route 12 Trail through the Cidade da Cultura and Alameda Park

With the aim of offering new possibilities for family entertainment, the outside spaces of the Cidade da Cultura have leisure areas for children, ready to be used. Balea (Whale) Park, located north of the complex, is a space for play and rest that pays homage to one of the greatest Galician plastic artists: Urbano Lugrís.
In this park’s center rises a structure in the shape of a whale, insPIred by Lugrís’ sea monsters, and more concretely by a painting found in the Malpica Fisherman’s House, painted as tribute to the Costa da Morte (“Coast of Death”)’s old whale hunters. This whale rises in the middle of a place where a fantastical atmosphere is recreated, similar to the worlds created by Lugrís, with enormous pots – over two meters tall – where birch trees and other plants grow, a space with shadow, water and vegetation.
This park is connected to the Bosque de Galicia, being the entry point for those who hike up the Gaiás following the paths. Precisely in the entrance to Balea Park from the Bosque de Galicia we can find a second area for child play, equipped with swings of abstract forms, aiming to stimulate children’s creativity.