End of the long journey to build Barcelona's new biomedical park
Disagreements over funding and spaces had stalled the works of the new PRBB in the Ciutadella, which have already begun
BarcelonaThe works to erect the future Barcelona Ciutadella Biomedical Research Park (PRBB Ciutadella) have already begun, the new hub dedicated to research in biomedical innovation and precision medicine that will be located in the oldMercat del Peix (Fish Market) of Barcelona. The forecast is that the construction of this scientific facility, which is the cornerstone of the Ciutadella del Coneixement project and the main of the three to be located at this site, will last until March 2028 and will not come into operation until the end of the same year.
With capacity for up to 950 researchers from fields as diverse as genomics, cancer, or bioengineering, the new PRBB will be located next to Pompeu Fabra University – on Wellington Street – on land ceded by Barcelona City Council and will have an area of 24,700 m² spread over nine floors with a unique architecture. The Barcelona Biomedical Research Institute (IRB Barcelona) will be located entirely in this facility, moving its current headquarters from the Barcelona Science Park to Diagonal, and will occupy 60% of the space, equivalent to about five floors. An additional 25% of the space will be allocated to host various groups from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), while the remaining 15% will be shared between the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG). The headquarters of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) will also be located here.
and the main of the three that will be located at this site, be extended until March 2028 and not come into operation until the end of the same year.
The project, which began to take shape in 2017-2018, had been stalled for about a year and a half after the previous project management team failed to achieve economic viability. There were also numerous disagreements between the research centers that had to be relocated regarding the distribution of spaces, a very valuable resource in research. According to sources close to PRBB Ciutadella, it was the current Minister of Economy and Finance, Alícia Romero, who politically decided to unblock the situation by promoting, together with the Presidency and Research and Universities, the proposal that the direction and execution of the project should fall to Camí.
Thus, in March 2025, they proposed that he move the project forward, given that this scientist had already orchestrated the launch of PRBB twenty years ago. “It hasn't been easy, it's been a scavenger hunt that we managed to solve in record time and only a year later we have started the building works,” says Camí.
104 million euros
This Thursday, it is expected that the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, accompanied by the Minister of Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat, and the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, will visit the works. The PRRB Ciutadella has a total budget of 104 million euros, with 60 million from loans and 44 contributed by the Catalan Government. In November, the tender for the installation works was put out for 77.5 million euros. The remaining amount will be dedicated to furniture and equipment for the laboratories.
The new center will be the key piece of the Fish Market scientific complex, which will have a total area of 46,000 m² and will house two more scientific infrastructures, the UPF's Center for Research and Innovation for Planetary Well-being and the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), a center of the UPF and the CSIC. "There will be a mix of disciplines, professional stages, nationalities, which will foster synergies and create new opportunities to attract talent and resources. It will become a pioneering node of knowledge, research, and innovation in Europe," considers Camí.
