The director of Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (BSM), Marta Labata, and the executive vice-chair of Fundación ONCE, Alberto Durán, today signed the Conveni Inserta, a three-year agreement to promote work contracts with the company for people with disabilities in the spheres of mobility, culture, leisure and the care of public space in Barcelona.

Marta Labata emphasised that “BSM is proud to start this alliance today with Fundación ONCE, an organisation which we share social values and commitment with. Talent is one of the foundations underpinning our company’s progress. I’m convinced that thanks to this project we’ll be able to continue adding value and learning to build a more plural BSM, committed to equal opportunities”.

For his part, Alberto Durán stressed that ONCE and BSM “share common goals, such as improving people’s quality of life, putting them at the centre of our objectives and developing talent, placing a special emphasis on digitalisation and innovation”.

BSM will be using Inserta Empleo, Fundación ONCE's training and employment organisation, to cover new jobs which the company asks for, shortlisting candidates who match the required profile and providing tailored training which enables them to carry out the tasks assigned to them.
The agreement sees BSM become part of the Fòrum Inserta Responsable, a networking and social innovation platform enabling users to share practices, tools and experiences which help towards the efficient development of labour insertion policies for talent with disabilities.

The agreement falls within the Social Inclusion and Social Economy Operating Progamme (POISES) and the Youth Employment Operating Programme (POEJ) being developed by Fundación ONCE through Inserta, jointly funded by the European Social Fund and the Youth Employment Initiative, to boost training and employment among people with disabilities.

About BSM

Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (BSM) is one of the main service companies in Barcelona. The aim of the company is to improve people's quality of life by generating positive experiences to build a healthy, cutting-edge Barcelona. 

The last few years have seen the company establish itself as a leader in managing urban mobility services and looking after public spaces, becoming an outstanding cultural and leisure operator. The company currently heads projects such as the transformation of the Port Olímpic, the development of the Endolla Barcelona public electromobility network, the largest of its kind in the Spanish state, and the SMOU shared-mobility services app. At the same time, it manages some of the city’s most iconic services and spaces, such as the Bicing public bike-sharing service, 44 car parks, Park Güell, the Olympic Ring, the Parc del Fòrum, Tibidabo Amusement Park, Barcelona Zoo and others. BSM is owned by Barcelona City Council.

Fundación ONCE and the Inserta Empleo programme

Fundación ONCE is a solidarity organisation forming part of the ONCE, created in 1988 to improve the living conditions of other groups with disabilities through training and labour inclusion programmes, as well as promoting the concept of universal accessibility, with the creation of globally accessible environments, products and services.

Inserta Empleo is the human resources entity of the Foundation with expertise in dealing with people with disabilities and which focuses its activity on their training and inclusion in the labour market. It has over 25 years of experience and a team of experts in orientation and intermediation, operating from 47 offices all over Spain. It also helps people with disabilities to find work, trains them if necessary, and offers companies the best candidates for the vacancies they need to fill. There is no charge for all this.

The Port Olímpic will have its own stand at the Moll de la Fusta dock to show the entire nautical ecosystem how the transformation and new use project is progressing

Talks and round tables will also be held to disseminate the objectives of the Blue Economy Hub, the sustainability projects currently underway and the role the Port Olímpic will play in the America’s Cup

From 11 to 15 October, the Port Olímpic will be participating in the Barcelona Salón Náutico International Boat Show to showcase its focus on the blue economy, innovation and sustainability, the pillars of the current transformation. 

This will be the second time that the Port Olímpic has participated in this major industry gathering since BSM started managing it in 2020. Under the slogan ‘The Future is Blue’, the Port Olímpic stand, measuring 130 square metres, will be a meeting point where the entire nautical ecosystem can learn first-hand how the port is becoming a new urban environment committed to generating economic activity associated with the sea and to the dynamism of its nearby setting, with which it hopes to build bridges. 

In the opinion of the First Deputy Mayor and president of BSM, Laia Bonet, ‘participating in the Boat Show is once again a clear display of the Port Olímpic’s focus on becoming the best platform for the growth and development of the city’s blue sectors. We want the entire nautical community to learn how the Port Olímpic is being transformed to become a seaport in the heart of the city, a modern, sustainable environment open to citizens, sailing fans and companies whose business is committed to the sea’. 

