In Madrid, where the engines of the M-30 ring road once roared, today the voices of children, the rustling of pine trees and the sound of water resound. Madrid Río is proof that a big city can give back space to life.
Born from the “Calle 30” project, the burial of the motorway along the Manzanares river was one of the most impressive ecological rebalancing operations in the Spanish capital. Built between 2003 and 2011, the new linear park extends for over ten kilometers, from El Pardo to Getafe, and connects neighborhoods, historic gardens and previously fragmented natural areas. The objective: integrate the river into the urban structure, reconnect the city with its water and with the large green reserve of the Casa de Campo.
The international competition announced in 2005 by the City of Madrid was won by the M-Río team, made up of the studios Burgos & Garrido, Porras & La Casta, Rubio & Álvarez Sala and the Dutch landscape architect West 8. The result is a mosaic of landscapes that alternates open spaces, gardens and shaded paths: a green system of over 1.2 million square meters, with more than 33 thousand trees and almost half million shrubs of different species.
The Salón de Pinos, the backbone of the park, unites the six large landscape areas and accompanies the visitor among tree-lined avenues, sports areas and panoramic points. There are 30 kilometers of cycle paths, 33 outdoor sports fields, 17 play areas and an “urban beach” where, from June to September, citizens can cool off amidst splashes and water vapours. All designed with accessibility and sustainability criteria: natural materials, soil drainage, rainwater collection.
Mobility has also changed: 33 new crossings connect the two banks of the Manzanares. Among these, the monumental Arganzuela bridge, designed by Dominique Perrault, has become an icon of the new Madrid skyline. Alongside it, bridges such as that of the Principality of Andorra or the Buccia twins with Daniel Canogar’s mosaics narrate the dialogue between architecture, art and landscape.
But the boldest step came later: in 2015, at the instigation of Ecologistas en Acción and with the support of the Municipality of Manuela Carmena, the river was “renaturalised”. Dams have been opened, allowing water to flow freely. The banks have become populated with spontaneous vegetation, water birds and even otters have returned.
Today Madrid Río is more than a park: it is an urban laboratory that combines culture, ecology and sociality. Where there was concrete, biodiversity now grows; where we used to race by car, now we walk and cycle. The Manzanares is no longer a forgotten edge, but the new green spine of Madrid – a river that has started to flow again in the life of the city.
