ELIO ANTONIO DE NEBRIJA PARK

Salamanca, the "Golden City," where Villamayor sandstone is omnipresent, has transformed in recent decades into a green city, an increasingly citizen-friendly place. The urban area currently boasts approximately three hundred hectares of green spaces. Most of this vast green expanse stretches along the natural corridor situated on both banks of the Tormes River.

Not long ago, Salamanca turned its back on the river. Only those who depended on its waters for their livelihood occupied its banks (tanners, fishermen, cattle breeders, millers, or washerwomen). All these ancestral trades have been lost, but the great success of recent years has been integrating the river and its surrounding areas into the city. Leisure and festive events have replaced the hard labor of yesteryear. Athletes, visitors, families with children and pets now enjoy nature here, bringing life to the riverbanks.

One such newly created space is "Elio Antonio de Nebrija Park." It is named in homage to the celebrated Professor of Grammar from our University, who published the first Grammar of the Castilian language in Salamanca in 1492. This park is located on the left bank of the Tormes River, in the section between the Roman Bridge and the Rodríguez Fabrés Bridge. The Zurguén Stream divides it into two parts, connected by a metal walkway that rises above the mouth of the Zurguén into the Tormes. It covers an area of about 28 hectares, extending westward into the Salas Bajas sports zone and eastward to the Enrique Estevan Bridge. To the south, it extends into Miguel Delibes Park. The combination of these parks and sports zones forms one of the most important green spaces in the city of Salamanca. Meadows and rich riverside vegetation stretch along both banks of the river, transforming the vicinity of the Roman Bridge into one of the city's lungs. From here, there are magnificent views of the Teso de las Catedrales (Cathedrals' Hill), but as the vegetation is deciduous, the panorama changes wonderfully with the seasons.

On the second Monday after Easter, these meadows fill with young people who come down to the riverbank to celebrate Lunes de Aguas, eating the typical hornazo. On that day, according to tradition, prostitutes, who had been moved to Tejares when Lent began, returned to Salamanca. They returned in boats in a peculiar procession led by the "Padre Putas." They celebrated their return by eating a pastry filled with chorizo, ham, pork loin, and egg, products forbidden during Lent—a tradition that has been perpetuated in the Lunes de Aguas festival. During the city's patron saint festivals—San Juan de Sahagún and Virgen de la Vega—it is the chosen spot to enjoy fireworks. Festivities, tradition, sports, and leisure come together to bring life to the riverbanks.

The park offers numerous leisure opportunities for citizens, from walking its paths and cycling along the bike lane that crosses it, to playing sports on its courts and athletics tracks.