PLEASE NOTE: El Retiro and eight of the city’s other parks (El Capricho, Sabatini Gardens, the Rose Garden in Oeste Park, Juan Carlos I, Juan Pablo II, Quinta de Fuente del Berro, Quinta de los Molinos and Quinta Torre Arias) may close if weather conditions are severe. On these occasions you are also advised not to visit Dehesa de la Villa and Oeste Park which have no gates and cannot be closed to the public.

With almost 100 hectares, this important green area is located between the road to Coruña, Ciudad Universitaria and the Moncloa neighborhood. It was created in 1906 by Celedonio Rodrigáñez, agricultural engineer and director of the Department of Parks and Gardens of the Madrid City Council at the initiative of the Madrid’s mayor Alberto Aguilera. After the civil war, his successor, Cecilio Rodríguez, rebuilt the park. 

The park boasts such unique places as the Cable Car, the Ceramics School or the Temple of Debod, close to the Plaza de España, an Egyptian temple from the 2nd century B.C., a gift from the Egyptian Government during the construction of the Aswan Dam. The site where the temple stands, is where the rebels were shot in the 2 May 1808 uprising by Napoleon’s French troops, a scene that was portrayed in the famous painting by Goya, The 3rd of May in Madrid or The Executions. Later the Mountain Barracks were also built here, which were famous for the events in 1936, when it was attacked by the people of Madrid in search of arms to defend themselves against the rebels. In the area between Avenida de Séneca and the Paseo de Ruperto Chapí  three of the twenty machine gun bunkers that were built there during the Civil War can still be seen (this area has a  beautiful artificial stream that is 600 metres long which has a path to walk alongside it).

In the south end of the park is Rose Garden Ramón Ortiz, with 15,000 square meters, that holds the International Competition for New Roses of the Town of Madrid, having celebrated 47 editions already. The park has a monumental and landscaped character with a general outline of English gardens with significantly different levels and winding paths with naturalist inspirations.