The Port Olímpic stand, located on the Moll de la Fusta dock, will feature a model animated with videomapping, allowing visitors to see first-hand the physical changes which are beginning to take shape on the ground. This year will also feature the Blue Economy Hub, a project currently being set up to make the Port Olímpic a hub of business activity in the fields of nautical activities and services, innovation, technology, the circular economy and sustainability. 

The Barcelona Salón Náutico International Boat Show will open on Wednesday 11 October at 12 noon. This will kick off the programme of round tables and presentations that the Port Olímpic has planned for its stand. The first activity will be a conversation between the director of the Zoo de Barcelona, Antoni Alarcón, and the biologist and researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences, Xavier Salvador. This dialogue will take stock of the seabed recovery project that the Port Olímpic is undertaking by creating a biogenerated reef around the port facilities, an initiative which not only improves the quality of the water but is also fosters biodiversity in the zone. 

The following day, 12 October, David Serrano, corporate director of ESG at BSM, and Narcís Armengol, dean of the Association of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia, will participate in a round table on current sustainability and innovation projects to achieve a net positive impact for port activities, mitigate the effects of the climate crisis and adapt the port to the challenges of global warming, in line with the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda. 

Just like last year, the sailing companies working in the Port Olímpic will also visit the stand. On the afternoons of 12 and 14 October, they will be participating in round tables on the experiences they offer and the opportunities being created by this new era in the Port Olímpic. 

The blue economy will be featured on Friday 13 October. The event entitled ‘The Port Olímpic: A showcase for the blue sectors’ will help to disseminate the work underway to attract companies for the Blue Economy Hub being created on Moll de Mestral and Dic de Recer sea wall. The event will feature Olga Cerezo, director of the Port; Anna Majó, director of Business Innovation at Barcelona Activa, and representatives from the leading companies that have confirmed their participation in this new economic environment being created at the Port Olímpic. 

The 37th America’s Cup will also make a stop at the stand of the Port Olímpic, which will be the base port for the youth and women’s regattas being held as part of this major sailing event. On Saturday 14 October, ‘This is how the Puig Women’s America’s Cup is being planned’ will focus on how the first women’s regattas in the history of this major nautical event are being organised. Participants will include Aurora Catà, vice-president of America’s Cup Event Barcelona (ACE Barcelona); Mack Dalton, manager of the Youth & Puig Women’s America’s Cup; and several sailors from the participating teams.

The new roadway marks the start of a new relationship between the port and its surroundings and establishes a new form of mobility, that prioritises public use of the space

This new access, which eliminates barriers and multiple levels, is the first major project to be completed as part of the transformation of the Port Olímpic

Other projects include designing the Moll de Mestral dock as a large square, redeveloping the Dic de Recer sea wall as a promenade/viewpoint and direct access to Nova Icària Beach, revamping the port and connecting it to the dynamism of the city beyond

The work to open up Port Olímpic to the city has begun. This morning, a new access point at the Moll de Mestral dock was inaugurated, a roadway designed for pedestrians and vehicles, which eliminates barriers and multiple levels, connecting the space directly with the Avinguda Litoral, near the Olympic Village neighbourhood. This new access was inaugurated during the second ‘Dissabte Blau’ (Blue Saturday), a day of activities and workshops for families, in which the public were able to see the progress made in the transformation of this space.

The budget for the construction of the access point, which began in July 2022, is 3.6 million euros. One of the objectives for this new phase, which is now becoming a reality, is to turn Port Olímpic into a space that is open to the dynamism of the city and closely connected to the day-to-day life of the surrounding area.

The new access is not merely the first step in revealing what the Port Olímpic of the near future will be like. It is also the starting point for defining a new system of internal mobility, that will contribute to creating spacious areas where the public can walk around and spend time. In line with the creation of a port with more space for people, the new roadway will allow vehicles direct access to the BSM Litoral Port car park, which is currently undergoing renovation and will be operational by mid-2024. 

For the First Deputy Mayor and Chair of BSM, Laia Bonet, ‘the launch of this new access point offers Barcelona's residents a first impression of the new relationship that the Port Olímpic will have with the Vila Olímpica neighbourhood and its surroundings. We want the Port Olímpic to be an urban port, a space that brings the city closer to the sea and nautical life, that encourages people to stroll, exercise and enjoy themselves; a lively and dynamic space with marine-related economic activity all year round. This is just the first step in a series of actions that will allow us to move towards a more accessible Port Olímpic, without barriers and multiple levels, and one that the people of Barcelona can truly make their own’.  

