The Mill, the scene of Barcelona, was one of the best known in Europe for much of the twentieth century. With its characteristic red windmill blades on the front, was the most famous theaters Parallel (Paral.lel), which came to be dubbed "Avenue of the show" in Europe, due to the high concentration of scenic areas had.

El Molino was a cabaret and was always considered a transgressive space of allowable limits, with a great ability to create their own languages, two-way mobile to escape from the strictures of the time. In El Molino were scheduled more daring shows, in the presence of the most famous stars of Spain.

Opened in 1899, with the name of "The Aviary Catalana", conceived as a performance space. From 1901 "The Aviary Catalana" began to gain a foothold in the entertainment and programming has improved significantly, offering some short operettas and performances of Caballero Felip, ventriloquist and versatile artist very popular in the premises of the first Parallel decade of the twentieth century (such as cafes and Barcelona Spanish theater.) It also provided a service within the local restaurant, serving a la carte, and even came to arrange a free collection service for car hire to facilitate the travel of customers from La Rambla to the local. This service, which was at night, beginning at 10 pm, the shuttle from La Boqueria to local and vice versa, across the street from the Count of Assault.

In April 1905 "The Aviary Catalana" ownership changed again, to be renamed "Great Hall of the twentieth century." This alternating local varieties with movie passes to the Gaumont cinema, as did many local parallel, as this new invention was all the rage at the time. In 1908 changed the name to "Petit Moulin Rouge", in imitation of the famous "Moulin Rouge" in Montmartre district of Paris, by the similarity of the shows offered. This name remained until 1916, except for a brief five-month hiatus in 1910, during which the place is called "Petit Palais" in the tradition of French style names. And it was precisely in the year 1910 when there were some works that gave the interior configuration remained almost until closing, conducted by the architect Manuel Joaquim Raspall (disciple of Domènech i Montaner), who gave a modern touch. In 1926 the site was no longer a place of public entertainment to become, for a short period of time, at the headquarters of the party founded by Miguel Primo de Rivera, the Patriotic Union Spanish. In 1929, probably because of the Expo, the facade was redesigned, and, in imitation of the famous club in Paris, were added decorative elements reminiscent of a mill, ie the image and now we all know that highlighted especially the blades. The new facade did not replace the previous one, but was added in front, creating an air half. Joan Alemany Juvé architect was responsible for directing the work. The employer at that time was Antoni Astell (it was from 1913 to the end of the Civil War) and Blai lived on the street, close to local.

In 1936 he changed his name to "Moulin Rouge", which was maintained until the end of the Civil War. It must be stressed that, when these dates change of name of French influence, not all writers and historians of Parallel fully agree on the dates, although in different names. With the advent of the Franco dictatorship in 1939, the regime forced Castilianize the name and remove the word "red" for the political connotations that would suggest. Since then and until today, was as "The Mill".

At that time he bought the premises Francisco Serrano (who died in 1970), also owns the Bataclan, another historic theater. Serrano managed to attract a more rich and refined, better paying alternate glasses and could afford to consume cava. During the 60's, after a puncture economic embargo including, the location was left to the widow of the owner, a talented businesswoman, Mrs. Fernandita, which brought the numbers down hard and was adjusted gradually, the economy local, at least for a while.

The mill remained open until 1997, betting to the end for the genre of the magazine. At the end closed the doors on November 15, 1997 due to a combination of factors, including the crisis that affected several theaters Parallel (Paral.lel), changes in the form of public entertainment, and the lack of help by the government.

MILL soon reopen its doors to the public after extensive renovation in which it retained its iconic facade, listed as a World Heritage City by the City of Barcelona. This remodeling has been done by a qualified group of professionals after a long technical feasibility study coordinated by Angel Llobet, renowned engineer, who among other posts he was dean of the College of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia.

The architects responsible for the project, the study BOPBAA, have increased the building height. Above the famous facade designed in 1913 by modernist architect Josep Manuel Raspall, and its landmark red mill blades (added later), will grow the new building.

The new building will have a total of 7 floors: a basement kitchen and the floor at street level, where there are the stalls and 2 amphitheaters. At the top of the building will find a bar and terrace, offering a unique view of the parallelism. About this office will be a room, a plant with a rehearsal room and the top two floors dedicated to technical facilities.

Slated to open in the summer of 2010, El Molino will end 12 years of inactivity and many viable projects, from the standpoint of urban and artistic.

Artists

On the stage of El Molino many artists have passed, and they had to fight against censorship and politics, war and hunger, always giving a constant lesson of freedom, sublimation of the popular, the greatness of the neighborhood, eroticism without hypocrisy.

During the first half of the twentieth century emphasized the names of Granito de Sal, Countess Zoe and Lola Montiel, with a queen but for the 40 and 50: La Bella Dorita.

During the 50, 60 and 70 of the last century marched on its stage artists like Lander i Leanna, Mirko, Johnson, Escamillo, Pipper, Mistral Gardenia Mary Pulido and others.

During the 80's and until its closure in 1997, the theater hosted, among other artists, Amparo Moreno, La Mana and Merche Mar, the last of his starlets.

The Mill was also the setting for numerous films, from the legendary The last couplet (1957), directed by and starring John Orduña Sara Montiel, The Merry girls of The Mill (1977), shot by Jose Antonio de la Loma inside of local artists and starring Christa Leem El Molino and Piper, or The foreigner-oh! the street from the Cruz del Sur (1987), by Jorge Grau and starring José Sacristán, Emma Cohen, Teresa Gimpera and Gabino Diego.