Madrid's Retiro park closes for wind: safety or overkill?

Retiro closes for wind and Madrid splits in two

Wind gives no warning. Nor did it warn before the latest closure of El Retiro, which has once again left the gates of Madrid's most famous park shut over gusts that half the city swears never existed. The city council's order to activate the safety protocol instantly reopens the age-old tug of war: risk prevention versus the right to go for a walk.

A protocol some see as sensible and others as an excuse

The case for the closure is simple: a gust of wind can bring down a branch, and the city council would rather not carry the blame for a tragedy. But sceptics point out that, when the streets are calm, the closure notice takes on a paternalistic drift. Some joke that at this rate we'll soon need permission to leave the house. Others reply that this already happens with the climate shelters, which have become the symbol of a city obsessed with protecting us from everything.

The alternative of emptied-out Spain

Amid so many ordinances, the most radical answer is to leave. The link between the Retiro closure and the retreat to Spain's emptied-out countryside is no coincidence: in the empty half of the country, nobody questions whether you can walk under a tree. For many, the problem is not the wind; it is the management of antiestéticar.

The council's logic plays the short game, the stroller's the long one. As long as the anemometer calls the shots, El Retiro will keep opening and closing at the whim of a gust. The question remains unanswered: how far should the protection of a public space go?