More public space for strolling, exercising and enjoying the seafront

The opening of the new access point from Avinguda Litoral will pave the way for dismantling the vehicle access ramp from Carrer Marina by the end of the year. Removal of this structure will eliminate its current visual impact on the overall appearance of Port Olímpic and will free up approximately 1,000 m2 of space. This will make it easier to transform Moll de Mestral, in early 2024, into a large square covering 8,000 m2, a new urban setting with green areas, shade and seating accessible to the people of Barcelona, port users and the ecosystem of businesses that will form the blue economy hub. It will also be a space for organising activities throughout the year, making Port Olímpic a dynamic setting, committed to popularising nautical activities and promoting the sporting, civic and business fabric of the area. 

However, the Moll de Mestral will not be the only space available for public use. The urban development of the Dic de Recer sea wall, which will also be completed during the first quarter of 2024, involves the design of a new seaside promenade/viewpoint that will offer two magnificent views: the Barcelona coastline on one side and the life of the port on the other. Moreover, the port’s new restaurant area will be easily accessible from the Passeig Marítim promenade, through the Gastronomic Balcony.

The final measure for increasing the permeability of Port Olímpic with its surroundings will be opening an access point to connect Nova Icària Beach with the restaurant area, in which the use of transparent materials such as glass and the construction of various stairways and elevators will also help promote dialogue between the sea, the city and life of the port. This will open in September 2024.

A transformation in progress with an eye on the America's Cup 

Port Olímpic is currently at a decisive moment in its transformation. The bulk of the work is concentrated in three major areas. Firstly, at Moll de Mestral, where a significant number of the premises that will make up the blue economy hub will be inaugurated in mid-2024, along with an auditorium. 

Additional premises for businesses in the blue sector are being developed along the Dic de Recer sea wall. These will also be operational by next summer. 70 storage rooms and outdoor spaces are also being renovated at this location. 

At Moll de Gregal, progress is also being made on the renovation of the Municipal Sailing Centre, which will open in early summer 2024, along with the Gastronomic Balcony. The new dining area will be inaugurated to coincide with the start of the youth and women's sailing regattas of the America's Cup, competitions that will make the Port Olímpic one of the focal points of the world's largest nautical event.

Download the time lapse video of the construction of the new access: https://fromsmash.com/282YWSCkcr-ct 

Download explanatory video:: https://fromsmash.com/O7EgfUu6j7-ct

The park will be premièring the “Wilhelm Freak Show”, at the Plaça dels Somnis from 30 September to 12 November 

The virtual reality attraction “Beyond” will offer a new zombie movie, and the Krüeger Hotel welcomes a new character

The spookiest time of the year is coming to Tibidabo. This weekend, the park begins its special Halloween programming with the première of the new Wilhelm Freak Show. 

Fifteen actors and actresses from the Krüeger Hotel will temporarily leave their rooms 30 minutes before closing time to bid farewell to the visiting public. The show will be performed from 30 September to 12 November at the Plaça dels Somnis. 

This variety performance combines circus acts, magic and horror, based on the freak show artistic genre, showcasing individuals with unusual and astonishing abilities. The show’s unique master of ceremonies, Wilhelm, is a dark and selfish character who has spent his life belittling those who have made him famous and who is now most likely facing his final performance.

The act offers something innovative and completely different from all the previous shows held at Tibidabo at this time of year. It aims to break away from the usual aesthetics of skulls and cemeteries, in favour of a different theme; the circus, while also highlighting the festive spirit of the Halloween tradition.

Kicking off its programme with a new special setting and decor, Tibidabo Amusement Park has prepared more surprises for the coming weeks. The other new feature is the première of a zombie movie at the recently inaugurated virtual reality attraction, Beyond.
Visitors can also enjoy the park’s star attraction during this festive season, the Krüeger Hotel. A theatrical tour inside an abandoned hotel, where characters from horror movies come to life. For these next few weeks it will feature a new guest, the legendary Michael Myers.

During Halloween, at the park’s pastry shop, visitors will also be able to sample products specially created by the renowned Barcelona pastry chef, Christian Escribà. 

