Hidden Madrid: Quinta de Los Molinos

In my first year in Madrid, a friend took me to El Parque de la Quinta de Los Molinos to see the almond trees in blossom. Having forgotten to bring my DSLR camera, I had to make do with the camera on my iPhone. So I resolved to make a return visit one day, but promptly forgot all about it. Until one day when, quite by chance, I came across a blog post about this very park. So I caught the metro to Suanzes, and went to take some photos.

East of Madrid's city centre lies Quinta de Los Molinos, 53 acres (21 hectares) of gardens that once belonged to the Count of Torre Arias, a nobleman who received a chunk of local land in return for his assistance in the campaign to oust the Moors from Extremadura.

In 1920, the property was acquired by César Cort Botí, professor of Town Planning at the School of Architecture, and it was he who built a Mediterranean-style estate, surrounded by various kinds of trees including almond and olive, and a small palace. After Cort Botí's death in 1978, his heirs came to an agreement with the City Council about the future of Quinta de Los Molinos, and in 1982, it was opened to the public. The little-known park is at its best in spring, when the almond trees are in blossom.


Rows of almond trees in bloom

 

Archway of petals



Close up of pink almond blossom

 

 

Walking under a canopy of pink petals

Spring has definitely sprung!

While most of the trees have pink blossom, a few have white. Curiosity aroused, I did some digging on the internet to find out why. It seems that the white blossoms produce sweet almonds while the pink ones produce bitter almonds. Interestingly, the bitter ones contain cyanide (!), which has to be removed before eating the extract of these nuts!


Beautiful white blossom

In the pink

If you are in Madrid in spring, taking a trip out to Quinta de Los Molinos is an absolute must. Aside from the fact that the almond blossom is one of the prettiest things I've seen here, there is nothing quite so magical as walking underneath a canopy of lightly-scented pink and white petals. Go now, and bring your camera.