Plaza del Campillo del Mundo Nuevo

From the Riger Galleries, I turned onto Mira el Sol Street, which literally translates to "look at the sun". The street is really very bright and elegant, there are several cozy cafes here.

I finished my walk through the El Rastro market at the Plaza del Campillo del Mundo Nuevo. In the 19th century, there was a gas factory here, which provided lighting for the streets of the district. With the advent of the electric age, the factory was demolished, and a public space was built in its place.

The square has a classic red brick facade, reminiscent of the Buildings of ancient Rome. It is the first children's hospital in Madrid, opened in 1904 and transformed into the Instituto Municipal de Puericultura in 1917. The building now houses the Dirección General de Policia Police Department.

In memory of the institution's role in reducing child mortality, a monument dedicated to the mercy and protection of orphans and widows (La protección de la orfandad y la viudez) was unveiled on the square in 2003. The author of the monument is the Austrian sculptor Victor Tilgner.

The square belongs to the El Rastro market area and usually on Sundays everything here is filled with market stalls and awnings. But today is a holiday Dos de Mayo, so residents of the surrounding neighborhoods are basking in the May sun in the park (May is actually cold in Madrid).

The square is also popular with parents who walk their offspring of various ages here.

In Madrid, as in other Spanish cities, there are a huge number of playgrounds that are never empty, which casts doubt on the thesis of an endangered Europe.