Madrid's main square, Puerta del Sol, will be entirely pedestrianised from the year 2021, as confirmed by the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, accompanied by the deputy mayor, Begoña Villacís; MP, Paloma García Romero and the local council chairman, José Fernández.
The "Ayuntamiento de Madrid" (Madrid City Council) has recovered the winning project from the 'Piensa Sol' competition that the City Council and the Official College of Architects of Madrid ("COAM") announced in 2014, under the mandate of Ana Botella, the mayor of Madrid at the time, and drawn up by the architects Jose Ignacio Linazasoro and Ricardo Sanchez. The final project will be drawn up this year in 2020, so that the works can get underway in 2021.
The project aims to recover the order and shape of the space in the centre of Madrid, by regrouping the functions and ordering the elements of the square. On the one hand, a commercial area will be defined in the north arch, where an area formed by stone benches will be located.
On the other hand, the existing monuments would be located on the northern side and on the east-west linear axis. "The statues found in the square, one of the female figure, Mariblanca, and the symbollic bear, known as "el Oso y el Madroño", would be on the north arch, with the area of benches serving as a base for the monuments. The statue of Charles III would be placed in a rotated position, focusing on the façade of the Royal Post Office", the architects pointed out.
In addition, at both ends of the sqaure, there will be two new structures containing the well known kiosks, as well as the lifts and exits of the Madrid metro. "The intention is to end the dispersion, creating more space and leaving the rest of the square free. In addition, it is proposed that the buildings that surround the square should all be lit in a similar way and that the commercial premesis at street level should be given back the integrity that they should never have lost", added the experts.
On the part of the City Council, the pedestrianisation of Madrid's tourist hotspot, Puerta del Sol, will mean restricting the movement of private vehicles, but offering alternatives, "such as two new free public transport lines, with zero emissions and zero cost to users", as stated by the Mayor Martínez-Almeida, in works lined out in his "Madrid 360" plan.
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