PARC DE L'ESPANYA INDUSTRIA

With works by many Catalan artists, this is Barcelona's most controversial park a nou urbanisme project, built between 1982 and 1985 on the site of an old factory. It is built on two levels, the lower part comprising a large lake and grassy area, with steep white steps up to the much-scorned upper esplanade, where there are ten lighthouses, a series of water spouts and an immense metal play sculpture entitled the Dragon of St George.

The Parc de Joan Miro is an enduringly popular park which occupies an entire city block on what was formerly the site of a massive abattoir, hence its nickname Parc de l'Escorxador (slaughterhouse). It was created in the 1980s, and is always full of people reading, jogging, dog-walking or playing petanca (boules) amid the attractive pergolas and orderly rows of shady palm trees. The park's most famous feature, however, is a startling sculpture 22m (72ft) high by Joan Miro, covered in multicolored ceramic fragments.