The Barcelona Cactus Garden – Jardins de Mossèn Costa i Llobera

As mentioned in the previous post I recently spent some time in Barcelona, Spain.


Panoramic view of Jardins de Mossèn Costa i Llobera

I had been looking especially forward to visiting the cactus garden, Jardins de Mossèn Costa i Llobera, located on the steep slopes of Mount Montjuïc that face the Mediterranean Sea and overlooked by the Montjuïc Castle (its hard to beat a location like that!), but when we arrived at the garden it was closed. We checked various signs and posters that all claimed that the garden should have opened a couple of hours prior to our arrival but all gates were locked. While I was standing sulking and disgruntled my entrepreneurial girlfriend had scanned the area and located a hole in the fence and through we went;-)


Ferocactus glaucescens flowers and a snail


A stand of Ferocactus glaucescens

It was a great experience wandering around the deserted garden – at first we lurked about, halfway expecting to be thrown out any minute, but nothing happened and soon we just enjoyed this calm and secluded cactus haven located so close to the hustle and bustle of the city.


Budding Ferocactus stainesii


Group of large Echinocactus grusonii


Echinocactus grusonii flower, close-up


Flowering Cleistocactus strausii

We never found an explanation for why the park was closed. Most of the park looked well tended for and ready to receive visitors but some of the more remote areas of the park had entered into a state of “lush decay” and a few foot paths were even blocked by plants.


Lush decay


Blocked pathway

Later, when visiting Montjuïc Castle, I noticed a jogger crossing the cactus garden down below and leaving it through a different hole in the fence. Maybe the holes are an unofficial way of keeping a closed park open ;-)

If you're in Barcelona the park is definitely worth a visit – if you can find a way in ;-)



The video above shows a panoramic view of the central bed of the Barcelona Cactus Garden, Jardins de Mossèn Costa i Llobera. The bed features a group of massive Echinocactus grusonii (Golden Barrel Cactus) in the foreground - I have seen these described elsewhere as "clusters of round cactus that resemble a colony of alien eggs just about to hatch" ;-)