Estanque de los Bonsais, Artificial pond in the Retiro Park, Madrid, Spain
The Estanque de los Bonsais is a small artificial pond inside the Retiro Park in Madrid, surrounded by a collection of miniature trees grown in individual pots. Paths run along the water's edge, and benches face the displays, which are arranged on raised stands and low tables so that the trees can be seen from different angles.
The bonsai collection traces back to the personal interest of Felipe González, who gathered the trees from the late 1980s onward. In 1996 he transferred them to the CSIC, after which they were installed in the Retiro Park and opened to the public.
The name of this pond comes directly from the bonsai collection that surrounds it, which once belonged to former Spanish prime minister Felipe González. He donated the trees to the CSIC in 1996, and they are now open to anyone who wants to see them up close.
The pond sits inside the Retiro Park and can be reached on foot from several of the park's entrances. Visiting on a weekday morning tends to be quieter, which makes it easier to walk around and look at the trees without a crowd.
The collection holds more than 50 trees from different parts of the world, including species from Japan, China, and Spain itself. Some of them are shaped to look like a whole miniature forest growing from a single pot, which makes each one feel like a small landscape in its own right.
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