Parks of Barcelona

The Mediterranean climate accommodates a great variety of trees and shrubs and Barcelona cherishes and cares for the green spaces it offers its citizens and visitors. Oases of calm and beauty, architects and sculptors have added to their charm and give lovers of nature, history, and culture the opportunity to enjoy all three in a relaxed setting.
While gardens have always existed here as private gardens, vegetable plots, nurseries, avenues of trees, public gardens and parks do not really become common until after the Industrial Revolution.
The concept of public parks as spaces created and financed by the city council for the free use of the inhabitants comes from the need of breathing spaces and places of leisure for the city dwellers.

Park Güell: unfinished garden suburb by Antoni Gaudí, financed by Eusebi Güell. The park brings together all the characteristic features of modernism and the architect’s own particular vision (sinuous and organic shapes, integration with nature, broken tile mosaics). UNESCO has declared the park World Heritage.

Montjuïc Park (Botanical Garden of the Mediterranean): These 250 hectares of green in the city provide us with oxygen. The vegetation mainly consists of species grown in Mediterranean climates around the world, as well as other species that adapt to our climate such as those from China and Japan. The park is shaped in a triangle, which allows diverse orientations and the creation of local microclimates. Plants are placed in phyto-geographic groups, according to their geographic origin and ecological affinities. The gardens also have green houses, shade houses and nurseries.

Ciutadella Park: When the military garrison was demolished the grounds provided the perfect place to hold the 1888 Universal Exhibition. The three great boulevards called The Elms, The Poplars, and The Linden Trees, the boating lake, the waterfall monument and the exceptional buildings: Three Dragon Castle which houses the zoological museum, the Shade House, the Greenhouse etc and several sculptures, captivated the Barcelonians. Today the park still has all the charm that made it popular at the end of the 19th century. If you like, your guide can show you where to hire a bicycle or a boat on the lake.

Labyrinth Park: The gardens of the Horta Labyrinth were created in 1793 and were an example of sophisticated gardening. The now public gardens were planned by Joan Antoni Desvalls I d’Ardenya, Marquis of Llupià and of Alfarràs (1740-1820) with the help of the master builder, Jaume Valls. Originally planned as a country house, they include the medieval Sobirana House (14th-18th centuries) that was restored and redecorated in arabesque style. The grounds are 55 hectares (136 acres) mostly woods with 8 hectares (20 acres) of gardens, which include a labyrinth of hedges. The City Council bought the park in 1970.