Madrid - Casa de Campo

The park of Casa de Campo, a traditional resort and place of recreation for the people of Madrid, lies to the west of the city, covering an area of 1,700 hectares (4,200 acres) with its oaks, pines, planes, poplars and shrubs and bushes of all kinds. The Casa de Campo dates from the time of Philip II, who laid out a large royal forest near the Alcázar, the Real Casa de Campo, which was enlarged by additional purchases of land at various periods down to the 19th C. Until 1931 the park was a royal hunting ground, closed to the public, but under the Republic it was thrown open and became a favorite resort of the citizens of Madrid. In recent years the Casa de Campo, like other old parks in Madrid, has been under constant threat from the expansion of the city. On the one hand there has been a steady encroachment on open spaces by the continuing growth of the outer districts; the Caso de Campo, which once merged into the open country, is now enclosed by suburban blocks of flats. On the other hand the great numbers of people who regularly visit the park (an average of 50,000 cars and 500,000 people every week) endanger the ecological balance, which in the climatic conditions of Madrid is already precarious. Among the particular attractions which attract the visitors are the Parque Zoológico, the Parque de Atracciones (amusement park), the Teleférico (cableway) and the municipal swimming-pool.