The new green space occupies 26 hectares on the site of the former inert waste landfill and has involved an investment of 11.2 million euros. It includes 3,000 trees, 87,000 shrubs, and a 2.5-kilometre accessible path.
Alcobendas now has a new forest park. The Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Interior of the Community of Madrid, Carlos Novillo, and the mayor of the locality, Rocío García Alcántara, inaugurated the Princesa Leonor Forest Park this Tuesday, as reported by diariodealcobendas.com. The project covers 26 hectares and has allowed for the planting of 3,000 trees and 87,000 shrubs.
The project has cost 11.2 million euros. The City Council of Alcobendas has financed most of it, and the Biodiversity Foundation has contributed 3.6 million through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, with funds from the European Union-NextGenerationEU.
The works have restored the land of the former inert waste landfill and have created nine habitats: dehesa forest, riverside forest, flowering meadow, herbaceous areas, and scrubland. The park aims to enhance biodiversity and environmental connectivity with El Pardo, Valdelatas, and the Dehesa Boyal.
Among the facilities for wildlife are nine micro-ponds, 30 bird nests, bat shelters, 12 structures for insects and small vertebrates, and burrows for foxes and hedgehogs. A total of 77 bird species have already been identified in the area.
The main route is an accessible path of 2.5 kilometres, with slopes of less than 6%. From its highest point, panoramic views of over 90 kilometres can be seen, with the Sierra de Guadarrama and the urban skyline of Madrid in the background.
The so-called Urban Facade connects the park with the city and concentrates the new facilities. The most notable is Peque Bosque, the largest children's area in Alcobendas, covering 700 square metres, featuring sensory games, multi-level pathways, climbing areas, and a vertical play tower.
The space also includes 54 family urban gardens, a tree-lined boulevard, an ornamental fountain, and a future café.
During the inauguration, schoolchildren from Alcobendas participated in a falconry demonstration and the release of a common buzzard and a red kite from the Community of Madrid's Wild Bird Recovery Centre. Several turtles were also released into one of the new micro-ponds.
With this initiative, the park integrates into the system of natural spaces in northern Madrid as a green corridor of 1,028 hectares. The area is open for biodiversity conservation and public use.
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