Access to the park during the Halloween season will be as smooth as during rest of the year.Visitors can use the Cuca de Llum funicular as their main means of arrival, as well as the T2B and T2C shuttle buses. In this way, the Park is stepping up its environmental commitment to the Collserola Natural Park. The amusement park will open its doors at 11 am, with closing times varying depending on the day. Schedules can be checked on the park’s website.

It had been over 50 years since a member of this endangered species had been detected in Catalonia, in this area of the Pyrenees

The images were recorded under the Mesocarnivore Monitoring Project run by the Felis Group at the Catalan Institute of Natural History (ICHN) and the Barcelona Zoo Foundation

Pictures were taken this June, giving evidence, for the first time in over 50 years, of the presence of a European polecat in the Vall d’Aran.

The pictures were recorded in the framework of the Mesocarnivore Monitoring Project being run by the Felis Group at the Catalan Institute of Natural History (ICHN) and the Barcelona Zoo Foundation, and which is being supported in the Vall d’Aran by the Conselh Generau d'Aran [autonomous governing body of the Aran region in Catalonia] and in collaboration with volunteers from the Aran pera Natura Association.

More than thirty monitoring stations have been established at several points in this Catalan area for carrying out this project, each of which has 12 camera traps. The pictures were taken using one of these cameras on a plot of land belonging to the Barcelona Zoo Foundation. The last recorded sighting of this endangered species in this area of the Pyrenees was back in the 1960s.

Current situation of European polecats in Catalonia

The European polecat (Mustela putorius) is classed as an endangered species under the new Catalogue of Endangered Species in Catalonia. This is the highest endangered category envisaged by the catalogue and therefore places it as the most endangered carnivorous mammal among the fauna of Catalonia. 

The last 30 years have seen the population of this species and its areas of distribution fall drastically to their current levels, with members living only in some parts of Girona’s counties, the plains of the Alt and Baix Empordà regions, and occasionally spotted at the source of the river Ter, in the Ripollès county.

It was based on this situation that the Government of Catalonia’s Ministry for Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, the Barcelona Zoo Foundation and the Trenca Association set up the TuroCat project in 2018, with the aim of reversing a situation where these polecats had been brought to the brink of extinction in Catalonia. This is why one of the project’s main actions has been to reintroduce the species to areas it had disappeared from as well as boost its populations in areas where individuals can still be found. TuroCat is based on the monitoring of mammals carried out under other projects, such as the Felis Group’s Mesocarnivore Monitoring Programme.

The Barcelona Zoo Foundation launches multidisciplinary teams with the goal of planning and implementing ex situ conservation projects (EEP) and in their natural environments, in collaboration with research centres, administrations, benchmark NGOs and the scientific community. Projects such as those reintroducing polecats, nets and Majorcan midwife toads are supporting this development.

You can download the video of the polecat in Vall d’Aran: https://fromsmash.com/Turo-Vall-dAran

‘Physics Month’ is being held on 16, 23, 24 and 25 September, in conjunction with undergraduate Physical Engineering students at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC)              

The Avió aeroplane ride, the Tibidabo Express train ride and the Piratta pirate ship ride are incorporating QR codes with physics tests and experiments for everyone

Tibidado will also be playing host to several shows and an escape room set in a laboratory from the start of the 21st century highlighting the role of women scientists in developing and applying the theory of relativity

The project is part of a partnership under which the BSM and the UPC are jointly promoting science and technology vocations at several educational stages

The physicist Albert Einstein visited Barcelona in 1923 and went up to the top of Tibidabo mountain to enjoy its impressive views of the city. A hundred years later, marking the start of the school year, the Amusement Park and the bachelor's degree in Physical Engineering from the Barcelona School of Telecommunication Engineering (ETSETB) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech have joined forces to launch “Physics Month”, an innovative science-activities programme for everyone.

The activities are being held on Saturday, 16 September and also from 23 to 25 September, at the same time as the La Mercè festivities. Outreach activities, experiments and shows with physics as their star attraction will be paying homage to the career of the famous scientist, awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921. 

“Physics Month” starts on Saturday, 16 September, at 5 pm. Albert Einstein will be taking the Cuca de Llum funicular to travel up to the top of the mountain. Accompanied by the Tibidabo Mascots, he will have the honour of inaugurating the activities at a big party full of music and surprises.

