La Dama del Manzanares: Guardian of the River

No matter which direction you approach from, you will spot her: a 13-metre-tall woman's head rendered in bronze and steel, facing silently toward the Madrid skyline. La Dama del Manzanares was created in 2003 by Valencian artist Manolo Valdés, as a tribute to the river that gives the park its name. She crowns La Atalaya — an artificial hill rising on a 21-metre pyramid-shaped platform designed by Bofill himself.↗↗

In 2005 a lighting system of 24 spotlights was installed at her base, and the colours shift with the seasons — warm tones in summer, cooler hues as the days shorten. The climb to La Atalaya is the park's signature experience: the terraced hillside reveals views over the whole green corridor, and at golden hour the light on the Manzanares valley is especially dramatic.↗

Rooms Along the River: What to Find

Walking the park from north to south, each zone has its own character. The Plaza Verde is a half-moon of open green space ideal for picnics and ball games. The Walkway of the Senses (Paseo de los Sentidos) runs beneath a canopy of mature trees, flanked by labyrinth-shaped squares, a lush covered conservatory, and two fountains with interactive water play. There's a Pergola, a vast open Meadow (La Pradera), and a Belvedere Park with children's games and petanca courts.↗↗

The Sports Area includes two football pitches, multi-purpose courts, a skateboarding zone, and a basketball court — plus changing rooms and public restrooms. A dedicated playground with slides and swings keeps younger visitors thoroughly entertained, and cycling lanes connect the entire park from end to end. Ornamental fountains and drinking-water taps are scattered along every path.↗↗

The Caja Mágica, the state-of-the-art tennis facility designed by French architect Dominique Perrault, occupies a prominent spot beside the river. Its steel-and-mesh sliding roofs make it one of Madrid's most recognizable sports venues, and it hosts the annual Mutua Madrid Open during the clay season. An amphitheater in the park provides open-air performance space for local events and concerts.↗↗

Downstream and Beyond: The Full Manzanares Corridor

What the Maps listing calls the Linear Park is specifically Section 1 (Tramo 1) — the urbanized, Bofill-designed portion maintained by the City of Madrid. But the full Parque Lineal del Manzanares extends much further south. Section 2 (Tramo 2) is a more wild 261-hectare expanse of olive groves, orchards, and natural riverbank habitat where archaeological remains from Carpetani, Roman, and Civil War eras still lie beneath the soil. Section 3 continues into the Southeast Regional Park all the way to where the Manzanares empties into the Jarama River near Rivas-Vaciamadrid.↗↗

Upstream, the park connects via a pedestrian and cycling bridge to Madrid Río — the celebrated green corridor created when the M-30 ring road was buried and the riverbanks were renaturalized in the heart of the city. Together, Madrid Río and the Linear Park form one continuous green thread following the Manzanares for kilometres, though each has a distinctly different character.↗↗

Visiting

Entry is free. Spring and summer hours run from 7:00 AM to midnight; autumn and winter closing is 10:00 PM. The park is wheelchair accessible at entrance and parking, and the grounds are fully dog-friendly.↗↗

The closest metro stations are Hospital 12 de Octubre and San Fermín–Orcasur, both on Line 3. Bus routes 23, 78, 123, and night bus N12 serve the area, and the Cercanías commuter train stops at Madrid-Doce de Octubre. If driving, free public parking is available on both sides of the river. BiciMAD bike-share docking stations are nearby for those cycling down from central Madrid.↗

A running circuit and botanical trail loop through the park for those who want a structured exercise route. The GIPL (local researchers' group that maintains the park's website) recommends climbing both viewpoints — La Atalaya with the sculpture and the Montaña Forestal (also called Cerro Coyote) — then settling in to watch the sunset over the Manzanares valley, which from this western-facing position can be genuinely spectacular.↗

Best Time to Go

Late afternoon in summer is the park's liveliest time — families wind down on the meadows, teenagers take over the basketball courts, and the water-play fountains draw delighted children. Golden hour brings photographers and joggers to the hilltop viewpoints. In winter, the park is quieter and the walkways' abundant shade trees (though less needed) still shelter the paths; the Dama's seasonal lighting shifts to cooler tones. Midday in July and August can be hot with limited canopy cover on the open lawns — the shaded walkways and pergola provide relief.↗