All that remains of the old Ermita del Santo Shopping Center are a few standing walls and quite a bit of rubble. What was once the leisure, sports, and cultural hub of this area between Puerta del Ángel and Imperial has been replaced: the Madrid City Council has just given initial approval for a new neighborhood in the Latina district with 530 homes and more than 15,000 square meters of green space—most of which was already there.
Of the new homes, 159 will be subject to some form of public housing protection, accounting for 28% of the total, although according to State Housing Law 12/2023, this figure should be 40%. The rest will be private-sector housing, distributed across 23- and 28-story buildings despite opposition from residents who describe this change as an “urban development windfall.”
A 60-meter-wide green corridor leading to Madrid Río
What the City Council has dubbed the “green corridor” consists of a landscaped strip about 60 meters wide that will connect the Ermita del Santo Park with the Caramuel Park and, via new pedestrian streets, with Madrid Río. This green “backbone” will serve as a promenade and bike path, integrating the new development into the existing fabric and creating a continuous route between Latina, the banks of the Manzanares River, and, by extension, the Casa de Campo and the future Paseo Verde del Suroeste.
In terms of numbers, Ermita del Santo will generate nearly 11,000 square meters of recreational areas and tree-lined open spaces, to which an additional 5,600 square meters of green spaces will be added. The truth is that the shopping center and theater that were located here were already surrounded by Caramuel Park and Ermita del Santo Park.
A new central square
Another key element will be the large central plaza that will serve as the heart of the new neighborhood. This plaza, surrounded by shops, terraces, and amenities, is envisioned as the new center of the area. This was one of the residents’ main demands, as they have lost the supermarket and restaurants that used to be in La Ermita, as well as the gym with a pool and tennis courts.
The current commercial hub of the downtown area will be preserved, but it will open up to the outside and be transformed into a neighborhood-oriented urban center, with storefronts facing the street and a mix of supermarkets, daily necessities, and small restaurants. The idea is to move away from a closed, car-centric shopping center toward a network of street-level shops integrated into the pedestrian routes leading to the green corridor and Madrid Río.
Timeline and next steps
The Governing Board has initially approved the urban development project, but the full approval process is still pending: public review, objections, final approval, and subsequently, the bidding process and execution of the construction work. Deputy Mayor Inma Sanz emphasized that this step “allows us to move forward” toward the transformation of the area, although specific timelines will depend on how the procedures unfold and on the effective establishment of the compensation board among the landowners.
At the same time, neighborhood associations and some opposition groups point to pending challenges in ensuring that the affordable housing is allocated to local residents and young people, guaranteeing sufficient public amenities (schools, health centers, sports facilities), and preventing the new neighborhood from becoming a high-priced residential enclave despite the green rhetoric.