The bridge over Nacedero stream, which is attributed to Ventura Rodríguez, was built to make it easier to reach the palace along the highway from Madrid.
This bridge is located right downtown, in the historic city center, a short distance from the Palace of Infante don Luis, and as such, it should be understood as being a part of this stately heritage site.
During the years of the prince’s residency in the palace—up to his marriage in 1776 and his later relocation to Arenas de San Pedro—he spent many seasons at the Royal Palace of Madrid, where he kept rooms. The road to Madrid was therefore heavily travelled. But following Prince Luis’s death, his daughter, the Countess of Chinchón, rented the palace out to King Charles III so that he could engage in his hunting pursuits in Boadilla. Unfortunately though, the king survived his brother Luis by only three years.
The bridge consists of a single three-centered arch made of vertically canted bricks joined together with their larger sides facing one other. The parapets, which imitate the same molds and designs found in Barbacana Plaza and in other spaces connected to the Palace, are crowned by two of the four stonework pineapples that originally existed. These are decorative motifs that have symbolic meaning, most certainly representing the prosperity that the lord of Boadilla enjoyed.
