Barcelona transforms the Meridiana: new green connection between Ferran Reyes and Maria Soteras

The redevelopment of the Meridiana is progressing with the pedestrian connection of two key spaces. More green areas, play areas and health circuits will change life in Navas. Find out how it will affect your day-to-day life.

Everyday life in the Navas neighbourhood is about to undergo a notable change. Barcelona City Council has given the green light to the project that will connect Ferran Reyes square and Jardines de Maria Soteras, two spaces until now separated by the Meridiana. This intervention will provide a continuous, barrier-free pedestrian crossing, something long awaited by those who cross this city artery every day.

The redevelopment seeks not only to physically join both sides of the avenue, but also to transform the surroundings with more vegetation and rest areas. Meeting spaces in Ferran Reyes square will be reorganised, the children's play area will be enlarged and seven pétanque courts will be installed. In addition, new gardens will be created and more trees planted, strengthening the connection with the neighbourhood and improving air quality.

In Jardines de Maria Soteras, the plan provides for the creation of landscaped areas that will serve as a link between the two spaces. Benches will be installed, a new health circuit will be designed and the stairs connecting the park's different levels will be remodelled. All this is intended to allow residents and visitors to enjoy a more pleasant and safer route.

This action forms part of the overall transformation of the Meridiana, one of the city's major urban operations. While works progress between Felip II and Fabra i Puig, the drafting of the preliminary project has already been tendered for the stretch from paseo de Fabra i Puig to Peñíscola street, near Pont de Sarajevo. The aim is to turn the Meridiana into a more human and accessible thoroughfare.

For decades, Meridiana avenue has been an urban boundary, marked by heavy traffic and a lack of pedestrian spaces. In recent years, Barcelona has committed to transforming this axis into a green civic corridor, prioritising travel on foot and by bicycle. The new connections and landscaped areas seek to stitch together historically divided neighbourhoods and offer residents a healthier, more pleasant environment in which to live.