Skip to main content

A Day in El Retiro Park in Madrid

Read an A1 Spanish visit to El Retiro, its lake, Crystal Palace, royal history and UNESCO landscape.

Un día en El Retiro de Madrid

Reading for practice

Read for free. Create an account to translate words, save progress, and practise.

A child walks through El Retiro in central Madrid, visits the Great Pond, the Alfonso XII monument, the Crystal Palace and the rose garden, and learns the park's short history.

Level: A1Focus: park vocabulary, hay, tener, algunas...otras, estar, questions with qué
Create a free account
Hoy visito El Retiro. Es un parque grande en el centro de Madrid.

El parque tiene más de 15 000 árboles. Camino bajo sus hojas y escucho los pájaros.

Primero llego al Estanque Grande. En el agua hay barcas de remo. Algunas personas pasean en barca y otras miran el agua desde la orilla.

Cerca del estanque está el monumento a Alfonso XII. Tiene una estatua del rey sobre un caballo y una fila de columnas.

Después camino hasta el Palacio de Cristal. El edificio es de hierro y cristal. En 1887, el edificio abre para una exposición de plantas.

El Retiro empieza como jardín de la familia real en el siglo XVII. Desde 1868, el parque es del Ayuntamiento de Madrid y está abierto al público.

El parque y el Paseo del Prado son Patrimonio Mundial de la UNESCO desde 2021. Los dos forman el Paisaje de la Luz.

Descanso en un banco cerca de la Rosaleda. Allí veo rosas de muchos colores. No corto ninguna flor.

Antes de salir, miro el mapa del parque. ¿Qué lugar quieres visitar primero? ¿Te gustaría pasear en barca? ¿Qué ves en tu parque favorito?

About this article

Level A1Reading focus

What you'll learn

park vocabulary, hay, tener, algunas...otras, estar, questions with qué

A child walks through El Retiro in central Madrid, visits the Great Pond, the Alfonso XII monument, the Crystal Palace and the rose garden, and learns the park's short history.

After reading

Article learning block

Phrases, words, grammar, and quick practice from this text.

15 items

Phrases for training

Add useful phrases to SRS or mark them as already known.

en el centro de Madrid

new

in the centre of Madrid

En el centro de names the central part of a place.

Useful for giving a precise location.

más de 15 000 árboles

new

more than 15,000 trees

Más de introduces a quantity above the stated number.

Useful for describing numerical limits.

pasean en barca

new

go boating

Pasear en barca means to take a leisurely trip in a boat.

Useful for talking about leisure by the water.

abierto al público

new

open to the public

Abierto al público means that people may visit a place.

Useful for describing parks, museums and buildings.

Key words

Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.

Word

estanque

pond

An estanque is a small body of water, often in a garden or park.

Useful for describing parks.

Word

remo

oar

A remo is a long object used to move a boat through water.

Useful vocabulary for boating.

Word

orilla

shore

The orilla is the edge of a body of water beside the land.

Useful for describing places by water.

Word

hierro

iron

Hierro is a strong metal used in buildings.

Useful for naming a building material.

Word

Rosaleda

rose garden

A rosaleda is a garden where many roses are grown.

Useful for naming a particular part of a park.

Word

Patrimonio Mundial

World Heritage

Patrimonio Mundial is international recognition of a place's cultural or natural value.

Useful for understanding descriptions of important places.

Grammar in context

Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.

Tener for features

El parque tiene

the park has

Tiene is the form of tener used with él, ella or one thing.

Useful for describing what a place or person has.

Hay for existence

hay barcas de remo

there are rowing boats

Hay states that something exists and does not change for a plural noun.

Useful for saying what is present in a place.

Algunas and otras

Algunas personas pasean en barca y otras miran

some people go boating and others watch

Algunas names one part of a group, and otras contrasts another part.

Useful for comparing what two parts of a group do.

Estar for a state

está abierto al público

is open to the public

Está combines with abierto to describe the state of a place.

Useful for talking about access to a place.

Question with qué

¿Qué lugar quieres visitar primero?

Which place do you want to visit first?

Qué comes before lugar and asks which option the listener chooses.

Useful for asking directly about a choice.

Comments

Log in to leave a comment

Login

No comments yet. Be the first!

MovaReader

Preparing your learning space…

Loading the app…

Read. Remember. Grow.