Madrid is one of the greenest capitals in the world in terms of the number of trees, and the city has plenty of natural oases. The Spanish capital also has a growing number of sustainable and organic restaurants and shopping options, so you have plenty of opportunities for a green city break.
1 Madrid’s urban beach and river area
Along the Manzanara River in Madrid, you’ll find the 10 kilometer long Madrid Río Park. Here you can relax in the many park areas with benches and tables, fountains, bushes, trees and flowers. You can also keep fit with the locals on the park’s many running and cycling trails. There is also a skate park.
For a cool dip, visit the park’s urban beach with three fountains surrounded by lawns where you can soak up the sun.
In Madrid Río Park you can also get a dose of art and culture. In the Arganzuela area is the Matadero Cultural Center in Madrid’s former meatpacking district. You can also visit the conservatory, Palacio de Cristal, located in a beautiful glass palace.
The Manzanares River is also crossed by several bridges, which are architectural icons worth a visit. At Matadero you’ll find the two avant-garde bridges, Cascara, where a local artist has portrayed local residents.
Further towards the city center, you can’t help but notice the futuristic walkway, Arganzuela, which is shaped like a large steel spiral with silver mesh. It was designed by French architect Dominique Perrault.
At Calle de Toledo is the baroque bridge, Puente de Toledo, which dates from the 1700s. It is adorned with a sculpture of Madrid’s guardian angel, San Isidro, and therefore has great symbolic value for the city.
By the Royal Palace and Almudena Cathedral you’ll find the city’s oldest bridge, Puente de Segovia. The baroque bridge from 1584, with nine half arches, used to be the main access to the city.
Parque Madrid Rio
Find a map of the park here
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2 Organic brunch in the multicultural neighborhood
Start your day with an organic brunch at Pum Pum Café, located in the heart of Madrid’s multicultural neighborhood, Lavapiés. Housed in a former butcher shop, Pum Pum Café is rustically decorated with raw brick walls, vintage furniture and green plants.
The concept is organic, with a selection of vegan and vegetarian dishes. Pum Pum is known throughout the city for its great organic coffee. If you drink milk in your coffee, it’s freshly ground from local cows.
The menu includes vegan avocado toast, eggs benedicts made with free-range eggs, vegetarian toast, bowls with Greek yogurt, berries and organic granola, homemade bread, cakes and croissants and freshly squeezed juices. The café’s coffee, bread and pastries are also available to go.
Pum Pum Café, C/ Tribulete 6
3 Discover Madrid by bike
Hop on your bike and discover Madrid’s green side on two wheels as you glide past the city’s many monuments, narrow streets, parks and squares.
Bicimad has 7,500 bikes and 611 docking stations spread throughout the city’s neighborhoods, used by locals and tourists alike. The latest e-bikes are lightweight models from 2023 and you can select the speed and check the battery on the bike’s display.
On the Bicimad map you can check if there are bikes available at a docking station near you. You can also check availability on the touchscreen at the docking station. If the light is green, the bike is available. If the light is blue, the bike is reserved. When you return the bike, you must leave it at a red light.
To use the bikes, you need to buy a ticket valid for either one, three or five days.
Bicimad
Download app in App Store / Google Play
4 Shop Spanish handicrafts
In Madrid’s La Latina neighborhood, behind a red facade with azure window frames lies a little lifestyle store, Cocol Madrid.
The store is run by Pepa, who stylishly and critically handpicks items for the store from Spanish artisans. Here you can shop for beautiful handicrafts ranging from minimalist and traditionally decorated ceramics to handmade hats, scarves, bags, jewelry, candles and linen from Galicia.
Pepa also has a special love for wicker, and in the store you’ll also find hand woven baskets, both new and vintage. In the back room you can participate in workshops where you can learn how to weave baskets yourself.
The increasing focus on sustainability and old craft traditions has made Pepa’s shop popular among locals and tourists alike in recent years.
CocolMadrid, Cost.ª de San Andrés 18
Also check out Cocool Madrid’s instagram @cocolmadrid
5 Visit the Botanical Gardens
Right next to the Prado Museum and Retiro Park, the Madrid Botanical Garden is an overlooked green oasis for many. Despite the cars whizzing by on the boulevard just outside, it’s quiet and a great place to escape Madrid’s hectic city life.
Founded in 1755, Madrid’s eight-hectare botanical garden was designed by architects Francisco Sabatini and Juan de Villanueva.
The garden is divided into three terraces where you can explore 5,500 plants. There are also two greenhouses, a herbarium with around a million herb sheets, a library and an archive with around 10,000 drawings.
The Botanical Garden of Madrid has ongoing exhibitions in the main building, including from Madrid’s photo festival PhotoEspaña and various light installations in the garden.
