Espais Verds

Over a decade ago, Barcelona undertook to conserve and improve the city’s greenery for the benefit of all its residents.

This led to the Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity Plan, which set out the municipal government’s challenges and goals to preserve the city’s green spaces and biological diversity.

The main goals were to: conserve and improve the city’s natural heritage in order to avoid losing species or habitats; have as much green surface area as possible and work to connect these spaces to each other through green corridors; maximise social and environmental services relating to greenery and biodiversity; and increase the city’s resilience to challenges such as climate change.

The plan set out actions for an ecological infrastructure with social and environmental benefits.

Barcelona City Council established the “Programme for Promoting Urban Green Infrastructures” to improve citizens’ quality of life by increasing the amount of greenery in the city.

This was not limited to creating new parks but also included improving existing green areas, such as those in the city’s green hubs, and pushing forward initiatives such as green roofs, dividing walls and balconies.

The aim was to transform the city by providing it with more greenery as the central focus of urban policies aimed at improving sustainability and quality of life.

A significant proportion of this programme, which ended in 2023, can now be found in the goals of the Barcelona Nature Plan 2030.

Based on the idea that its public gardens should be healthier and more respectful with the environment, Barcelona has reduced its use of phytosanitary products such as herbicides.

On 22 December 2015, the city banned the use of glyphosate in municipal green spaces. The purpose of this action was to protect human health and the urban ecosystem, boost biodiversity and improve environmental quality.