Andy Rodker's photos with the keyword: Parque de Santander

Oleander, Parque de Santander, Madrid. Oleander is ubiquitous in Central and Southern Spain (and Portugal) and its flowers are either red, pink or white. It is used as a border on Spanish motorways in Andalucia (and California, I am reliably informed).

Not far from where I used to live.

Parque de Santander, Madrid. My local park until recently.

Parque de Santander, Madrid. A suggestion has been to view on full screen.

My local park, and they change the volume, force and aspect of these water fountains every few hours. At this juncture, they look very swan-like! Also, the pink paving slabs; granite, so typical of the Mountains of Madrid nearby, fit in well in these settings.

My local park again.

HFF everyone. Parque de Santander, Madrid

They've opened the inner sections of the park but still don't allow maskless joggers (rightly so). Nevertheless I saw runners enter at walking pace in front of the park attendant at the gate, go round the corner, take off their masks and start jogging. I paused a while and stated matter-of-factly under my mask, 'Selfish murderous tosser', 'Anti-social moron', etc and I amused myself with going through my entire slang repertoire. If they knew enough English (and I'm sure many of the younger ones did) I wasn't challenged, let alone thumped, ... because they know they should be ashamed of themselves.

The ubiquitous oleander. Well, my park has finally re-opened but there is only one thing one can do and that is enter and leave by one entrance only (five gates are closed. Bad luck if you live on the far side of the park, such as I!). You can walk round the outer edge of the park on the running track but running and jogging are banned. Lesser paths among the rose beds and so on are blocked, all seats are out of bounds as are all the children's play areas and the many cafes and bars. Masks are obligatory as is 2 metres distancing but these last two rules are ignored by many which makes me seethe like little else!

My local park is still closed. I'm sure it's because of the much-used running track seen here. It would have been crammed full of joggers, mostly without masks, so the authorities had no choice I suppose.

Parque de Santander, Madrid

Parque de Santander, Madrid. Apparently I was in a temporarily forbidden zone - building works - and that's why nobody else is there - but I entered from a flower bed rather than a path and didn't see the warning signs. I got a severe telling off from a **** in uniform. I head-butted him into submission and carried on in my care-free way... (not really, but I do have some issues with the way this park is managed).

Parque de Santander, Madrid in fading light.

My nearest Madrid park, named after the ubiquitous Spanish bank of course but one I don't know all that well. The reason? There are 5 gates to the park but ALL are situated on the west and the south sides and I live 5 minutes walk away from the northwest corner, so it takes me 20 minutes just to get to an entrance. This seems crazy to me!

My nearest Madrid park, named after the ubiquitous Spanish bank of course but one I don't know all that well. The reason? There are 5 gates to the park but ALL are situated on the west and the south sides and I live 5 minutes walk away from the northeast corner, so it takes me 20 minutes just to get to an entrance. This seems crazy to me!