The old botanical garden was set on the steep slope of Montjuic Hill and was inaugurated in 1930, but due to the construction of the Olympic amenities in the 1980s, it was no longer stable and it needed to be closed. To fill the gap that opened after the closure of the Historical Botanical Garden, a new one had to be erected and some of the former collections were transferred there. As a result, the New Botanical Garden of Barcelona nowadays features a great variety of Mediterranean and other types of plant species aiming both to preserve the Catalan plant genotype and to introduce new species to this climate in order to incorporate them in gardening in the future. In order to assist this role of the Botanical Garden, a ‘ring of friends’ was created, including the Catalan municipalities.

The New Botanical Garden is quite new indeed, being opened in April 1999 on the spot of a filled waste dump on the Hill of Montjuic. The very construction of the garden follows the curves of the terrain as the idea of the architects was to avoid large-scale soil moving as much as possible. The team of designers that worked together regarding the layout of the garden specialised in different areas. The team included two architects: Carlos Ferrater and Josep Lluis Canosa, a landscape architect: Bet Figueras, a horticulturalist: Artur Bossy and a biologist: Joan Pedrola. According to their interdisciplinary visions and ideas, they very carefully planned the space, taking into consideration both the relief requirements and the specific order in which the plants would be arranged in the future. As a result, the facility shaped a triangle network of paths and 71 spaces, where plants from the five Mediterranean regions have been planted and assembled as close to their natural environment as it could be done in terms of ecological affinity to the landscape.

The New Botanical Garden has a rich collection of plants that grow in the Mediterranean climate. Yet these do not come only from the region of the Mediterranean Sea. There are a total of five world regions (of the same climates) represented in the garden, including: California, central Chile, southern South Africa, south and south-west Australia and the Mediterranean basin, of course. The flora assembly is arranged geographically correct and has natural landscaping – firstly, according to the five regions, and secondly, after the dispersion of the plants in altitude and latitude/longitude. Some of the most interesting species are: eucalyptuses (Australia), the dragon tree (Canary Islands), strawberry tree, cork oak trees, bottle trees (Australia). However, these are just a few among many others such as blooming plants, leafy green vegetation, tree-like plants, shrubby and grassy plant species that can make even someone who doesn’t quite like vegetation forget about their biases and enjoy the experience.

The main purpose of creating the New Botanical Garden was to conserve the Mediterranean flora, more specifically the Catalan one, but also to keep, improve and disseminate knowledge about the species kept on the spot, as well as to promote more environmentally aware behaviour and a certain level of botanic culture. This is achieved through different programmes and activities with a wide target group – from children to adults of all ages. A particularly fun and useful activity, especially for younger visitors of the garden, is the so-called ‘safari jacket’, where the pockets of the jacket are full of different learning games so the children learn as they play. Another activity that would attract people of different ages is the ‘Plant Clinic’, organised every last Sunday of the month (also a free-access day) when visitors can bring their sick plants and get help for them.