In 2004, Madrid began burying nearly 10 kilometres of urban motorway; seven years later, a 120-hectare riverside park covered the traffic tunnels

For decades, the M-30 ring road ran along the Manzanares River, cutting Madrid's south-western neighbourhoods off from the water and from one another. The M‑30 reform works (including the riverfront tunnels that enabled Madrid Río) were initiated on 24 September 2004, as recorded by the Ayuntamiento de Madrid and Madrid Calle 30. By 2011, the surface above the tunnels had become Madrid Río, a linear park stretching more than 10 kilometres and covering 120 hectares along the river.

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