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The spectacular Magic Fountain is very popular, and is best known for its sound-and-light shows. Around 2,600 litres of water a second flow through the fountain's three concentric pools, driven by a water-recycling system.

Water

What really sets the Magic Fountain apart from other fountains is the volume of water moving through it, combined with the carefully calculated diameter of its delivery pipes. This gives the water the necessary speed for the choreographies.

The fountain's 19 main water features can be found in the two central pools. The bottom pool has twenty small peripheral fountains encased in the ground, which have their own hydraulic system that produces five different water features.

The light and colour

The operating area, located in the two central pools, contains the lighting systems, with pentagonal prisms that provide the fountain's five colours, white, yellow, red, blue and green. The light reaches the exterior through 120 rectangular skylights made from prefabricated concrete, sealed with highly-resistant, toughened white glass.

Control systems

The Maria Cristina control system includes the 44 smaller fountains on Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, the four fountains and the Magic Fountain, which are controlled remotely from the control centre, located in the La Pèrgola building.

The control centre generates new choreographies and controls the shows, although direct control of the pumps, lighting and music is located under the fountain, with 11 interconnected PLCs.

In September 2011, the Magic Fountain started using an application for creating new light-and-water shows in just three minutes. This consists of a generator that analyses a piece of music automatically, an editor that speeds up the creation process and a 3D simulator that allows the choreography to be viewed without having to start the fountain up.

This advanced technology makes it easier to create choreographies that are custom-made or for special events.

Facts and figures

  • Total pool capacity: 3.1 million litres
  • The fountain moves 2,610 litres per second
  • 3,620 pipes
  • Four 265 HP and one 125 HP pumping units
  • 132 electric motors with a total output of 1,567 HP (1,153 kW)
  • 4,760 light bulbs
  • 120 rotating pentagonal drums (colour filters)
  • Installed electrical power: 3,000 kW
  • 7,000 million possible combinations of water and light