A biodiversity connector
Rieres d’Horta Park acts as a green bridge between the Collserola mountain range and the city.
In the district of Horta-Guinardó, next to the Collserola mountain range, some gardens open up within the urban framework, extending the green of the natural park. This is the Rieres d’Horta Park, a newly created space (opened in 2013) with a linear structure and built under criteria of sustainability and self-sufficiency. The space is home to abundant vegetation, with many species of our own flora, complemented by botanical and taxonomic indications.
Walking through this park allows you to get a close look at some of the key species of Mediterranean vegetation. In the tree stratum you can find examples of Aleppo pine, holm oak, pubescent oak, Mediterranean hackberry, ash, cypress or service tree. The park also incorporates fruit trees such as almond trees, apricot trees or Santa Lucía cherry trees, as well as other exotic species used in urban environments such as the Platanus, love tree, ginkgo or the elegant Norfolk's araucaria. As for the shrubs, bushes and herbs, you can also find common species from Mediterranean habitats such as mastic, cistuses, common boxwood, southern globethistle and many others. These species are present in areas such as Collserola, which is why the Rieres d’Horta Park acts within the city as a corridor for the natural biodiversity of our region.
In addition to the botanical view, the park can be visited from an environmental perspective. It has been designed in such a way as to make the most of its water and energy resources. The space is distributed in several terraces along a slope and in the upper one there is a great photovoltaic pergola of 642 square meters capable of producing energy at the same time that provisions shade to a set of petanque tracks. The energy produced feeds the lighting system of the space, composed of LED technology, with low consumption. The park uses groundwater for irrigation, but in addition, the commitment to a plant cover typical of the Mediterranean climate means that the plants are perfectly adapted to the seasonality of Barcelona, that is, to take advantage of the rainy episodes of spring and autumn, and to survive the long and frequent summer droughts.
More information in this link.