Parque del Cerro del Tío Pío, Madrid

Parque del Cerro del Tío Pío is a park shaped by a cluster of rounded hills, and those hills explain its much more playful local nickname: the Park of the Seven Breasts, or Las Tetas de Vallecas. From any of the hills, you can take in a broad sweep of Madrid and the Sierra de Guadarrama. The view is especially prized at sunset, making this a destination for photographers as well as a setting used for many film, documentary, and advertising shoots.

There is a remarkable social history beneath this open landscape. In 1916, Pío Felipe Fernández built the first house on the hill, with a stable for the cart and mules he used in collecting rubbish and scrap. By 1925, the settlement had 90 residents in 22 homes.

Its population then rose from 544 people in 1950 to 4,148 in 1960, despite the lack of running water, public lighting, and other basic services. Residents later joined neighbourhood movements seeking decent housing, helping alter Vallecas's planning in 1976. So the hills you see are not merely a viewpoint: they hold the memory of a community that helped shape this part of Madrid.