The past and the future of the Mercat del Peix, in images

To mark the 40th anniversary of the transfer of the Mercat del Peix from the building on Carrer Wellington to Mercabarna in the early hours of 3 to 4 October 1983, the Pompeu Fabra University and Mercabarna, in collaboration with Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) have inaugurated the exhibition The Old Mercat del Peix. Past and future at Ciutadella Vila Olímpica station on the Barcelona metro. The exhibition, which can be visited until 31 October, recalls the history of this site and presents, through rendered images, the future research and innovation complex that is being built.

The exhibition consists of new large-format panels using images provided by Mercabarna as well as rendered images. It also visually explains the research in biomedicine, biodiversity and planetary well-being that the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE, CSIC-UPF) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) will be carrying out in the new complex.

The event featured a speech by Jordi Valls. The 4th Deputy Mayor and President of Mercabarna recalled that, “Barcelona was born, and continues to be, a city with a commercial and entrepreneurial spirit, but times have changed and we have literally gone from a fish and goods market to a knowledge economy in strategic sectors with high added value such as health and biotech, mobility and energy, among others. The Knowledge Citadel that we are building in this area will be a new research and innovation complex, which will contribute to promoting this area as a knowledge hub of reference in Europe”.

The Rector of Pompeu Fabra University, Laia de Nadal, also took part, thanking Mercabarna and TMB for their collaboration in making possible an exhibition “full of content and knowledge, a place of passage, of haste, of a mix of people” that will make it possible “for a time, in this corridor, to breathe innovation and research in biomedicine, biodiversity and planetary well-being”.

The new complex, promoted by Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology and the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE, CSIC-UPF), will consist of 45,000 m2 that will house 1,400 people from the world of research focused on innovation in precision medicine, biodiversity and planetary wellbeing. The work is expected to be completed in 2026, and will become a prominent part of the existing biomedical hub on the city’s seafront.

Thus, the exhibition The old Mercat del Peix. Past and future recalls what was the driving force behind the sale of fish in the city and projects a future scenario that will ensure the welfare and health of fish and the rest of the living beings that inhabit the planet.