Barcelona has formally launched the Institutional Commission for the Ciutadella del Coneixement project, a major plan to turn the Ciutadella Park area into a science, innovation and culture hub. The scheme will involve nearly €500 million of investment by 2030, with many of the main facilities due to open by late 2028.
The commission was constituted at the Barcelona City Council’s Saló de Cent, with representatives from the City Council, the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Spanish Government. Leaders from the city’s research network also attended, including the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and local universities. For more Barcelona coverage, see our Community tag.
Mayor Jaume Collboni said the Ciutadella del Coneixement would be “a new central point for Barcelona”. He also thanked the different administrations involved, saying their work together sends “a very valuable image to the world” in support of science and culture.
The project covers 18 hectares and is expected to bring more than 2,000 research and innovation professionals to the area at full capacity. The former Mercat del Peix site will become a 45,000 square metre research and innovation complex with three buildings focused on biomedicine, biodiversity and societal wellbeing. Construction began in 2024 and is due to finish in December 2028, with an investment of €171.6 million.
One of the main parts of that phase is the PRBB Ciutadella building, which began construction in April and is linked to precision medicine. It will host research groups from five centres and is expected to bring together an international scientific community of 1,700 people from 70 countries. The Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) will also move into the new Mercat del Peix headquarters, while the Agora for Societal Wellbeing (BASW) will act as an interinstitutional lab for evidence-informed public policy analysis. The BSM Mobility hub is also part of the complex.
Other planned work includes a new CSIC bioscience building on the site of the former State Mobile Park, which will house the Barcelona Institute of Molecular Biology (IBMB-CSIC) and the Barcelona Institute for Biomedical Research (IIBB-CSIC). The Ministry of Culture also began work last October on the State Public Library in Barcelona, next to Estació de França. That library, which will hold writer Juan Marsé’s collection, is due to be Spain’s second-largest public library after the National Library of Spain. The Barcelona Zoo is also being transformed, with a new mission centred on global biodiversity, and a new promenade is being built to link Wellington Street with Passeig Picasso. For related local updates, see our Sport tag.
The wider project also includes restoration work on heritage buildings in Ciutadella Park, including the Hivernacle, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner for the 1888 Universal Exposition. Together, the different parts of the scheme are meant to strengthen Barcelona’s research base, improve access across the area and give the city a larger role in science and culture.
