Core Republic opens in Barcelona’s Nou Barris as functional-training hub

Core Republic has opened in Nou Barris with a clear pitch: a larger, functional-training-led gym that wants to set a new benchmark in a part of Barcelona where that kind of offer has been harder to find. The club opened on April 18, 2026, at Carrer de l’Escultor Llimona, 50, placing it between Nou Barris and Horta and directly targeting two adjoining neighborhoods with one site.

The facility is built around 800 square metres and three training rooms, with space split between guided group classes and open training zones. Core Republic says the model is designed for people at all levels and is meant to improve performance, energy, mobility and overall wellbeing, which puts it squarely in the fast-growing functional-training segment rather than the old-school gym format built mainly around machines and weight rooms. The programming reflects that positioning, with cross training, functional training, hybrid training, strength, calisthenics, yoga, pilates and open box sessions all on the schedule.

That mix matters because the opening is not just about adding another fitness address in Barcelona. In Nou Barris, Core Republic is presenting itself as a reference point, a place that can raise the standard of local training by combining coaching, open practice space and recovery-minded disciplines under one roof. The business is also leaning on access, not exclusivity: the founder membership launch price was set at 99 euros a month, down from 139 euros, and the offer was limited to the first 50 members. Core Republic says that promotional rate will be maintained for 12 months.

The project is led by Sergi Malaret, who has a background in marketing and is positioning Core Republic as more than a single-neighborhood experiment. Gym Factory reported that Malaret’s long-term ambition is to build a national chain over the next decade, which suggests the Nou Barris opening is meant to serve as a launchpad for a broader expansion plan. For now, though, the immediate test is local: whether a functional-training club with yoga, pilates, strength work and hybrid sessions can do more than ride a citywide trend and instead answer a real gap in the district’s fitness offer.