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Polycaprolactone scaffolds modified with cross-linked hyaluronic acid were prepared in order to establish whether a more hydrophilic and biomimetic microenvironment benefits the progenitor cells arriving from bone marrow in a cell- free tissue-engineering approach. The polycaprolactone and polycaprolactone/hyaluronic acid scaffolds were characterized in terms of morphology and water absorption capacity. The polycaprolactone and polycaprolactone/hyaluronic acid samples were implanted in a chondral defect in rabbits; bleeding of the subchondral bone was provoked to generate a spontaneous healing response. Repair at 1, 4, 12, and 24 weeks was assessed macroscopically using the International Cartilage Repair Society score and the Oswestry Arthroscopy Score and microscopically using immunohistological staining for collagen type I and type II, and for Ki-67. The presence of hyaluronic acid improves scaffold performance, which supports a good repair response without biomaterial pre-seeding., JLGR, JAGT and JCM acknowledge the support of the Spanish Ministry of Science through projects No. MAT2010-21611-C03-01 and -02. The support of Grant 2005SGR 00762 and 2005SGR 00848 (Catalan Department of Universities, Research and the Information Society) and the Red Tematica de Investigacion Cooperativa en Envejecimiento y Fragilidad (RETICEF) is also acknowledged. Myriam Lebourg acknowledges funding from UPV through the PAID-10 project funds and from CIBER-BBN. CIBER-BBN is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&I Plan 2008-2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program, CIBER Actions and financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund.