Fodor's Expert Review Estación de Atocha

Madrid's main train station is a steel-and-glass hangar built in the late 19th century by Alberto de Palacio y Elissague, who became famous for his work with Ricardo Velázquez on the Palacio de Cristal in El Retiro Park. It was the site of one of the 2004 Al-Qaeda train bombings that collectively killed 193 and injured over 2,000, the topic of the 2022 Netflix documentary 11M: Terror in Madrid. Today, following renovations by architect Rafael Moneo, the station's main hall resembles a greenhouse; it's filled with tropical trees and contains a busy turtle pool, a magnet for kids.  Beware of detours and delays through 2024. In 2022, the city green-lit a €69 million renovation that will reroute the station's main entrance through the iconic wrought-iron façade facing Calle de Atocha.