Barcelona’s Park Güell will have an entrance fee from Friday

Barcelona (ACN).- From Friday, 25^th October 2013, people visiting Antoni Gaudí’s monuments at the Park Güell will have to pay an entrance fee. Barcelona City Council approved the measure a few months ago, aiming to control better the number of tourists visiting Gaudí’s monuments and to obtain revenue to pay for security and maintenance. This is one of the most popular spots on Barcelona’s tourist circuit and in the last few years it has been very crowded on some days and at certain hours of the day. Neighbours were complaining about these large crowds. The monuments designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí only occupy the park’s southern area, which is the zone that will have restricted access through entrance tickets. The rest of the park will be open for everybody.

In the last few weeks, works have taken place to set up the access control systems, fences and ticket boxes in order to have everything ready for Friday. However, tickets are already on sale. By Wednesday at noon, 1,900 tickets had been sold according to the City Council, representing 23% of the total available for Friday. In addition, the neighbours of the park’s five adjacent quarters who have requested it will be allowed to enter the restricted area for free. Barcelona City Council has distributed 25,000 cards to those neighbours, which will grant them unlimited free access to the entire Park Güell. Furthermore, the City Council pointed out that the rest of Barcelona residents can obtain a free day ticket through the register ‘Gaudir+BCN’. People should book their tickets in advance “in order to be sure they will get in”, recommended the City Council.

Between 7 and 8 euros to visit Gaudí’s Park Güell

Barcelona City Council announced on Wednesday that the three systems regulating access to Güell Park’s restricted area are already in place and ready to start functioning on Friday. Visitors will have to pay between 7 and 8 euros (depending on their age) to access Gaudí’s area in the park between 8 am and 6 pm during the winter season. In the summer, the opening hours will be longer.

In addition, the City Council also announced that the access for neighbours is also in place. At all the entrance spots there will be an access track for neighbours from the park’s five adjacent neighbourhoods, taking into account the fact that it is a public space owned by Barcelonans. For the time being, the City Council has already delivered 25,000 access cards for neighbours. However, it pointed out that neighbours can ask for the card at any time and therefore more cards will be issued. With this card, neighbours will be able to cross the park for free and as many times as they want. In addition, school students and the people working in the area surrounding the park have also received the card.

The City Council is expecting to obtain €1 million budget surplus with the entrance fees. This amount, which represents 15% of the cost of the new access control systems, will be used to improve the park’s maintenance. A system of booking tickets has been created, in order to avoid the long queues that were formed on some busy days in the past few years. In addition, the City Council has also arranged an area next to the Parc Güell for buses, allowing them to stop and pick up visitors. This area is located next to the park’s entrance facing Carmel Avenue. There will be 25 spaces to park buses and 5 spaces for short stops to allow people to get off the bus. Furthermore, a mobile app and an audiovisual guide have been developed in order to improve the visitors’ experience while walking through the park and looking at Gaudí’s monuments.