Urban gardens in the district of BARAJAS – Madrid

Hello everyone! Following the path that we started with the districts of the East of Madrid, today we are going to talk about the urban gardens in the Barajas district, which will sound familiar to many because it is where we find the Madrid airport.

Barajas is a district belonging to the municipality of Madrid and administratively organized in the neighborhoods of Alameda de Osuna, Barrio del Aeropuerto, Casco Histórico de Barajas, Timón and Corralejos. It is the least populated district with 40,303 inhabitants in an area of ​​4,266.59 hectares. It limits with the municipal terms of Alcobendas, Paracuellos del Jarama, San Fernando de Henares, and with the districts of Hortaleza and San Blas – Canillejas of the municipality of Madrid.

The Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport is, without a doubt, the most well-known and representative element of this district, although the Campo de las Naciones business area is also worth mentioning, where IFEMA – Feria de Madrid is located, the Parque Juan Carlos I or the Parque del Capricho in the Alameda de Osuna.

Behind the terminals and the noise of the planes we find a few urban gardens, so let’s get to it!

URBAN ORCHARDS IN THE DISTRICT OF BARAJAS

THE JOY OF THE GARDEN

La Alegría de la Huerta is a project that was born from that recurrent thought of “if I could I would have a house with a garden outside the city” … Its neighbors live in Madrid, a wonderful city but on which routine imposes to live fast and on the cement.

In the neighborhood of Alameda de Osuna they are lucky to have a nature that is unusual in large cities and, above all, with a very rural neighborhood awareness. That is why as soon as they saw the opportunity to present an Ecological Garden project to the Community of Madrid, and roll up their sleeves to start learning the market gardener’s trade , they did not hesitate for a moment.

From La Alegría de la Huerta they want to share this path with everyone who wants to have a good time in the garden, get dirt on their hands, dare to taste natural foods and look for similar alternatives in other cities.

In the garden participate:

• ADALA – Association of People with Intellectual Disabilities Alameda
• AFAO – “Alonso de Ojeda” Family Association of the Alameda de Osuna
• Guadalajara City School
• Scout Group – Alamos260

JUAN CARLOS I PARK ORCHARD

In 2010, the participatory and ecological vegetable garden promoted by the Juan Carlos I Park started, in order to learn how to cultivate and take advantage of land donated by the park.

Currently, the urban garden group «La alegría de la huerta» teaches courses on free organic gardens for adults throughout the year by the Madrid City Council. The activity intends that those attending it acquire the basic principles of organic horticulture through theoretical-practical sessions. The work in situ in the garden allows the participants to put into practice all the seasonal tasks with the support of the educators: tillage, irrigation systems, preparation of seedbeds, ecological phytosanitary products… and finally,reap a symbolic harvest.

IES BARAJAS GARDEN

This school garden project at the Barajas Secondary Education Institute is an initiative to bring the land and its customs closer to students, teachers and all those people in the neighborhood interested in activities to raise awareness and knowledge of agriculture, food, sustainability and responsible consumption of resources. It is a community neighborhood garden in which, as we have said, students, teachers, the neighborhood, but also AMPA and monitors from AVIVAR Intercultural Coexistence participate.

A field of collective creation and intergenerational participation, exchange of knowledge, recovery of customs, self-knowledge. A learning tool to approach a more complete and above all more experiential and interesting education.The social, educational and recreational dimension of the school garden is based on concepts such as environmental and human sustainability, since it shows other ways of relating between people and with the natural and urban environment.

Since 2010 they have been putting a lot of enthusiasm and work into this project in which year after year the educational and neighborhood community is participating more actively. If you want to participate, they meet on Tuesdays from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the garden.

GARDEN IN T4 MADRID AIRPORT – BARAJAS

Being a taxi driver can be a very stressful job: long hours sitting behind the wheel, enduring traffic… Therefore, it is not surprising that many professionals in the sector look for a place where they can relax.

This place is located one and a half kilometers from T4, in the Barajas Taxi Exchange. There, a large number of taxis accumulate every day in orderly lines in a kind of parking lot, waiting for their turn to join the cars in the queue that ends at the passenger arrivals gate of the airport. Thus, while it is their turn to leave the area, the drivers dedicate themselves to all kinds of activities to kill time.

A few years ago, I saw a news story in which they said that among these activities was the cultivation of a small garden next to the taxi parking area, in a small median where weeds used to proliferate. As I say, I don’t know if the orchard is still standing, since I saw this years ago, but it still seemed curious to me to comment.

I hope you liked the article and that if any of these orchards catch you nearby, you are encouraged to participate. Next stop: Urban gardens in the district of San Blas – Canillejas. I wait for you!