Barcelona's Aquarium

Barcelona's Aquarium is the largest in the world when it comes to the Mediterranean.  The interior contains 6 million liters of water which are home to around 11,000 life forms belonging to 450 different species.  Find out more details about it in the article below!

Location

Barcelona's Aquarium is located in Barceloneta and is easily reachable by walking along the beautiful Rambla del Mar, passing through the famous Maremagnum Shopping Center or by walking straight across the Plaça de l'Ictineo which is at the end of the Via Layetana.  If you take the Metro, the closest stops are Barceloneta (Yellow Line L4) or Drassanes (Green Line L3). 

Prices and opening times

Barcelona's Aquarium is open every day throughout the year from 10:00.  In June and September it closes at 21:00 and in July and August, it closes at 21:30.  In October and May it remains open until 20:00 (except at weekends when it closes half an hour later) and in November, January, February and March it welcomes visitors until 19:30.  In December, because of the Christmas holidays, the aquarium extends its opening hours until 20:30.

An Adult entry ticket costs €20.00.  The cost for children aged 3-4 years is reduced to €7.00 whereas children aged 5 to 10 years are charged at €15.00.

What to do at Barcelona's Aquarium 

Barcelona's Aquarium is comprised of different thematic areas which represent the habitat of different marine animals: from the vast "Ocenario"  which is 35 meters wide and 6 meters deep (this has sharks in it), to the smaller but no less interesting areas which are home to such animals as seahorses.  There are also plenty of tropical fish in the specially dedicated tanks and you can find out all sorts of interesting information about oceanography (including fossils belonging to ancient species, the phenomenon of some fishes' ability to mimic, the evolution of reptiles and mammals...) in the area called  "Planeta Aqua" (Planet Water).

Additional activities

As well as visiting the fish tanks, it is also possible to enjoy some additional activities.  Among the many services on offer at the aquarium are the possibility to organize a birthday party in this really special venue (at a price of €25.00 per child) or to do a dive inside a cage into the tank that contains the sharks!  This costs €150.00 per person and is available for visitors aged from 8 years and up whilst an individual dive costs €300.00 and would require a valid scuba diving licence.  And to finish off, smaller children can spend the night sleeping in one of the rooms surrounded by the sharks that live in the aquarium at a cost of €90.00 per person.  

Feeding the fish 

Among the other activities that you can enjoy at the aquarium are some that are completely free but none the less exciting: helping to feed the fish is one of these, particularly when you bear in mind that there are 150 different "menus" prepared every day which differ for each of the aquarium's inhabitants. From 12:00 to 13:00, you will be able to see the divers feeding the sharks in the "Oceanario" whilst twice daily (at 11:30 and 16:30) in the "Planeta Aqua" you can watch the penguins being fed.  And finally, if you would like to see the rays being fed, you can also visit the  "Planeta Aqua" at 14:00 (every day except Sundays). 

And have you visited Barcelona's Zoo in the wonderful Parc de la Ciutadella?

Resources: download the Pdf file on Barcelona's Aquarium