Situated in front of the Port Olímpic,Barcelona,  this green area advances towards the sea in a large curve and offers ample views of the sea front. Plaça dels Voluntaris, the flag poles holding the flags of the countries that took part in the Olympic Games in 1992and a sculpture of Cobi, the mascot of the games remind us of this great sports event in various areas of this park.

This park constitutes the central part of the green belt that, from Carrer del Doctor Aiguader, stretches above Ronda del Litoral to Parc de la Nova Icària. Following the lineal axis which begins in Parc de les Cascades -the first in this long green area- the entrance to Parc del Port Olímpic is a long restful walk with a double line of flag poles where the Olympic flags hung.

On one side of the walk, a large pergola becomes a rest area with benches, children’s play areas and terracotta plant pots holding wonderful ornamental plants. On the other side, looking towards the sea, a wide parterre full of trees, shrubs and palm trees begins and which, as it advances, widens generously to give way to a large semicircular area with pathways, small squares, large areas of lawn and a long winding bench made with pieces of porcelain.

Vegetation

Among the trees in the park a group of carob trees from Tarragona (Ceratonia siliqua) stand out for their beauty. At Parc del Port Olímpic there are also important examples of the white pine (Pinus halepensis) and the stone pine (Pinus pinea), the Ombu (Phytolacca dioica) and the rosewood (Tipuana tipu). The plane tree (Platanus X hispanica), is present both in the long wide parterres at the beginning of the park, as well as in the large areas of lawn which start to appear as the area widens.

With reference to the palm trees, next to the date palm and the Canary Island date palm (Phoenix dactylifera and Phoenix canariensis) large groups of Mediterranean fan palm (Chamerops humilis) grow. There are also many shrubs, such as pittosporum (Pittosporum tobira), abelia (Abelia floribunda), oleander (Nerium oleander) and large areas with the ornamental Juniper tree Juniperus sp.

Art and architecture

At the beginning of the lines of flag poles there is Marc, a sculpture full of colour that the artist, Robert Llimós, dedicated to the memory of his son Marc, who died in a car accident. Towards the centre of the park, in the middle of a small square lake, there is a bronze figure of Cobi, the mascot of the 1992 Olympic Games, created by Xavier Mariscal.

History

Parc del Port Olímpic is, together with Parc de les Cascades, Parc de la Nova Icària, Parc del Poblenou and Parc de Carles I, one of the five large green areas which were built on the old industrial land of Poblenou at the beginning of the 1990s.

Barcelona recovered this land and dedicated part of it to the creation of new green public areas: the Parcs del Litoral. This project formed part of the important urban renovation which was carried out to the coastline of the city in preparation for the Olympic Games of 1992.

Info:

District: Sant Martí

Address: Av. Litoral, at the height of nº 30

Access: Av. del Litoral, Carrer Arquitecte Sert and Carrer Salvador Espriu, and Pl. dels Voluntaris Olímpics

Timetable: Open park