Barcelona

It is also the first park where a new use was given to urban spaces with obsolete facilities. Located on the site of the city’s old abattoir, it is a good example of the new urban-strategy model that was embarked on with the advent of democracy and which was based on gentrifying the periphery while reclaiming the city centre. The new arrangement of urban spaces allowed for a steady growth of an extensive and quality public space, of which this park is a prime example.

Canary Island date palms and ordinary date palms (Phoenix canariensis and Phoenix dactylifera) may dominate the park in number, but it is the stone and Aleppo pines (Pinus pinea and Pinus halepensis) along with the holm oaks (Quercus ilex) that offer a large space of typically Mediterranean vegetation, where large eucalyptuses (Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Eucalyptus globulus) are also found.
You will find oleanders (Nerium oleander) alongside cypress hedges (Cupressus sempervirens), by the library, as well as majestic white poplars (Populus alba) next to the palm grove. Elms (Ulmus pumila) and cedars (Cedrus deodara) are among the other species found in this park. Chinese wisterias (Wisteria sinensis) and bougainvilleas (Bougainvillea glabra) stand out resplendently on the pergolas.

Standing on one side of the pool in the large square on the C/ Tarragona and C/ Aragó side of the park, there is a 22-metre-high sculpture by Joan Miró entitled Dona i Ocell (Woman and Bird), which dominates this large green space. It is made from trencadís (a broken-tile mosaic) and has become one of the park’s principal landmarks. The sculptor himself donated it to the city.

The park is organised into several areas. The first, gardens for biodiversity, is designed to improve the quality of the habitat for flora and fauna. It creates a new environment that encourages the presence of fauna through groups of trees with shelters that attract birds, butterflies and other beneficial species.
The square lies next to a 6,000 m2 expanse of grass that covers an underground car park and rain-water tank. Skirting around it along one of the sides are various-sized platforms that interconnect through paths shaded by pergolas covered in climber plants which lead towards the wildest and most extensive area of the park: the woods. First, a palm grove and, immediately after that, a pine grove.
Visitors entering the park via C/ Vilamarí and C/ Diputació will find a library surrounded by water, an attractive and welcoming building, surrounded by water channels bounded by lines of sculpted cyprus trees. The public library is an extraordinary complement to this large urban green space.