At first glance, Castell de l’Oreneta park doesn’t look bad. It is well maintained and clean. Its vegetation does not seem worse than that of other wooded spaces in Barcelona, ??and its surroundings, which have long been greatly affected by the constant drought. But the reality is different. This green area of ??Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, Collserola’s stirrup, is sick. He has illnesses, some of them serious. The most worrisome is what trees and shrubs suffer due to strong soil erosion, which leads to water and nutrient deficits. The evils also affect the architectural heritage elements, vestiges of the agricultural and manorial past, which require updating and a more appropriate integration in the landscape so that they are valued and that citizens can enjoy them.
Throughout 2023, the City Council deployed a participatory process with residents, entities and facilities around the park that has been taken into account to draw up a master plan, a road map of what must be done to give to this unique site a new life, preserve its natural and cultural wealth and ensure its future in optimal conditions. The document, drawn up by Feu i Godoy Arquitectes and to which La Vanguardia has had access, details the necessary actions, which would involve investments worth 22.6 million euros, of which 7.2 million are for general actions of the highest priority and 6.1 million for other work considered preferred, distributed by area. The execution of these actions depends on the fact that the municipal government activates them with the respective budget items. At the same time, a new governance space has been created to share the decisions that are taken.
Once a week Antonio Moral and Caritat López, retirees, go up to the park by bus from the neighborhood of Santa Eulàlia de l’Hospitalet, where they live, and walk down. “Let’s stop by and have lunch here”, he explains. “It’s beautiful, it looks like a mountain – he adds – and now it’s better than two years ago, they’ve pruned the trees and repaired the roads.” It refers to the controversial works carried out in 2022, of which this newspaper reported, which aimed, in addition to adapting the roads, to improve the drainage of the waters to ensure that there was more infiltration.
The master plan starts from a diagnosis of the state of the park in several areas: urban planning, urban environment and access, architectural heritage, hydrogeology, water management, vegetation, fauna and biodiversity, paths and accessibility, furniture, services, citizen uses…
“The evolutionary problem is obvious – it is stated in the document. The erosion of the soil, caused by the steep relief, the poor containment of the slopes, the lack of retention systems, lamination and infiltration of rainwater on the land and without a drainage system designed so that the water stays in the park, instead of losing it without the vegetation being able to benefit from it, it endangers the survival of current species”. And he adds: “If we add to these factors that the pH of the soil is acidic, that the thickness decreases more and more and that the fertility and porosity are practically nil due to the strong compaction, then the difficulty for a spontaneous plant development becomes enormously difficult”.
The analysis also found that “there is little variety of plant species for such a large park”. It has 17.4 hectares, similar to that of the Ciutadella, of which 11 are green areas. The rest corresponds to roads, equipment and protection systems. Pinyoner and white pines and oak predominate. There are also some oak trees. There is a lack of herbaceous species due to the marked slopes and the strong erosion. The document proposes removing invasive plants, which have proliferated there, and making selective plantings in areas that have been depopulated.
Correcting the soil problems is, therefore, a key action for the future of the park, and a good part of the proposed interventions goes in this direction, which entails acting on slopes, walls, paths, drainage, collection channels water, streams…
Despite its value, the Castell de l’Oreneta park is largely unknown. Thousands of people pass under it daily by car, as the Dalt roundabout crosses it in the southern part by means of a tunnel. But not many people visit it. The influx during the week is low, mainly from some neighbors and schoolchildren from the area. “We often come to walk our dogs and other people’s dogs, it’s a very good park, it’s almost like being in Collserola”, explains Joan Basa, a resident of Sarrià. “It is correct, with children’s areas in good condition and very clean if we compare it to other parks in the city”, continues this young man, who assures that there are also bottles made there, of which “there is no trace”. Carlota Campi, who accompanies him, says that “although many wild boars go down there, everything is unpolluted”. The plan notes, however, that the presence of these animals – and also dogs – damages the land.
