El Retiro Park

With 125 hectares and more than 15,000 trees, El Retiro Park is a green haven in the heart of Madrid. Some of its gardens deserve special mention: the Perennial Garden, the Cecilio Rodríguez Gardens (classical gardens with Andalusian influences), the Herrero Palacios Gardens, the restored Cat Hill, the Rose Garden (a rose collection), and the French Parterre with the Montezuma cypress, the oldest tree in Madrid, which is said to be around 400 years old. Since July 25, 2021, it has been recognized, along with the Paseo del Prado, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It is not only one of Madrid's green lungs, but also offers culture, leisure, and sports to locals and visitors alike.

Among its most important architectural and historical features are: the Great Pond, which offers various activities such as rowing and the Municipal Canoeing School, aimed at children and young people between 7 and 17 years old; the Velázquez Palace and the Crystal Palace, both currently used as exhibition halls for the Reina Sofía Museum. The Crystal Palace, a romantic pavilion created to house a display of exotic plants at the 1887 Philippine Exposition, is one of the finest examples of iron architecture in Spain. In addition, El Retiro Park is home to notable sculptures and fountains such as the monument to Alfonso XII, a project by the architect José Grasés Riera—with a viewpoint offering beautiful views of the city—and the private area of Fernando VII, located at the corner of O'Donnell and Menéndez Pelayo streets. The latter includes the Fisherman's House, the recently reopened – after two decades of closure – Cat Mountain, and the Smuggler's House (which now houses Florida Park, a modern multi-purpose space dedicated to leisure and hospitality that for years housed a nightclub), which lend it a romantic air. El Retiro is a favorite spot for tourists and locals alike to stroll and practice sports, especially running and skating. If you go with children, you can enjoy one of the park's many playgrounds. And if you're passionate about botany, don't miss the Montezuma cypress (Ahuehuete), perhaps one of the oldest trees in Madrid. It is said to have been there since 1630 and is an exotic species that has the unique characteristic of not losing its leaves every year, but only some. It is said that during the War of Independence against the French, it was one of the few trees that survived in the park, which the French had taken over as their headquarters. Apparently, Napoleon's soldiers decided to install a cannon among the branches of the enormous tree, and fired from there.