Timeline - Walk through the past, present and future of a conservation institution for biodiversity

The 1888 Universal Exhibition was held in the Ciutadella Park complex, contemporary Barcelona’s first large park, which emerged from the demolition of the old Citadel, the bastion with which Philip V kept vigilance of the people of Barcelona after the Catalan defeat in 1714. The demolition of the old Citadel turned the freed-up space into […]

Banker and entrepreneur Lluís Martí-Codolar offered his collection of exotic and native animals to Barcelona City Council. The mayor of Barcelona at the time, Manuel Porcar, approved the acquisition of the animals for 30,000 pesetas (180.30 euros) in the municipal plenary session of 26 April 1892 and the animals were installed in a publicly owned […]

Francisco de Asís Darder i Llimona (1851-1918) was the founder of the Barcelona Zoo and the Zootechnical Museum, of which he had been director, and the ichthyology laboratories of Barcelona and Banyoles, where on 22 October 1916 he founden the Darder Museum of Natural History. Son of the well-known veterinarian Jerónimo Darder, he studied medicine […]

The Zoo is conceived as an urban, public space whose primary mission is the conservation of wildlife. For this reason, the Technical Board of the Museum of Natural Sciences and Zoological and Botanical Gardens of Barcelona, created by the City Council to promote research and knowledge of nature, establishes its main objective to guarantee the […]

In 1899, an organisational report was drafted, setting out the need to adapt the municipal museums and parks to ensure knowledge of the diversity of the fauna in Catalonia and the many economic uses that man can make from living beings. In that same year, the Zoo was divided into three large sections: primates, aquatic […]

Under the mandate of Mayor Domingo Joan Sanllehy, the Natural Sciences Committee was created, replacing the previous Natural Science Museum Technical Committee, which had been in operation since 1893. The Natural Sciences Committee was created with the aim of administering and promoting the municipal science collections, including the Zoo, as well as organising public cultural […]

In 1918, the Zoo’s first director, Francesc Darder, died from a snake bite and his son Jeroni took over the management with the collaboration of vet Pere Màrtir Rossell as conservator of the collection. The new management of the park promoted an authentic Acclimatisation Garden for the animals, maintaining the existing collection and ensuring the […]

In 1927, the Zoo started charging admission, providing a new source of funding that would allow it to introduce improvements to the facilities. With an admission fee of 25 cents of a peseta (0.01 euro), the income generated from the paying stalls soon exceeded all forecasts. This marked the beginning of a great period of […]

In 1931, Jerónimo Darder retired and Pedro Mártir Rossell took over the direction at a time marked by the proclamation of the Second Republic. The idea of Pedro Mártir Rossell, and that of his successor Ignacio de Sagarra, was to see the Zoo not as a collection of animals but as a modern zoological garden […]

The Spanish Civil War marks the most sombre time for the Zoo. The scarcity of food during the conflict caused the death by starvation of a large number of animals, including the elephant Júlia. In the newspaper La Humanidad, on August 13, 1938, the news was expressed as follows: “Barcelona, since July 19, has undergone […]

The Zoo once again underwent significant changes in its modernisation with the approval of the refurbishment and extension project under the leadership of Antoni Jonch i Cuspinera, someone who would become a key figure in the modern history of Barcelona’s zoological collection. Even so, the first signs of recovery were seen thanks to the citizens’ […]

In 1960 the new statutes of the Municipal Service of the Zoo were approved, with the constitution of a Board of Directors presided over by the mayor and comprising five city councillors and four experts. The Zoo started to become a great zoological centre with a scientific and educational purpose and began to take on […]

Initiated in 1962, the construction of the spectacular facility called Great African Fauna is now complete. With a surface of almost 8,000 m2 and formed of a series of platforms in the shape of peninsulas totally surrounded by water, it houses a large representation of species characteristic of the African savannah: elephants, buffalo, hippopotamus, rhinoceroses, […]

On October 1, 1966, Benito Mandyé, a Guinean farmer who sporadically worked for the Ikunde Centre, brought Jordi Sabater a small albino gorilla with white fur and pink skin who they named Snowflake. When the centre first took care of him, Snowflake did not yet weigh 10 kg and still had his full set of […]

The decade of the 60’s saw the possibility of exhibiting dolphins in our Zoo as a symbol of modernity for the first time. In 1962, Zoo representatives travelled to the Seaquarium of Miami to learn about the characteristics and study the possibilities of moving a dolphin show to the city of Barcelona. This project was […]

Opened in July 1972, these two unique buildings allow for the preservation of tropical species that require controlled environmental conditions throughout the year. The Aviarium, with a surface of 4,200 m2, has the necessary equipment to maintain a complete collection of birds from different tropical forests of the world with the appropriate air conditioning, as […]

The Zoo’s Department of Education, the Escuela Teórico Práctica (Theoretical and Practical School), was opened. At that time it was one of the first in Europe and the first that operated in Spain. Since the beginning, it directed its efforts towards official educational centres and also to all members of the public interested in animal […]

In 1985, the Zoo director, Antoni Jonch, retires; a figure inseparable from Barcelona Zoo’s recent history, its changes and conceptual evolution. The Park ceased depending on the Municipal Park and Garden Service — that it had been merged with since 1968 — to become a private municipal company. From that moment on, economic resources improved […]

The year 1989 marked a change in strategy and a new stage for zoos around the world. The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) was created, advocating the principles and practices of proper animal management and welfare. Barcelona Zoo shares and applies this philosophy, becoming the leader of the Spanish Association of Zoos and […]

In 2003, 365 artificial concrete structures were installed on the coast of Barcelona with the aim of contributing to the recovery of marine biodiversity and the quality of the city’s seabed. The organisms that inhabit the reefs are distributed according to exposure to light and type of food. The algae are located at the top […]

Thirteen new habitats for macaws and other psittacids were built at the Zoo’s Palmeral, a lush tropical space characterised by tall palm trees and dense bush vegetation. With a daring design of vertical tubes and wooden slats of different colors, each facility has a total surface area of 21.5 m2, with a section visible to […]

In 2009, Barcelona Zoo promoted an ambitious Research and Conservation Programme (PRIC), as the basic pillars of the institution. This programme was designed following the guidelines and action strategies established by the research committees of the WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and the EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquariums), and at the […]

In 2010, the Land of Dragons facility opens, a complex that recreates the habitat of the Komodo dragons, the world’s largest saurians. The space is designed with a totally original format for this type of animal, both in its concept and in its display to the visitors. Various Indonesian species such as mutjacks, Nicobar doves, […]

The incorporation of a new area of 5,700 m2 into the Zoo grounds, which until then occupied the Road Education Circuit of the Guardia Urbana of the Ciutadella Park, represented the first expansion of the institution in 48 years. Two endangered native species were installed in this new area, the black vulture and the bearded […]

The opening of the photography exhibition 1892/2012 The evolution of the Zoo: from exhibition to knowledge, sets in motion the numerous activities programmed throughout the year to celebrate the 120th anniversary  of Barcelona Zoo, on the day of the Mercè 1892. Within the scope of the new Strategic Plan 2012-2020, established to consolidate the Zoo […]

In 2013, the new facility of the Montseny brook newt, the most endangered endemic vertebrate in Catalonia, was opened to the public. The facility was designed with aquarium systems that keep a high volume of cooled water in constant circulation to simulate the environmental conditions of the Montseny torrents and encourage the reproduction of the […]

In 2015, the new Borneo orangutan facility was opened, with a total of 1,000 m2 divided into four interconnected areas. The facility is composed of two enclosed spaces with controlled climatic conditions of 103 and 56 m2 respectively, and two naturalised outdoor spaces of 453 and 216 m2.  These have different structures, supports and aerial […]

The Zoo substitutes the traditional scheduled educational sessions for a facility where the public can observe the daily life of the dolphins in a similar way to the rest of the species in the Zoo. Remodelling of the Farm Zoo begins with the aim to promote its educational component and to significantly increase its educational […]

In 2017 a new Zoo model was decided on, based on conservation, research and education, and for this reason, Antoni Alarcon (Barcelona, ​​1959) was appointed director of the Barcelona Zoo. Animal and plant populations are declining, ecosystems are losing their capacity for resilience, and ecosystem services, such as pollination by birds and insects, declining soil,  […]

The Barcelona Municipal Plenary Session of 3 May 2019 unanimously approved the Zoo’s new Strategic Plan, which sets out the institution’s working areas and focuses its activities on research, biodiversity conservation, and education as the fundamental axes of the Zoo’s mission. The same plenary session approved the modification of the Ordinance on the Protection, Possession […]