On weekends, it receives more visitors, but not many, about 500 at most each morning, according to the document. One of its attractions is the train, the Tren de l’Oreneta, from the Center d’Estudis Modelisme Vapor Barcelona, ??open on Sunday mornings. “We have been here for 43 years, a couple of years after the City Council kept the park and opened it”, emphasizes its president, Josep Miquel Arregui. With Enric Alfaro, a retired metallurgist, he checks the vehicles, miniature railway jewels. “We want to continue here”, states Arregui, who considers that the presence of this attraction brings a unique value to the park. For this reason, a new document will have to be signed with the City Council because the current agreement expires this year. In addition, its declaration as a cultural asset of local interest (BCIL) is in the process. The master plan advocates maintaining and improving this characteristic facility.
Only the vestiges of the castle and part of the access road (which includes several retaining walls with ceramic arches in the part closest to the Betania school) and the Porter’s House – occupied -, the tower and the walls of the Montevideo street access. The master plan proposes to restore them. It also proposes “highlighting the rest of the elements and constructions of the old historic estates that today make up the park”. The most outstanding are the era, the fountains, the rotunda and the terrace staircase of the old can Bonavista estate and the amphitheater, stairs, old bridge and the surroundings of the castle, which, he points out, should to catalog The master plan also proposes rehabilitating the unlisted parts of these two buildings and their surroundings, which will be able to host uses associated with the park, in addition to Casa Oliva, near the train station.
Another outstanding action is the consolidation of existing dry stone walls, both for the heritage interest that is recognized for this construction technique, Unesco’s intangible cultural heritage of humanity since 2018, and also for the stabilizing function of the terrain and for the historical link with the place’s agricultural past. Some remains of this kind distributed throughout the park have already been recovered.
The document also defends the recovery of the water mines, now closed, and includes them as priority works. The purpose is to integrate them into the operation of the park and the management of water and irrigation.
Regarding the adaptation and creation of itineraries, two newly created interpretive ones are proposed (one focused on botany and another on biodiversity) and a third dedicated to heritage elements that explain the past of the two original estates of the park. The aim is that visitors can tour the park and easily learn the aspects of value it contains and that make it unique. It is also planned to repair and consolidate the paths of the main route and renew all the signage.
To improve connectivity with the environment, which the analysis carried out sees much room for improvement, it includes enabling six new accesses. Four would be public (Saumell sector/Pedralbes monastery, Mare de Déu de Lorda, Collserola/Carretera de les Aigües and Llucieta Canyà passage), and two private (from Betània and Aula schools). Likewise, it is proposed to improve the waiting areas of the accesses shared with the Costa i Llobera high school and the Tàber school, the improvement of the arrival of public transport (bus stop close to the access to Montevideo and on the next Carrer Monestir) and the installation of a Bicing station at the Sports entrance. The elimination of the fences and walls that separate public areas is also being considered.
The proposed reform of Gaspar Cassadó, on the side of the Ronda de Dalt, is also relevant – and will require the participation of several municipal areas – and cuts the park in two. Its configuration does not allow the permeability or the reading of the enclosure as a whole. There are two options for integrating the road, a complete one, which would mean dedicating it only to pedestrians and bicycles, and another less radical one that keeps traffic moving by reducing its speed and changing pavements.
A noteworthy detail is that during the drafting of the plan, the urban planning situation of the 10,800 m2 plot in the western sector, which was for equipment – in 2008 it was planned to relocate the municipal animal shelter of company, a fact that provoked strong opposition in the area – and it has become a park and, therefore, integrated into that of Castell de l’Oreneta.
“There are closed areas of the park that offer great potential if they are incorporated into public uses, for example the sector where the ponies were, the old bridge or the artificial mountain roundabout of the Bonavista estate”, the master plan points out , which also defends maintaining the spaces intended for children’s games, the areas for dogs, the areas of stay, rest and picnics, sports practice, viewing areas and to recover the small amphitheater next to the Casa del Porter .
