On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the relocation of the Mercat del Peix from the building in Wellington Street to Mercabarna, on the morning of 3-4 October 1983, at midday today, Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and Mercabarna, in collaboration with Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), inaugurated the exhibition titled ‘L'Antic Mercat del Peix. Passat i futur’ (The Old Fish Market. Past and Future) at Ciutadella Vila Olímpica metro station in Barcelona.

The exhibition, which will be on display until 31 October, consists of nine large-format panels that recall the history of the old Mercat del Peix and its commercial use, through images loaned by Mercabarna and, based on rendered images, presents the future biomedical research complex that is being built in the space. In addition, it offers a visual explanation of the research into precision medicine, biodiversity and planetary well-being that the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE, CSIC-UPF) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) are to conduct at the new complex. 

The event was attended by the rector of Pompeu Fabra University, Laia de Nadal, who thanked Mercabarna and TMB for their collaboration to enable an exhibition that “fills a place of passage, of haste, of a mix of people, with colour and content” that will make it possible for “innovation and research into biomedicine, biodiversity and planetary well-being to be breathed in this corridor for a while”. 

An exhibition that fills a place of passage, of haste, of a mix of people with colour and content that will make it possible for innovation and research in biomedicine, biodiversity and planetary well-being to be breathed in this corridor for a while

The rector also highlighted that “with the Mercat del Peix, the city-knowledge relationship takes another step forward to explain the role of science and university research in Barcelona’s identity and to vindicate the social impact that UPF has always had as its purpose”. 

Jordi Valls, fourth deputy mayor of Barcelona City Council and president of Mercabarna, recalled that “in these 40 years the world and Barcelona have changed. Barcelona was born as, and continues to be, a city with a commercial and entrepreneurial spirit, but times have changed and we have literally gone from a fish and goods market to a knowledge economy in high added value strategic sectors such as health and biotech, mobility, energy, etc. The Ciutadella of Knowledge that we are growing in this space will be a new research and innovation complex that will contribute to promoting this space as a benchmark hub of knowledge in Europe”.

“For it to be set up in the Mercat del Peix is the continuity of a city’s commitment to being a reference in the strategic sectors, previously trade, now knowledge”, the deputy mayor concluded.

The CEO of TMB, Gerardo Lertxundi, explained that the access corridor to the Ciutadella/Vila Olímpica station is “an ideal and most valid location to exhibit educational projects like this”, not only because it is close to the new building but also because historically “it is an important place of passage for students and users of the services provided by Pompeu Fabra University”.

Lertxundi also wished to stress TMB’s commitment to educational tasks, not only through actions like the one presented today but also through the TMB Educa channel of the TMB Foundation, “an initiative created with the aim of promoting the education of the new generations in a veritable culture of sustainable mobility”. The CEO wished to thank UPF and Mercabarna for having borne in mind TMB and this station to disseminate the scientific project, and closed his speech wishing “every success in terms of research at the new facility”.

The old Mercat del Peix, located on Wellington Street, was the first permanent wholesale fish market in the city. It was inaugurated in 1931, revamped and expanded in 1953, and was active until 1983, when, due to the relocation of the market to the new Mercabarna facilities, in the Customs-free Zone, it fell into disuse. After a period of being used as a municipal vehicle depot and, since 1996, as a public car park, it is now being remodelled to house the new Mercat del Peix scientific complex. 

The new complex, promoted by Pompeu Fabra University, the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology and the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE, CSIC-UPF), will consist of 45,000 m2 hosting 1,400 researchers focusing on research and innovation into precision medicine, biodiversity and planetary well-being. The work, of which the construction of the foundations of the buildings and the parking lot that will be managed by BSM is being executed, is expected to be completed in 2026, and will become a prominent part of the existing biomedical hub on the seafront of the city. 

Thus, the exhibition ‘L’Antic Mercat del Peix. Passat i futur’ recalls what was the engine of fish sales in the city and projects a future scenario that will ensure the well-being and health of fish and other living beings that inhabit the planet.

> Image gallery published on Flickr