Real Jardín Botánico, Plaza Murillo 2
6 Madrid’s largest park
There are plenty of opportunities for fresh air and a rural atmosphere in Madrid’s largest park, Casa de Campo, which covers an area of over 1500 hectares. The park was established by King Filipe II in the 16th century when he moved the court to Madrid. In the 1930s, the park became public.
Felipe II had an artificial lake built, which today is newly renovated and an oasis for the locals. It feels like you’re in the countryside, even though you can see the skyscrapers of Plaza de España in the city center.
The area around the lake is packed with restaurants where many locals meet for lunch. On the 1.5-kilometer path around the lake, you’ll see families feeding ducks, exercisers running and walking, and teenagers gathering on the lawns by the path.
Out on the lake, kayaks glide by and you can also rent a rowboat at the lakeside kayak club, which is surrounded by a wealth of trees, bushes and flowers. There is also a small ethnological museum with beetles and butterflies.
If you want to enjoy the park from above, take a ride on the cable car, which kids will also love. Casa de Campo is also home to an amusement park and a zoo for the little ones to enjoy.
Casa de Campo
7 Coffee in the secret garden
Follow the locals to the top of the Salvador-Barchiller store, located between Puerta del Sol and Gran Vía, and enjoy your afternoon coffee there. You have to pass through three floors of bags, clothing and home furnishings and a gastro bar to get to the garden on the 4th floor. In the charming Jardín Secreto (Secret Garden) you can sit on a white iron hanging sofa or wicker chairs at small café tables or a rustic long table, surrounded by vines, greenery, lemon trees and a multitude of colorful, fragrant flowers.
The waiters are dressed in white clothes sprinkled with green leaf prints, the menu comes in a small birdcage, and the coffee is served in vintage cups that can be purchased in the shop. The sweet signature dish is made with chocolate and served in a flower pot with green garnish.
In the garden you can also enjoy a light lunch or a cocktail served with luminous ice cubes.
You have to buy at least 5 euros per person to sit in the cozy garden.
El Jardín Secreto de Salvador Barchiller, Calle de la Montera, 37
8 Local food and social responsibility
The number of restaurants focusing on green and organic food is growing in Madrid and a must visit is Mo de Movimiento, located in Madrid’s Chambarí neighborhood.
Mo de Movimiento is run by Felipe Turell and Javier Antequera, who opened the restaurant in 2020 and it quickly became one of Madrid’s most talked about restaurants. The concept is simple: It’s about social and environmental responsibility and unity, and the food must be simple and made from local ingredients at a price that everyone can afford.
The spacious restaurant with glass-covered patio overlooks the open kitchen and pizzaria, where some of the employees are socially vulnerable young citizens. The interior is made from sustainable materials, and the menu features simple dishes made with seasonal, local ingredients. Pizzas, baked red pepper with smoked egg and homemade tortellini with cottage cheese, Iberian ham and spinach. The dishes are unpretentious and tasty, and you can eat your fill for around 25 euros.
Mo de Movimiento, C. de Espronceda 34
9 Rose Garden in Retiro Park
Madrid’s Retiro Park is a must for first-time visitors to the city. Many people overlook the park’s beautiful rose garden, located in a corner at the back of the park, but it’s worth returning for if you’ve been to the park before.
The Rose Garden is from 1915 and designed by Cecilio Rodriguez. It contains more than 4000 roses that are in full bloom in May and June. The fragrant roses come in a variety of colors from white, pale pink and red to yellow and orange.
The garden is a harmonious mix of winding paths and geometric patterns with fountains. Unsurprisingly, it’s a popular place for brides and grooms to be photographed.
Jardines de Rosaleda
Retiro Park,P.º de Fernán Núñez 4
10 Jumps in sustainable fashion
“Because there is no Planet B” is the slogan printed on many of Ecoalf’s designs in the spacious store in Madrid’s Alonso Martinez neighborhood.
Ecoalf designs and produces sustainable fashion clothing and accessories for men, women and children. Ecoalf was founded by Javier Goyeneche in 2009, who wanted to create a sustainable fashion brand made exclusively from recycled and sustainable materials. Production processes and employment conditions are also sustainable and socially responsible.
Ecoalf gives new life to waste such as nylon, polyester, wool and recycled cotton in their styles. They also produce in materials such as hemp, linen and organic cotton.
The store stocks sportswear, dresses, trousers, jackets, coats, shirts, T-shirts, swimwear, shoes and bags, and Ecoalf also has a small selection of skincare products. The design is simple and the collections are available in a good selection of today’s fashion colors.
Ecoalf, C. de Mejía Lequerica 2
