then Camí Ral and years later Carretera de Ribes, together with Plaça del Mercat, today Plaça del Comerç and the historical and administrative center of Plaça d'Orfila, were the commercial and social center of the old town and continued to be so after the addition to Barcelona.

Today the Commercial Center of Sant Andreu is located in these same streets, along with other commercial streets, such as Rambla de Fabra i Puig, Concepción Arenal Street and others. In its area, undoubtedly the most important in this part of Barcelona, there are almost eight hundred shops, including those dedicated to retail and those in the service sector. The commerce of the axis has a very complete and varied offer, with shops of a family nature, among others brands, commercial chains and franchises.

Eix Sant Andreu organizes multiple and ongoing activities to promote trade in its area. And it is very clear that both the merchants and the residents, who have maintained the strong personality that comes from their past, want a neighborhood where people can live, work, shop and have fun, that is to say, the model Mediterranean city. That this philosophy works is demonstrated by the large number of people who walk through the streets of the axis and the good progress of the shops, which are more numerous every day and already occupy streets with, until now, less commercial importance.

The area has very good communications, which is not at all surprising, since Sant Andreu was one of the first municipalities of the Barcelona Plan to be linked to the city center by a new means of public transport on rails. The first steam tram arrived in the town in 1877, and it was electrified in 1902. Since then things have changed a lot and in this case for the better. Three metro stops, ten bus lines and two train stations, in addition to the future high-speed and commuter rail stations that will be very close by, guarantee travel to the axis from all over Barcelona, the surrounding towns and the most distant towns.

Both the merchants and the residents have maintained the strong personality that comes from their past, and they want a neighborhood where people can live, work, shop and have fun, in other words, the Mediterranean city model.