Barrios bajos
Barrios bajos (The Slums) is a 1937 Spanish black-and-white melodrama directed by Pedro Puche. It runs 94 minutes and is set in Barcelona’s poor El Raval neighborhood. The story follows three people: Ricardo, a lawyer who has killed his wife’s lover; Rosa, a young maid who loses her job after harassment by her former employer; and El Valencia, a brave port worker who hides Ricardo and tries to protect Rosa from prostitution schemes run by the pimp Floreal.
Ricardo hides in El Valencia’s hostel, Casa Paco, and Rosa arrives seeking safety. El Valencia helps Rosa find work to keep her from being prostituted, while Floreal snarls at them. Floreal’s men stab El Valencia when he fights to protect them. Ricardo is saved but wounded; Rosa and Ricardo fall in love. Floreal discovers Ricardo’s crime and forces Rosa to become a prostitute unless she cooperates. El Valencia sacrifices himself in a final fight, dying to bless Ricardo and Rosa. In the end, Ricardo and Rosa escape Spain.
The film touches on social issues like prostitution among low‑class women in El Raval and includes some daring scenes for its time, with early neorealist elements. It was produced by SIE Films during Barcelona’s CNT collectivization.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:05 (CET).