The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, announced this Wednesday that he plans to transform the section that goes from Plaza de Cibeles to Puerta de Alcalá into a pedestrian boulevard that highlights one of the symbols of the city, included in the Landscape of Light declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The project, which will be carried out during his second term, will consist of a “pedestrian expansion” that will not affect the mobility of the center of the capital, according to the councilor. However, he has not given further details on how many lanes will be eliminated or maintained for the passage of vehicles and buses. The Works area has not offered any more information on this matter, at the moment.
A reform authorized by UNESCO
The urban intervention will have to have the approval of UNESCO, as it is part of the Landscape of Light of Madrid, which includes the Paseo del Prado and the Retiro park. The City Council’s objective is to highlight the “most emblematic and recognizable monument” of the city of Madrid, which has been recently restored at a cost of more than two and a half million euros.
The Puerta de Alcalá, the triumphal arch that Charles III ordered to be built, showed deterioration due to the passage of time, the impact of the Filomena storm and also the road traffic that circulates around it, as the Culture area admitted in the last mandate. Almost two years ago, the mayor already expressed his intention to study changes in the environment to reduce traffic in the area.
An open urban debate
Almeida’s proposal joins the urban planning debate that opened in 2022 on the future of circulation around the Puerta de Alcalá, after damage to the monument was detected. Antonio Giraldo, current PSOE councilor in the City Council, proposed a total pedestrianization between Cibeles and the Plaza de la Independencia.
Improvements to the Atocha roundabout
Another of the reform projects that the mayor has advanced is the improvement of the surroundings of the roundabout in the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V, the roundabout in front of Atocha station. The renovation, which is also part of the Landscape of Light, will extend to the Pantheon of Spain.
The City Council will have to wait for the expansion works on Metro line 11 to be completed in the area, which will last several years since the tunnel boring machine will cross the subsoil of the square to connect with line 1 and the Cercanías.
The mayor stated that his team is already working on this project to improve the environment of the Atocha station, during a breakfast at the New Economy Forum, where Almeida appeared and announced both reform projects.
