The Iron Gate that Carried a President's Exile

Puerta de Hierro, Spanish for Iron Gate, is a monument built in the second half of the 18th century. It is located in the northwest of Madrid, near the district of Moncloa, and near the Monte de El Pardo. The gate occupies a landscaped traffic island, defined by several branches of the highway A-6 and M-30, an enclave which is difficult to access. It is built in classical Baroque style. Unlike the other three monumental gates of Madrid, Puerta de Hierro is not in the city center, but at the western edge, near the University City and the Government Palace of Moncloa.

It was erected here because this was the ceremonial entrance to the Royal Park of El Pardo, a hunting area historically reserved to the Spanish monarchy and, at present, it is protected through the Regional Park of the Cuenca Alta del Manzanares. It was built between 1751 and 1753. A neighbouring residential area is sometimes named after it. The Argentine president Juan Domingo Perón had a villa there during his Spanish exile. Hence the title of the biographic film Puerta de Hierro, el exilio de Perón. The area is also known for its world famous country club, Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons