Madrid’s Landscape of Light is a World Heritage Site

The area comprising Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro has become the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Spanish capital

Madrid’s Landscape of Light is a World Heritage Site

● The decision was made on 25 July at the 44th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Fuzhou, China

● The nomination, made in the category of Cultural Landscapes, was based on the site's combination of culture, science and nature and was an initiative by Madrid City Council in partnership with the regional government of Madrid, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sport
● Almeida welcomed the news “with pride and honour”, stressing the “tremendous responsibility of having a site inscribed in the World Heritage List” and assuring that Madrid would “meet the challenge”

The Landscape of Light, a site comprising the unique areas of Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro, has been inscribed in UNESCO's World Heritage List under the category of Cultural Landscapes, becoming the first site in the Spanish capital to receive this distinction. The decision was made at the 44th session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in Fuzhou, China on 25 July. Participants included Madrid’s mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, who attended remotely from the Prado Museum, and representatives from the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, and the regional government of Madrid.

The selection of this urban development project in Madrid, called the Landscape of Light, recognises the importance of the union of nature, culture and science in an urban setting. It was a union which, back in the 16th century, made Madrid Europe's first sustainable capital city. The mayor expressed his excitement “because today, in the midst of a pandemic, in a city that has suffered enormously in recent months, we have a reason to celebrate”. He said that Madrid welcomed the distinction “with pride and honour” and was mindful of the “enormous responsibility of having a site inscribed in the World Heritage List”. He added that the city would “meet the challenge”.

Accompanied by Begoña Villacís, Madrid’s deputy mayor, Andrea Levy, the councillor for Culture, Tourism and Sport, and Almudena Maíllo, the city councillor for Tourism, Almeida thanked the World Heritage Committee for its decision. The committee, composed of 21 countries chosen by the 194 states parties to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, is the executive body that determines which sites meet the criteria for inscription in the World Heritage List, on the motion of said states.

Landscape of Light: a cultural link between people and nature

The initiative calls attention to a cultural landscape born of the relationship between people and nature, designed in an urban setting that has evolved over the years while retaining its original essence: the desire to combine culture and nature in the heart of a city for the enjoyment of its citizens; a place with a distinct identity where geography and history, the individual and the universal come together.

Around Paseo del Prado, which was created in the 16th century and is the earliest example of an urban promenade, there are major institutions of a cultural, scientific, political and financial nature, as well as institutions representative of the societies in Madrid and in Spain. It is linked both historically and geographically to Buen Retiro Gardens. Together, the promenade and the park form an indivisible unit whose origins date back to the mid-16th century, when a space was envisaged where all citizens, regardless of social class, could enjoy nature inside the boundaries of the city.

In the late 18th century, King Charles III opened Buen Retiro gardens to the public on certain occasions, making them part of the general remodelling of the city with a new vision of the urban space that included a crucial, innovative factor that was unprecedented at the time: the creation of a set of scientific institutions. It was a major scientific dissemination and education project for all citizens which, while beautifying the city, also constituted an urban development model that was developed during the Enlightenment.

All of this gives the Landscape of Light exceptional universal value that has been recognised by UNESCO and distinguishes it as a unique model of singular urban development that was ahead of its time and gained prominence beyond Spain’s borders, the reflection of a utopian vision of a new society. It’s a rich, diverse, evolving and dynamic urban cultural landscape that was meticulously designed for recreation and the education of citizens in contact with nature.

All of these reasons led UNESCO to recognise the Landscape of Light as a site that deserves inscription in its World Heritage List. It is an honour for this cultural landscape in the city of Madrid to have become the common heritage of all humanity, a place where everyone is welcome and of which we all feel a part.