Dressed in military uniform, the man climbed over railings and began scaling one of the walls in the enclosure before being picked off by one of the animals and thrown into a pit.
The 45-year-old was rescued around 30 minutes later covered in scratches and bite marks. He was taken to the city's Hospital de la Vall D'Hebron where he remains in a serious but not life-threatening condition.
According to Spanish reports, the man climbed over fencing to enter the enclosure as horrified tourists watched on.
Footage of the bizarre incident shows him scaling one of the enclosure's walls before being tossed by the leg into a pit by a lioness.
He emerged some 30 minutes later after fire fighters used hoses to fight the animals off of him.
According to local reports, the man, named by El Pais as Justo Jose MP, is a neo-Nazi demonstrator.
He was arrested last month in the city centre after draping banners emblazoned with Swastikas over the famous Casa Mila building in an anti-abortion protest.
It is not known whether the incident at the zoo was a demonstration, though fire fighters said the man could not have entered the enclosure accidentally.
'The security system makes it impossiblef for a person to fall into the enclosure. It cannot have been by accident, to enter (the enclosure) you have to want to go in,' said chief fire fighter of the Bomberos de Barcelona, Hector Carmona.
While he emerged from the enclosure covered in bite marks and scratches, zoo keepers have insisted the lions were merely trying to play with him, Spanish news outlet 20minutos reports.
'The intention was not to kill him, they were just trying to play with him, Ignasi Armengol, director of Barcelona Municipal Services said.'
(Daily Mail - Dec 7, 2014)
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