News
Unesco halts the City Council’s plan for El Retiro and demands key changes
The Icomos report puts El Retiro’s future in jeopardy. It criticises the lack of measures in response to mass tourism and limited neighbourhood participation. The City Council will have to revise its plan before moving forward. Madrid has the management of one of its most emblematic spaces at stake.
The future of El Retiro is in suspense following the devastating report by Icomos, Unesco's adviser, which rejects the Master Plan presented by the City Council for the next ten years. The international experts demand a full revision before giving their approval, bringing any progress to a standstill.
The main criticisms:
It does not address tourist overcrowding: more than 50,000 daily visitors and peaks of 160,000 on public holidays, with no concrete measures against the massive flow or events such as the Book Fair.
Limited public participation: local residents and regular users were barely consulted at the outset, despite more than 500 submissions received (many focused on El Retiro).
Lack of coordination between the City Council, Regional Government and State: Icomos calls for a unified steering committee to avoid the current dispersal of responsibilities.
Built heritage treated as marginal: monuments, buildings and ponds occupy only a few pages, with no depth on controversial restorations such as that of the Castillete.
The park's surroundings must also be protected as part of the World Heritage Site (declared in 2021).
The City Council has announced that it will work with Unesco and revise the document, but the plan remains frozen until a new version is produced.
El Retiro is not just a park: it is the main green refuge and free leisure space for hundreds of thousands of Madrid residents every week. A weak or rejected plan means more uncontrolled overcrowding, poorer conservation of heritage, risks to biodiversity and disorganised events that affect everyday quality of life — walks, sport, reading outdoors or simply switching off from urban noise. In a city growing in tourism and heat, El Retiro's future defines whether Madrid will continue to have an accessible, well-cared-for lung or a saturated and degraded space. The debate is open and directly affects everyone who uses it daily.