Albert Einstein al Tibidabo

Attractions such as the Avió, Tibidabo Express and Piratta will be inviting members of the public on Saturday, 16 September, to experiment with physics. Using various QR codes and receiving support from Physical Engineering undergraduates from the UPC, kids and adults will have to get through several tests to investigate the time the Piratta pirate ship takes to move from side to side, the speed of the Tibidabo Express and the duration of the Avió aeroplane ride's slow and fast loops. After they have finished their calculations, visitors can enter their results into the Physics Month website and ask volunteers from the Physical Engineering faculty to stamp their Science Passport. Once their passport is complete, they will become official scientists in Tibidabo’s BI Mascot team.

The QR codes will become a permanent fixture in the attractions, after Physics Month has ended, so that children visiting the Park from now on will be able to complete these tests with help from their companions. 

Whoever visits Tibidabo Amusement Park during the long La Mercè weekend, from 23 to 25 September, will also be able to enjoy an escape room. The CreaTibi Robotics room is to become a physics lab from the start of the 21st century, where visitors will need to get through several tests introducing them to the role played by women scientists in the development and application of the theory of relativity. The escape room will be available to small groups in several sessions, from 3.30 pm to 6.30 pm.

In addition to these initiatives, visitors will also have the chance to immerse themselves even further into science at two shows. Sunday, 24 will see a performance of “Les tres neurones” [The three neurons], a show from the Open Brains company offering a fun explanation of how the human nervous system works. Monday, 25 will see a performance of “MateMusiC: els secrets de la corda” [the secrets of strings], a participatory show resulting from a collaboration between the Moby Dixie band and scientists at the UPC, which will be showing how music is based on mathematics. Both shows will be performed at Plaça del Jardí at 1 pm, 3 pm and 5 pm.

The first edition of “Physics Month” is an initiative launched under a BSM and UPC partnership working jointly to promote science and technology vocations among new generations.

The activity is being held on 15 September, coinciding with the start of European Mobility Week 

The goal is to raise awareness of the need to back a sustainable and people-centred city model

Barcelona SMOU, mobility app will be taking part in Parking Day tomorrow, 15 September. This is BSM's first time participating in this annual event held in various cities around the world and coordinated in Barcelona by the cooperative Espai Ambiental and ISGLOBALI with the support of Barcelona City Council and the collaboration of EIT Urban Mobility. 

The aim of the initiative is to raise awareness and make the case for a sustainable, environmentally friendly and people-centred city model. To this end, various organisations and groups will temporarily be occupying public parking spots to hold various programmes and awareness-raising activities. 

SMOU will be at C/ Floridablanca, 49, throughout the morning, with an explanation on how the app promotes a sustainable, connected, planned and electric mobility model. Various information panels will show the main mobility services and solutions the platform brings together, plus the innovative functions that allow users to easily use mobility services such as the Aparcaments B:SM network of car parks, AREA parking, Bicing, the Endolla Barcelona network and more. There will also be an informative game with questions.

With more than 950,000 users in Barcelona and the metropolitan area at present, SMOU brings together some twenty mobility services. It includes solutions such as the Bicing bike-sharing service, the recharging points in the Endolla Barcelona network, pay-by-minute parking on the street and in  the Aparcaments B:SM network of car parks, and the management of AREA parking spaces for residents. It also allows users to make queries about services such as shared bicycles, cars and motorbikes, along with real-time information on public transport.

Last year, SMOU recorded a total of 16.4 million operations. That’s around 45,000 operations a day, five times more than the app’s first year in service. The services used the most were Bicing and pay-by-minute parking, with 11.5 and 4.7 million operations per year, respectively.

The lead-up to European Mobility Week

SMOU’s participation in Parking Day is BSM's first activity for European Mobility Week, which is being held from 16 to 22 September this year. 

