The whirling roundabout of Plaça d’Espanya, distinguished by its so-called Venetian towers (because they are vaguely reminiscent of the belltower in Venice’s St Mark’s Square), was built for the 1929 World Exhibition and is the junction of several major thoroughfares.
It is flanked on its northern side by the facade of the former Les Arenes bullring. Built in 1900 and once one of three bullrings in the city, it was recently converted into a shopping and leisure centre by Lord Richard Rogers. There are good views of the city from its 4th-floor rooftop terrace.
Behind the bullring is the Parc de Joan Miró , created in the 1980s – worth a quick detour for Miró’s phallic sculpture Dona i Ocell (Woman and Bird) in the western corner. Locals know the park (which apart from the Miró is a dispiriting affair) as the Parc de l’Escorxador (Abattoir Park), after the slaughterhouse that once stood here – unsurprisingly given the proximity to the bullring.
A couple of blocks west and just south of Estació Sants is Parc d'Espanya Industrial . With its ponds, little waterfalls, green spaces, trees, children’s swings, bar, and the odd towers that look for all the world like sci-fi prison-camp searchlight towers, it is a strange park indeed.
