The tunnel of Bonaparte in Madrid

On January 20, 2026, the historic section of the Villanueva Tunnel, also known as the Bonaparte Tunnel because it was commissioned by King Joseph I, Napoleon Bonaparte’s older brother, was reopened to the public after its restoration.

The tunnel allowed the king to travel from the gardens of the Royal Palace (now the Campo del Moro Gardens) to the Casa de Vargas, a much more austere palace located in the Casa de Campo, the royal hunting grounds. Bonaparte was obsessed with security because he was aware of the hostility the Spanish people felt towards him, given his brother Napoleon’s determination to install him as king of Spain, in reality a mere appendage of the French emperor.

Madrid was a hostile environment, especially after the abuses committed during the French occupation. Furthermore, the constant guerrilla warfare threatened his physical safety. Therefore, he commissioned his architect, Juan de Villanueva, the designer of the Prado Museum, to create an escape route in case things took a turn for the worse.

The tunnel was excavated in 1810, a year before his death, and was one of his last designs. It was no small feat: 50 meters underground, connecting the Campo del Moro gardens with the Casa de Campo, and wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass through. A bridge over the Manzanares River completed the short journey. It was never used by Joseph during his short reign, and the tunnel was put at the service of the new king, Ferdinand VII, who ordered the construction of the Puente del Rey (King’s Bridge) over the Manzanares River, thus completing the connection between the royal residences.

Later, the Campo del Moro gardens were landscaped during the reign of Isabella II and the regent Maria Christina of Habsburg, although the project underwent subsequent modifications. At the end of the 19th century, the architect Enrique Repullés Segarra and the gardener Ramón Oliva remodeled the tunnel to give it a more natural appearance, in harmony with the new design of the surrounding area.

The tunnel’s last practical use was by King Alfonso XIII, who used it as an escape route in 1931 after the proclamation of the Republic.

The open and restored section, with its masonry and brickwork, is a small part of a complex system. A walkway has also been installed so that visitors can explore the tunnel. Once the work on the section managed by the Madrid City Council is completed, the underpass will be fully accessible.