

Josep Vilaseca built this red-brick arch as the grand entrance to the 1888 Universal Exposition, decorating it with ceramic crowns, carved friezes, and a squadron of stone bats. It presides over Passeig de Lluís Companys, a wide car-free promenade lined with palm trees where kids scoot and bike past giant-bubble makers and street musicians, and it dead-ends into Parc de la Ciutadella, so it slots naturally into a park morning.