Pedestrian Boulevard
The center part of the boulevard is a pedestrian walk, lined with gardens, trees, statues, fountains and varied street furniture.
The first and largest stretch of the boulevard (from Plaza Cibeles to Calle de Prim) has a row of eight ponds lined with white double doric columns. The ponds, which are lighted at night, are situated one slightly above the next one, forming tiny water falls in between. The first and last of these ponds have little jet fountains.
The Terraza Recoletos (an outdoor café-restaurant) and an Equatorial Sundial are nearby.
The second and shortest stretch (from Calle Prim to Calle Almirante/Recoletos) contains the Café Gijón (number 21), an historic literary café founded in 1888 with an outdoor terraza on the boulevard.
On the fourth and last stretch (from Calle Bárbara de Braganza/Villanueva to Plaza de Colón) is the Café El Espejo (number 31), another quaint café with an impressive glass pavilion influenced by Art Nouveau. It also has a monument dedicated to Spanish author Juan Valera and one of his best known works, Pepita Jiménez, a statue of Ramón del Valle-Inclán and a drinking fountain. Near the northern corner of the stretch is the entrance to a pedestrian underground passage leading to the eastern median strip of the boulevard. This tunnel appears in Carlos Saura's film Taxi (1996).
Read more about this topic: Paseo De Recoletos
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