El Capricho Park

El Capricho (Parque de El Capricho) is a historic landscaped park in the Alameda de Osuna area of Madrid, created in the late 18th century for the Duchess of Osuna. The park is noted for its combination of formal 18th- and 19th-century garden styles and historical structures.

Key features include a lake, formal parterres, tree-lined avenues, a small ornamental labyrinth and neoclassical pavilions set across roughly 14 hectares. The park also contains a Civil War-era underground bunker that has been restored and is occasionally open to the public on guided visits.

Designed and developed by the Osuna family from the late 1700s into the 1800s, the gardens reflect fashionable European landscape design of the period and were subsequently adapted over the 19th century. The park was later incorporated into Madrid’s municipal green spaces and conserved for public use.

El Capricho sits in Madrid’s northeastern Alameda de Osuna district, near Barajas and the city’s northeastern suburbs, with good road and local transport connections to central Madrid.

• Origins: The park was created for the Duchess of Osuna in the late 18th century and developed through the 19th century into the layout seen today.
• Size: Covers roughly 14 hectares and combines formal gardens, wooded areas and historical structures, making it one of Madrid's notable historic parks.

What to See #

• Labyrinth: An ornamental labyrinth set into the park's walkways that dates from the 18th-19th century layout and is a popular feature for visitors.
• Bunker: An underground Civil War-era bunker that was built during the Spanish Civil War and is sometimes opened for guided visits.
• Lake and gardens: A landscaped lake, formal parterres and neoclassical pavilions laid out across the park's grounds, which combine French and English garden styles.