Upon entering the station, I was surprised to find a tropical garden surrounded by iron and glass. So I needed to make a video and a post about this crazy experience in Atocha Station in Madrid, Spain.

I’m now officially living in Madrid so from now on you’ll start seeing more and more content about Spain, not just from the lens of a tourist but from somebody who’s actually living there.

Before I forget, this is the video in case you prefer to watch a more complete version:

PART I: ATOCHA STATION

When Madrid voted for a new train station to be built, everybody was sorry to just pull down the old early glass and steel one. So the old Atocha station became a greenhouse.

This incredible garden was inaugurated in 1992 to fill the abandoned section of the old Atocha train station before the railway was expanded to include its high-speed train. The Atocha garden contains 7,000 plants from more than 250 species.

It’s interesting that we can find many plants from around the world. For example breadfruit and coconut trees from Polynesia, royal palms from Cuba, rubber trees from Brazil, banana trees from the Philippines, and some trees from Madagascar.

By the way, when I travel I post a lot of stories here, in case you want to connect.

PART II: MADRID AS A GREEN CITY

Madrid dedicates a substantial proportion of its budget to social and environmental spending. According to them by issuing sustainable debt, the Community of Madrid contributes to its social as well as environmental policies and actions.

Madrid is also building a green wall around the city. A 75-kilometre urban forest with nearly half a million new trees so that they can improve the air quality in the city. This project would help absorb 175,000 tons of CO2 per year.

On the other hand, the city has created sustainable initiatives over the years as the Mayor has announced that the forests of Madrid need to be protected at all costs. In fact, its use of sustainable energy for transport has caught the world’s attention.

PART III: WHAT’S NEXT?

Even though Madrid is not the greenest city in Europe, they’re still committed to keep making improvements. Seeing more trees, utilising cleaner energy and being aware about recycling are just some of the things happening on a day-to-day basis.

There’s bigger and more ambitious projects as the “green wall” mentioned before but what’s clear is that the change is happening and perhaps in a decade we would start seeing a much more sustainability city.

There’s a lot more to cover about but hopefully the video can complement it.