A communication campaign will be in place during the week with the slogan “Creating the mobility of the future”. The goal is to highlight BSM’s valuable contribution to the public in promoting a new model of mobility focused on people, with the emphasis on sustainability, innovation and digitalisation to meet new needs

The project is growing with the addition of Park Güell, where 5th and 6th year primary school students will learn about architecture and technology through Gaudí's works

Zoo de Barcelona, the Anella Olímpica, Parc del Fòrum and Tibidabo Amusement Park are other iconic spaces managed by BSM which will become large-scale science and technology laboratories

The goal is to promote science and technology vocations, especially among girls, through workshops and activities based on the STEAM methodology

Discover new secrets about biology and nature at Zoo de Barcelona, learn more about physics at Tibidabo and perform science and technology experiments at the Anella Olímpica and Parc del Fòrum. With the start of the new school year, Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (BSM) and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia - Barcelona Tech (UPC) are launching a new season of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) activities. This is an alliance which, for the seventh year in a row, is helping to promote science and technology vocations among students at every stage of education through workshops and fun activities that are particularly committed to overcoming the gender barriers that still exist in technical and scientific careers. Seven thousand students will benefit from the project in the 2023-2024 school year. 

Zoo de Barcelona will be the first venue to host the STEAM activities this year. On 16 November it will host a programme of biology activities through which students in the 1st and 2nd year of compulsory secondary education (ESO in Catalan) will be able to discover different facets of biology and knowledge of nature, an activity that dovetails with the new Zoo Model’s focus on education and awareness-raising. 

This year, the new feature of the STEAM programme is Park Güell, which is participating in the project for the first time with a programme of activities designed particularly for children in the 5th and 6th year of primary school, the latest educational stage to join the project. Through a variety of workshops and guided activities, the students will work on several curricular competences in the fields of mathematics, science and technology while discovering the secrets of Gaudí and Modernista architecture. This initiative reaffirms Park Güell and BSM’s commitment by creating new experiences that ensure public enjoyment and educational use of this heritage site. 

After that, on 20 March 2024 the programme will head to Parc del Fòrum, which will once again become a large-scale science and technology laboratory for students in their 4th year of ESO and baccalaureate studies, topics that students in the 2nd and 3rd year of ESO will also explore at the Palau Sant Jordi on 16 April. 

STEAM activities this school year will end on 8 May 2024 at Tibidabo. The amusement park will host another edition of Fisidabo, a huge physics festival organised in conjunction with the Physical Engineering degree at the UPC’s Higher School of Telecommunications Engineering (ETSEIB), in which students in their 4th year of ESO and baccalaureate studies will put their knowledge into practice by doing experiments on the park's different rides. 

In the opinion of the deputy mayor and president of BSM, Laia Bonet, ‘generating talent is one of the goals of Barcelona's bid to become a scientific capital, and that's why it's important for the city to offer initiatives like these STEAM workshops, which enable primary and secondary school students to learn about biology, physics and technology through games and fun activities. Plus, this project proves BSM’s commitment to make the most iconic spaces that the city manages available to citizens, in this case through educational activities targeted at young people from Barcelona and other towns.’

Adriana Farran, director of the Barcelona East School of Engineering (EEBE) at the UPC, noted that ‘it is a pleasure for the EEBE to take part in organising the STEAM workshops, because as a polytechnic, we have a vested interest in encouraging children to take up science and technology. And we believe that one of the best ways to do this is by experimenting, and if it can be outdoors in a dynamic, fun way, so much the better. That is why we offer the organisers two of our best assets: our lecturers, who help to design the activities, and our students, who act as guides in different workshops and should serve as role models for the young participants.’

A total of 6,832 students from 117 schools in Barcelona and other towns and cities participated in the BSM and UPC STEAM activities in the 2022-2023 school year. Any schools that are interested in the upcoming workshops can still register for them on the project website, where they can also see which workshops still have free places.

The Plaça del Jardí [Garden Square] is a finalist in the category ‘Landscape: Public space’ and the Cuca de Llum in the ‘Landscape: Urban design’ category

Anyone who wishes to do so can take part in the public vote, which is open until 15 September

This week, Tibidabo is offering the last few sessions of the ‘Laser Show 2.0’

New architectural recognition for the Tibidabo amusement park. The Plaça del Jardí [Garden Square] and the Cuca de Llum funicular railway have been nominated for the Loop Design Awards. This is the fourth edition of the prestigious international awards, organised by the architecture platform Loop in recognition of the most important projects in the fields of architecture, concept design, interiors, landscape, product, architectural photography, architecture video, art and travel. 

