Barcelona

A variety of spaces have acted as botanical gardens and been opening in the city. The first botanical gardens in Spain opened in Sant Joan Despí, in 1850, and the first in Barcelona on the Rambla, ten years later. Other spaces that have played this role include the ones that the Marquis of Ciutadilla created near the Sant Pau del Camp monastery, in the Raval, the University gardens and the old botanical garden, designed by Pius Font i Quer on the site of the old Foixarda quarries on Montjuïc. These gardens are still open to the public as historical gardens. Today’s Botanical Garden, which is also on Montjuïc, is located between the castle and the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium.

Some of the plants and trees living there seem neither strange nor alien to us because they are species which can be found in many of Barcelona’s gardens: Kurrajong (Brachychiton populneus); eucalyptus (Eucalyptus ficifolia); several varieties of acacias (Acacia brachystachya) and shrubs such as soft tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica), from the fern family.

There are other species too, such as boldo (Peumus boldus) and false pepper (Schinus molle) from South America. Representative species from the African continent, which runs from Morocco to Cape Town, include such plants as argans (Argania spinosa), oleanders (Nerium oleander) and gum arabic trees (Acacia nilotica) and, from among the other trees well represented in the city, there are cedars (Cedrus atlantica, deodara and libani) and conifers (Podocarpus latifolia).

The Barcelona Metropolitan Area’s Association of Local Councils is responsible for the management of the garden.

The architects Carles Ferreter, Josep Lluís Canosa, Beth Figueres, Artur Bossy and Joan Pedrola are the creators of these plant scenarios or phyto-episodes. They are organised to make the most of the Montjuïc’s slopes and combine the triangular plots of land we find throughout the route. The triangles are distributed in a way that takes advantage of the various possible orientations towards the sun and in the light. Always in line with the needs of the plant species found there.

The core theme running through the garden is the Mediterranean region’s botanical diversity, shown in eight phyto-episodes. These are plant communities in their natural setting that guide us on a voyage through Australia, California, Chile, South Africa, North Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Peninsula, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. And they do this through an architectural route that takes advantage of the different levels and slopes of the land to highlight and enhance the plant species.