Barcelona Guide
La Ribera
Parc Zoològic
Address: c/Wellington, Parc de la Ciutadella
Opening time: Daily: June– Sept 10am–7pm; March– May & Oct 10am–6pm; Jan, Feb, Nov & Dec 10am–5pm
Price: €16
Telephone: 932 256 780
Website: www.zoobarcelona.com
Ciutadella's most popular attraction by far – the city's zoo, the Parc Zoològic – takes up most of the southeastern part of the park. It boasts 7000 animals from 400 different species – which is simply too many for a zoo that is still essentially nineteenth-century in character, confined to the formal grounds of a public park and devoted to entertainment rather than education. Brown bears beg for food, dolphins perform antics daily, while elephants, giraffes and tigers pace their minimal concrete enclosures. Although there's a nod to conservation issues it's difficult to see beyond the unimaginative presentation, fast-food concessions, picnic areas and mini-train rides.
However, the zoo's days here in its current form are numbered – the powers that be, perhaps having finally appreciated the irony of its juxtaposition next to the parliament building, have grown weary of explaining to visiting dignitaries the source of the strong smell pervading the area. There are advanced plans to move the marine animals to a new coastal zoo and wetlands area (possibly by 2010) at the Diagonal Mar seashore, though the mammals are likely to stay at Ciutadella.