Pla Endreça

This week, restoration of the hedge maze in the Parc del Laberint d’Horta got underway with the goal of renovating a kilometre and a half of cypress-lined paths.

The restoration will entail planting 2,211 new cypress trees between 150 and 175 centimetres tall along the entire route. The initiative will allow for the historical and landscape restoration of the hedge maze, which will regain its original appearance.

The project is scheduled to take 12 months with a budget of 1.32 million euros, 75% of which is coming from EU Next Generation funds. These initiatives are part of the Sustainable Tourism Plan for Barcelona Destinations, a project financed by NGEU funds.

The restoration of the hedge maze is included in the Comprehensive Maintenance Plan (PMI), as part of the Endreça Plan. This is just one of the projects planned for the Horta neighbourhood in 2025, when comprehensive public space maintenance is slated to take a leap forward with stepped up maintenance, renovation and transformation initiatives in the city’s neighbourhoods.

During the project, the hedge maze will be closed to the public, but the rest of the park will remain open as usual. When the work is completed, the maze will have to remain closed for a few months to allow the trees to take root properly.

New, more efficient irrigation system

Another important part of the project is the renovation of the entire irrigation system and improvement of the subsoil to make the most of the water and use water resources more sustainably.

The soil drainage will be improved, and the ceramic tiles will be strategically replaced along the perimeter of the parterres to control run-off. There will also be improvements in the parterres to allow them to better conserve moisture, and gravel will be added to some areas to help water filter down into the subsoil.

Plus, a sector-by-sector drip irrigation system will be installed, which is very precise with water needs because it allows it to be regulated according to orientation, shaded areas and the state of the vegetation.

This type of irrigation adapts to the needs of cypress trees, which require more water in the deeper layers than moist soil.

A step forward in the conservation of this historical park

This renovation aims to set out the general guidelines that will guide future maintenance of the monument as a whole to guarantee its protection and conservation.

Plus, it focuses on the definition of the vegetation to facilitate a historical interpretation of the park, to improve the experience of visiting it and make it more interesting, comfortable, safe and enriching for a broad audience.

Finally, it will also better integrate the hedge maze into the Parc del Laberint d’Horta as a whole to highlight the unity of the entire park, its heritage and landscape values and its relationship with its environs.

The renovation also fulfils UNESCO’s recommendation in the Florence Charter to conserve historical gardens. This document recognises historical gardens as monuments and stipulates the obligation to protect them.

The Parc del Laberint d’Horta is one of the oldest historical gardens conserved in the city. Construction on it began in 1791, when Joan Antoni Desvalls i d’Ardena started the excavation and levelling earthworks on an extensive estate he owned in the Horta neighbourhood with plans to build an exceptional garden there. The first phase was concluded in 1808.

Moreover, it is the only hedge maze in the city and one of the oldest in all of Spain, with a high heritage value.

The last in-depth restoration of the park was conducted in 1994, and since then it has been managed as a museum garden, with controlled access. The garden is currently classified as a Cultural Asset of Local Interest (BCIL), while its designation as a Cultural Asset of National Interest (BCIN) is in progress.