Carabanchel has a new park with the reopening of the Manolito Gafotas linear park, transformed into a corridor of more than 116,000 square meters designed for walking, sports and meetings. The refurbishment, which has required an investment of 4.4 million euros, seeks to reduce the impact of the M-40, which is just a few meters away, and to convert this space between Carabanchel Alto and the road to Barrio de la Fortuna into a landscaped area, with pedestrians, bicycles and recreational areas.
The new Manolito Gafotas is a large linear green axis, with three parallel routes that include an urban pedestrian path, a bi-directional forest bike path and a pedestrian forest path, separated by landscaped flowerbeds. To reinforce its role as the “lung” of Carabanchel, 1,162 trees and more than 27,000 shrubs of native species have been planted, which will help filter noise and pollution from the M-40 and provide shade along the routes.
The large triangular area of the park concentrates a large part of the new leisure areas with children’s playgrounds, exercise areas for the elderly, petanque and calisthenics areas, shaded picnic areas and an outdoor dance floor. There is also a gazebo with benches, a skating rink and a small amphitheater for cultural activities and urban exhibitions, which have already been used at the inauguration for dance and sports sessions.
Skateboarding, sports and urban life in the new park
One of the biggest attractions for young people is the new skate park, with street and bowl areas. The running circuit, bike lanes and calisthenics areas complete a sports offer that turns the park into an active meeting point at any time of the day, designed both for training and for beginners in these disciplines.
The project includes the installation of street lighting with high-efficiency LED luminaires and the installation of almost a hundred benches along the various paths and viewpoints. At the same time, several archaeological remains have been enhanced , such as the waterwheel and structures of the old Palacete de la Duquesa de Santoña, from the 19th century, integrating them into the route so that the walk combines nature, leisure and historical memory.