He unique playground that Manzanares el Real has ceases to be of public useThe reason is that its owner, the Duchess of Infantado, Almudena de Arteaga, has claimed its ownership after the end of the transfer that his father made, 50 years agoto the City Council.
After several years of litigation, a court has ruled in their favour and, therefore, workers are dismantling the park. “A protected area where no construction is allowed,” says a neighbour, where “there are very old trees and even stork nests,” she adds. The neighbours demand that the cession continue or that a rental agreement be introduced to suit the City Council.
Years of litigation over the park
The mayor, José Luis Labrador, says that they have been trying to reach an economic agreement for years, but that it is impossible for them to pay the 7,000 euros per month that the Duchess is asking for. He explains to RTVE that this park has had two parallel legal processes. On the one hand, the one filed by the familyby evictionbecause they understood that it was being illegally occupiedand on the other hand, that of consistory, due to urgent forced expropriation for the sake of the general interest.
It is a natural space of approximately 3.000 m2 with trees, a picnic area and a fountaincurrently valued at €1,200,000
Where will they put the swings now?
No agreement, for now the alternative that the Consistory has found is move children’s games to a parking lotThe Duchess also has another open process against the Community of Madrid, in this case, to also recover the Mendoza Castlea symbol for the town, which has been open to visitors until now. The contract for its use and public management ends on 5 January.
