Besòs River Park, a Recovered Wetland Sanctuary

When people think about the parks of Barcelona, the Parc de la Ciutadella or Parc Güell are usually the first to come to mind; however, the city offers a number of alternative urban oases for those looking for a less touristy place to relax.

The Besòs River runs through the municipalities of Montcada i Reixac, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona and Sant Adrià de Besòs. Along its banks lies a massive green space called the Parc Fluvial del Besòs. The park, which occupies a total of 115 square hectares and runs for the last nine kilometers along the river, stretches from the point where the Ripoll and the Besòs Rivers meet, all the way down to the Mediterranean Sea. It represents an environmental renovation and a social reclamation of an area that was once polluted and neglected; now, it’s a green space that offers a relaxing break from the rush of the nearby urban centers.

Protecting Urban Green Spaces

The area’s pollution problem dates back to the 1960s, when the surrounding population was booming, and the region was industrializing as quickly as it could. The clean-up process didn’t begin until citizens began to complain about the smell of the river in the 1980s. In 1995, the municipalities bordering the river came up with a joint plan in cooperation with the Consortium for the Defense of the Besòs River Basin (recently renamed the Besòs Tordera Consortium). This multilateral initiative was helped by significant funding from the European Union, which covered approximately 80% of the 37-million-euro recovery project.

The project was not only concerned with overhauling the aesthetics of the river and its surroundings, but also with its environmental and societal impact. The renovations bolstered the hydraulic capacity of the river itself, improved the function of the Montcada i Reixac wastewater treatment plant—the wetlands serve as the tertiary treatment of one-third of the water processed by the plant—and designated certain parts of the riverbank as leisure areas for local residents. It also demolished 69 high-voltage towers made of reinforced concrete that used to stand along the river; they were replaced with a complex network of high-voltage lines spanning over 50 kilometers.

The three-square-kilometer northern section of the park bordered by both the Montcada Bridge in Montcada i Reixac and the Pota Nord Bridge in Santa Coloma de Gramenet is a protected ecological zone: a mass of sixty plots of constructed wetlands, river beaches and islets, which are not open to the public. The recovery of the river and creation of the wetlands has led to the recovery of the natural habitats of hundreds of species of flora and fauna, including fish, eels, frogs, turtles, ducks, insects and numerous plant species accustomed to surviving in brackish water.

What to Do

The public use area of ​​the Besòs River Park is almost five kilometers long and is located between the walls that delimit the two banks of the riverbed, from the bridge of the B-20 on the right bank and the Can Zam Norte on the left bank in Santa Coloma de Gramenet to the bridge of the railway in Sant Adrià de Besòs.

There are wide swathes of green grass along the river where people can stroll, relax, exercise, or walk their dogs, as well as paved areas and bike lanes. The Ronda Verda—a popular cycling circuit that runs through Badalona, Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Sant Adrià, Santa Coloma, Esplugues de Llobregat and Montcada i Reixac—even passes through the park. At both the north and south ends of the park are breathtaking viewing points that are popular with birdwatchers, where approximately 200 different bird species have been spotted. The water levels of the river are controlled by eleven dams, and both these and the meteorological conditions are constantly electronically monitored to ensure the public’s safety while enjoying the park.

The southernmost half-kilometer of the park, located where the mouth of the river meets the sea, is marked by the iconic chimneys of the now-defunct thermal power plant of Sant Adrià de Besòs. This part of the park is also restricted to the public, but the nearby beach (the Platja de Sant Adrià de Besòs) is not.

In Barcelona, the Parc de Besòs can be accessed from the Sant Andreu district, from either Baró de Viver or Bon Pastor.