The Ciutadella park is an alternative for those who choose to escape the avalanche of tourists that invades the city every day. An ecosystem formed by three layers of inhabitants. In the first, more than 100 different species of birds and centenary plane trees coexist in more than fourteen hectares of natural habitat. Secondly, we find the animals that adapt to the environment: runners who display their personal records on Strava or reading lovers who lie on their pareos on the grass. Finally, we come across the invasive species: tourists who are left speechless by seeing some gurus feeding the park's birds, when they have the zoo a few meters away.
To explain the arrival of tourists at Ciutadella park, Darwin would speak of natural selection. The most adapted beings survive, while the least adapted are eliminated. Charles Robert Darwin is known as a zoologist and father of the theory of evolution, but he was also one of the most influential botanists in history. The Winter Garden, built for the 1888 Universal Exhibition, six years after the death of the English biologist, has become a nursery of plants that help us understand evolution.
“It’s a risky exhibition because there is the living species,” informs Martí Domínguez, curator of the exhibition, doctor in Biology and professor of journalism at the University of Valencia. Visitors will be able to observe up close the magic of orchids, carnivorous plants or climbing plants, among others. The original idea for the project comes from Domínguez himself. The exhibition, directed by biologist Carles Lalueza-Fox, is free and can be visited from Monday to Sunday from 10 am to 8 pm until May 31, 2026. Guided tours are offered at 11 am and 5 pm.
Darwin dedicated six of his fifteen works to plants. The humid environment of the greenhouse shelters a large part of his thought on botany and keeps the plants in good condition. The silence of the space safeguards Darwinian theories. The English biologist discovered that carnivorous plants fed on insects and that orchids were the fruit of natural selection. The exhibition, organized by the Barcelona Museum of Natural Sciences, concludes with a section dedicated to biodiversity in danger.
Darwin's evolutionary perspective continues to be essential today. The coexistence between species is fragile and is demonstrated by the decline of pollinators. The decrease in biotic agents like bees puts the reproduction of thousands of plant species at risk. Protecting biodiversity is guaranteeing the continuity of natural parks and our own evolutionary history. Darwin never visited Ciutadella Park, nor Barcelona. But if he had, he certainly wouldn't have behaved like a mere tourist.
