Moncloa and the Ciudad Universitaria
A triumphal arch, the university campus, the lighthouse-tower, and the park's western edge. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Arco de la Victoria
Start at the great granite arch straddling the road into the campus, raised by the Franco regime in the 1950s — a heavy, contested monument the city has never quite known what to do with. Read it for what it is, then walk under it toward the university. The traffic island setting is part of the awkward story.

2. Faro de Moncloa
The slender 1992 observation tower, a lighthouse for a landlocked city, with a glass deck near the top. Go up if it's open — the lift is cheap and the view runs from the sierra to the whole western city. The structure alone is worth the look from below.

3. Ciudad Universitaria
Walk into the campus the regime built in the 1930s, all long axes and brick faculty blocks set among lawns and trees. It's a working university, not a monument, which is the charm — wander the avenues between buildings. Front line of the Civil War once; entirely peaceful now.

4. Templete / campus gardens
The planted heart of the campus, where the brick faculties give way to lawns and pine. A good place to sit among students between classes and feel the place breathe. Cut south from here back toward the park edge.

5. Parque del Oeste — northern edge
Drop into the top of the Parque del Oeste, the long wooded park that runs down the city's western flank. The paths curve and the campus noise falls away. Follow the slope south; the park does the navigating for you.

6. Down to Argüelles
Continue south through the park to its lower edge and out at Argüelles, where Metro 3, 4 and 6 meet. The student bars here are the natural end. Look back north once at the arch on its rise, closing the walk where it opened.

Moncloa and the Ciudad Universitaria