El Carmel turns its gardens into a new green, family-friendly space

The Jardins de Jaume Planas i Alemany have reopened with renovated children’s areas, more vegetation and improved accessibility. The neighbourhood gains a meeting place after municipal investment. The former dog enclosure will be moved to a new location.

Today, the Carmel neighbourhood unveils one of its most eagerly awaited urban renewals: the Jardins de Jaume Planas i Alemany have reopened completely transformed, offering residents a greener space that is more accessible, safer and designed for family enjoyment. This intervention, promoted by the Pla de Barris, responds to the urgent need to expand socialising and play areas in one of Barcelona’s most densely populated areas, with the least public space.

The refurbishment has involved installing modern children’s play equipment, with slides of different heights and climbing elements such as logs, ropes and a hammock, adapted for all ages. The land, previously uneven and underused, has been levelled to create a large flat surface where the new play areas are now concentrated. In addition, two large tree pits have been opened and tree and shrub species have been planted, reinforcing the presence of vegetation and improving the park’s natural setting.

Photo by ajuntament.barcelona.cat

One of the most significant changes has been the removal of the former dog area, which did not meet current requirements. The City Council is already working on plans for a new dog exercise area, to be located on the municipal plot at 35 Carrer del Passarell, around 700 metres from the gardens, so that it can continue to meet the needs of regular users.

Municipal investment in this renovation has reached €830,000. Although the park is already open to the public, the project does not end here: a space has been reserved for historical memory, where an element paying tribute to Jaume Planas will soon be installed. He was a key figure in Carmel’s neighbourhood history and the first member of the neighbourhood’s Associació de Veïns i Veïnes. The Pla de Barris will promote a participatory process to define this tribute together with residents and local organisations.

This action forms part of the Pla d’Inversions Municipal 2025-2027, which provides for more than €1.9 billion to transform Barcelona. In Horta-Guinardó, investment exceeds €174 million, with projects such as the first outdoor mechanical pedestrian ramp in Montbau, the undergrounding of power lines on Carrer Bové and the covering of the Ronda de Dalt, among other improvements seeking to make the city more liveable and sustainable.

Jaume Planas, after whom these gardens are named, was a wood craftsman and a volunteer in the defence of the Republic in 1936. His involvement in Carmel community life marked a before and after in the neighbourhood’s organisation. The future memory area in the gardens is intended not only to recall him, but also to strengthen the link between local history and the new public spaces that today bring Carmel to life.