Barcelona Aquarium

By Aquarticles Editor

Original to Aquarticles

The moving sidwalk is a highlite of any visit to the Barcelona Aquarium

Front exterior of the Barcelona Aquarium Approaching the entrance

Almost everything about the Barcelona Aquarium is BIG. It is one of the biggest aquariums in Europe, has huge exhibits, attracts massive crowds, and has more commercial enterprise happening than I have ever seen in an aquarium. At times I felt it was more of a theme park than an aquarium. There is definitely an emphasis here on commerce, with an attempt made seemingly around every corner to find ways to separate people - especially families with young children - from their money. There are photographers who take your photo whether you want it taken or not, only to offer it to you for sale a little later. There are numerous vending machines, mostly cheap arcade style machines that dispense stickers and trinkets to kids. Junk food machines are also in abundance. And then there is a massive gift shop that seems to have only kitchy stuff for sale. Blow-up Nemos and t-shirts galore, but nary an aquarium book in sight. This, along with some aquariums that were frankly bizarre in their composition (ex, mixed African cichlids with South American angel fish and Asian barbs!), and an emphasis on flash over substance (laser and neon lights, but few educational displays), left me less than impressed. But then a strange thing happened towards the end of my visit. I basically gave in to the "processed" feel of the Barcelona aquarium experience; I ordered myself an oversized ice cream and found a seat in a court-yard overlooking the outside marina. Barcelona presents a pretty picture on a sunny day, and the area where the aquarium is situated is no exception. "Why fight the tide?", I asked myself; enjoy the moment and relaxe in Barcelona on a sunny day. And so that is what I did - after a hurried tour of the Barcelona Aquarium!

A cute little Cardinal fish

What follows is a series of photos, with occasional commentary, taken during my afternoon walk through the Barcelona Aquarium.

Tickets Entrance hallway

Having purchased my ticket I entered the Barcelona Aquarium and walked along a main floor walkway (photo above rightt), which led to a downstairs escalator. Once downstairs the visitor sees a series of marine exhibits focussed on specific species and tropical biotopes.

Part One - Smaller Single Species/Biotope Aquariums

A nautilus

A nautilus - another view

A couple of the many marine tanks in the aquarium's lower floor

What looked like Monodactylus argentus (left); a lionfish (right)

Morray eel sp. display

A typical design-layout for the main viewing tanks in the lower floor of the aquarium

Part Two - The moving side-walk and "Oceanarium"

As with many modern aquariums around the world, the Barcelona Aquarium has a moving sidewalk section where one enters an aquarium tunnel. Sharks, rays, and other large sea creatures are kept here. This was one of the better such displays I have seen.

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The moving sidewalk tour begins

Black tip reef shars

Shark display - another view

Ray and sand shark

Ray close up

Sand shark close up

The end of the moving sidewalk affords views of where you have come from (background)

An octupus has a lot of room to roam here

As you exit the moving sidewalk you discover that photos were take of you - for sale of course!

Exiting the moving sidewalk leads to more biotope displays

Sargasso Seahorses

An escalator leads one upstairs

Part Three - Main Floor Special Collections

The massive central viewing area reminds me of the Natural History Museum in New York.

A mixed biotope tank - angel fish, jewel cichlids, botia...!

What a jumble the above tank is! Yes, you see correctly. In the tank above, there are angel fish and plecostami from South America, jewel cichlids from Africa, and clown loaches, botia, and irridescant sharks from South East Asia. Obviosly no attempt at demonstrating a biotope themed tank here. Perhaps they are trying to show an inexperienced hobbyist tank? If so, then the tank - in the photo below - that had a red-tail catfish from South America paired with various African cichlids is an extreme example; talk about a tank that should never be assembled. Not only do these fish have different water parameter requirements, the red-tail catfish is destined to be a tank buster which will gobble up every other fish in that tank...

Red Tail Catfish and African cichlids?! How long can THIS set up last?

At least the jaguar cichlid and silver arowana in this tank are found in the same hemisphere...

A half-hearted attempt at an educational display on the loss of bio-diversity
(tucked out of the way in a quiet part of the aquarium)

Part Four - Food and the Children's Area

Lots of food choices in the cafeteria

This "submarine" display was popular with the children

A view from the top floor of the Barcelona Aquarium

Heading back downstairs to another section of the aquarium

A hands-on section for kids

A tidal pool exhibit with surging water every minute or so

Vending machines that dispense photos, stickers, souvenirs...

Have yourself "photo-shopped" into photos of sea-life (left); an opportunity to dive with the sharks (right)

Part Five - The Grand Finale - Ray Exhibit

A great cental display room houses a very large marine ray display

Overhead views of the marine ray display

I would guess the netting has been added to this display to keep children from bothering the rays.
I have seen this same sort of display in the Singapore Aquarium where it was left with fully open access

A display on ocean currents (left) and intertidal zones (right)

A mangrove brackish display with mud-skippers

A couple horse-shoe crabs

More moray eel sp.

A clipper ship display themed on the travels of Charles Darwin and the Beagle; obviously
this display was produced jointly with the Rotterdam Aquarium as they have a similar display there.

A flashy and well-stocked gift shop backs off the other side of the "Darwin display" noted in the preceding photo

Exterior shots of the Barcelona Aquarium (rear of building)

If you are travelling with young children and are in the mood for a theme park type visit during a holiday in Barcelona, then I'd recommend you visit the Barcelona Aquarium. I think you would do better, however, to see one of many others in Europe (Rotterdam, Denmark, London, and Berlin spring to mind), and so I would not recommend any kind of detour to see what Barcelona has to offer - especially when the competition for your time includes the Picasso museum, the modern art museum, fantastic architecture, etc.