Both the Plaça del Jardí and the Cuca de Llum are competing in the People’s Choice Award section. The Plaça del Jardí is competing in the ‘Landscape: Public space’ category. The space is inspired by Tibidabo’s values: solidarity, sustainability and education. The square’s architectural features make it a friendly, playable space that welcomes visitors and offers some privileged views over the city of Barcelona. The square is also framed by the vertical garden, which adorns the Park’s office building, a feature that reinforces the relationship and integration of Tibidabo with the natural environment that surrounds it. 

The square also features daisy-shaped sun shades and a curious, colourful piece of furniture that simulates geometric shapes and which makes the entrance to the Park a fun experience in itself. 

For its part, the Cuca de Llum has been nominated for an award in the category ‘Landscape: Urban Design’. The nomination highlights the technological, sustainable and cutting-edge nature of the funicular railway, which has become a more sustainable and faster way to reach the top of the mountain. It also underscores the innovative design, the unique panoramic views, the comfort it offers to passengers, and the application of digital devices to enhance the experience of the journey.

The Cuca de Llum was already recognised in May this year as the best sustainable transport project by the prestigious Architizer A+ Awards.

Both the Plaça del Jardí and the Cuca de Llum were developed by the Barcelona-based architecture firm MIAS Arquitectes. 
People from around the world will decide the winner of the People's Choice Award in each category through a public voting process which is currently underway on the Loop Design website. The deadline for voting is 15 September, and following this, the winners chosen through the public vote will be announced.
 

Final sessions of the Laser Show 2.0

This nomination comes on the final leg of the summer season at the Tibidabo amusement park, with the last few sessions of the light, music and colour show, Laser Show, now taking place. The final few screenings will bring us to the end of the season, which concludes on Sunday, 3 September. The screenings will take place at 9.30 pm in August and at 8.30 pm in September, always in the Plaça dels Somnis.

In addition, on these days, visitors will also be able to continue enjoying the rest of the activities offered at the Park, such as the new Tibidabo mascot show, ‘Les Mascotes per Barcelona’, the Marionetarium puppet shows, or the screenings of the films ‘Meg and the Lost Scepter’ and ‘Wanted Alive’ in 4D at the Dididado cinema.

A total number of 68,265 electric vehicle charges were registered from January to June, up by 40% on the same period in 2022

The electromobility network now has 18,000 users, 32% more than it had a year ago

The Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (BSM) electromobility network, Endolla Barcelona, continues to set new records. The first six months of the year saw 68,265 electric vehicle charges, up by 40% on the same period in 2022. These figures reflect Endolla Barcelona’s upward trend and represent a historical a new all-time high since the service came into service. 

More specifically, the Barcelona electromobility network registered a total of 68,265 electric vehicle charges from during the period from January to June 2023. All together these uses involved a supply 777,324 kWh, 62% higher than in the first half of 2022. 

There was also a notable increase in the number of people using Endolla Barcelona on a daily basis. It now has 17,992 users, 32.5% more than it had a year ago. 

According to the First Deputy Mayor and Chair of BSM, Laia Bonet, “Endolla Barcelona’s growing figures are a reflection of the public leadership that Barcelona is playing in deploying electromobility in the south of Europe. The network continues to equally in every neighbourhood and is anticipating demand to accompany citizens along the transition to electric vehicles”. 

Endolla Barcelona plans to have 1,000 charging points up and running by the end of the year  

Endolla Barcelona plans to have 1,000 charging points operational by the end of 2023. 283 new points will be incorporated all around the city over the year, joining the 717 now in service. 

The new charging points will be located in B:BSM car parks, where 7 out of every 10 existing points are already concentrated. This roll-out strategy is promoting a uniform expansion throughout the city's neighbourhoods, making it easier for Barcelona residents without charging points at home or work to take leap to electromobility. 

Installing these new charging points in car parks also helps to minimise the occupancy of public space, reducing other parking-associated effects and encouraging planned recharges during off-peak hours. The supply of on-street charging points - designed for unplanned, quick recharges - will remain the same. 

Endolla Barcelona, the Spanish State’s leading public electromobility network 

Boasting 717 charging points, Endolla Barcelona is currently the Spanish State’s largest public electromobility network, with an average 96% availability of service.

The city has 12.5 public-use points per km2, with a charging point for every existing 16.5 electric vehicles. These figures make Barcelona the second largest European city in number of charging points per km2, after Stockholm; and the fourth largest in number of points per resident, after Stockholm, Gothenburg and Oslo.