Madrid is not only the capital of the present — it is also the capital of Spain’s most historically charged abandonments. In the Sierra de Guadarrama, the palace Franco used as a refuge for 35 years is decaying; in Los Molinos, the Navy sanatorium waits with its empty hallways and windows open to the pines; in the city itself, Civil War bunkers remain buried beneath the hills of the outskirts. The abandoned places in Madrid are not just heritage — they are scars of a history the city has yet to fully process. Selected from our Urbex Spain Map — 600+ GPS locations across Spain.
Why Madrid Is an Exceptional Urbex Destination
The Community of Madrid combines urban abandonments in the capital with a sierra full of sanatoriums, palaces, and abandoned industrial colonies just 30-60 minutes from the center. The Civil War left the Madrid area with a layer of bunkers, trenches, and requisitioned buildings that no other Spanish province can match in concentration or state of preservation.
1. Palacio del Canto del Pico – Torrelodones, Madrid — Built 1920-1922, Franco’s Personal Refuge, Cultural Interest Site in Ruins, Heritage Red List (Known Place)
On a hill in Torrelodones, in the Sierra de Madrid, the ruins of the Palacio del Canto del Pico stand. Built between 1920 and 1922 as a house-museum for the collection of José María del Palacio, Count of Las Almenas, incorporating a Gothic cloister. It was declared a monument in 1930 and served as a Republican command post in 1937. Upon the count's death in 1940, it was bequeathed to Franco, who used it as a personal refuge for 35 years. After 1975, the Franco family abandoned it; it suffered looting and a roof fire in 1998. Today it is a Cultural Interest Site, privately owned, sealed off, and at serious risk of collapse, listed on the Heritage Red List. The palace’s silhouette remains imposing over the sierra and can be seen from the Regional Park of the Upper Manzanares Basin.
🔗 Source: Urbex Maps – Verified Abandoned Places in Spain 2026
2. Marina Sanatorium – Los Molinos, Sierra de Guadarrama — Opened in 1949, Naval Facility in the Mountains, Abandoned Corridors with Pine Views (Known Place)
In 1949, the Marina Sanatorium of Los Molinos opened its doors, deep in the Sierra de Guadarrama. Although its location was far from the sea, it was well situated relative to the rest of the Spanish Navy’s facilities — and all sailors could attend. The building, with its abandoned corridors open to the pine landscape of the Madrid mountains, is one of the most photogenic and unexpected sanatoriums in the Community of Madrid: a naval hospital in the mountains, 1,000 meters above sea level, with no ocean in sight.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Must-See Abandoned Sites in Spain →
3. Spanish Civil War Bunkers – Madrid — Network of Bunkers of the Madrid Front 1936-1939, Underground Trenches and Forts, Outskirts Hills (Known Place)
The bunkers of the Spanish Civil War surround Madrid in a crown of concrete and earth that documents the Republican front line from 1936-1939. The bunkers, trenches, and observation posts buried in the hills of Madrid’s outskirts are the most direct and emotionally charged remains of the siege of Madrid — the city that resisted the Francoist advance for nearly three years and that preserves, beneath the vegetation of its hills, the largest military infrastructure complex of the Civil War in Spain. Verified and located by Urbex Maps among the most accessible abandonments in the Community of Madrid in 2026.
🔗 Source: Urbex Maps – Verified Madrid Civil War Bunkers 2026
4. Abandoned Tuberculosis Sanatorium – Sierra de Guadarrama, Madrid — 1940s Building, Pavilions with South-Facing Open Galleries, Pine Forest (Exclusively on Our Map)
A 1940s tuberculosis sanatorium in the Sierra de Guadarrama — the pavilions with their south-facing open galleries designed for patients to sunbathe and breathe the mountain air, the corridors with white tiles still in place, and the pine forest surrounding the complex. The Sierra de Guadarrama was the preferred destination of the National Anti-Tuberculosis Board to build its sanatoriums: mountain air, altitude, and isolation were the treatment before streptomycin. The sanatoriums of the Madrid mountains are the most specifically medical and historically dense urbex in the Community. GPS coordinates available on our Urbex Spain Map.
5. Abandoned Convent – Community of Madrid — 16th-17th Century Cloister, Convent Church, Cells with Peeling Frescoes (Only on Our Map)
A 16th-17th century convent in the Community of Madrid — the cloister with its stone arches and central well, the convent church with peeling frescoes on the vault, and the monks' cells silent since Mendizábal's disentailment in 1836. The disentailment emptied hundreds of Spanish convents and monasteries in just a few years; those that found no buyer or alternative use have been in progressive abandonment for almost two centuries. The disentailment convents of the Community of Madrid are the most forgotten architectural heritage and the most atmospherically charged in the region. Find it on our map — with access rating and condition report.
Safety Tips
- Bunkers and tunnels: Civil War fortifications may have low oxygen atmospheres and unstable structures — never enter any tunnel or fortification without lighting, a companion, and knowledge of the exit
- Private property: the Palacio del Canto del Pico is sealed private property — do not attempt to enter; photograph it from the Regional Park
- Asbestos: present in most factories built before 1980 — FFP2 mask mandatory in any enclosed industrial space
- Never explore alone
The urbex code: "Respect decay. It tells the story."
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most famous abandoned place in Madrid?
The Palacio del Canto del Pico in Torrelodones — built between 1920-1922, used by Franco as a personal refuge for 35 years, and abandoned since 1975. A Cultural Interest Site on the Heritage Red List, it is the most historically significant abandonment in the entire Community of Madrid.
Are there abandoned villages near Madrid?
Yes — the Madrid mountains and the northeastern regions of the Community preserve several villages abandoned due to rural exodus in the 1950s-70s. They are less known than the ghost towns of Aragón or Castilla, but their proximity to the capital makes them accessible in half a day.
What was the Battle of Madrid?
The siege of Madrid lasted from November 1936 until the end of the Civil War in March 1939 — nearly three years during which the city resisted the Francoist advance. The Republican defense built the largest system of fortifications, trenches, and bunkers in Spanish history, many of which remain buried under the hills of Madrid’s outskirts.
🎯 Summary
The abandoned places in Madrid range from the palace Franco used as a refuge to the naval sanatorium in the mountains and the bunkers from the 1936 front. Each of these 5 abandoned sites in Madrid captures a different layer of the capital’s history — from the Civil War to rural exodus and industrial abandonment.
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