Did you know that in La Casa de Fieras, in the buen Retiro park, located in Madrid, there was a human zoo?

It was founded in 1774 by the king Carlos the III who was known for the act of opening the gates to the park for the citizens and making it a public space. It was closed and reopened multiple times, and this harmed the animals which lived there, seen as many of them died in the process. It also was reformed many times, but this was good for the zoo. Most of the animals that were there lived in bad conditions. So, some even ran away. 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worst or most shocking thing about Casa de Fieras.  In fact, the worst fact -and rather an unfortunate one- was that it was a human zoo. Most of the people who were there were African tribes. Back in the day, female nudity was frowned upon but the women from casa de fieras showed their breasts to the spectators. The human zoo attraction lasted for fifty long years until the people realised just how racist it was and it was shut down. 

Making this project we have learned many things, but we have enjoyed the most finding interesting facts, like how racism was a huge problem or how the people treated each other without respect. You will enjoy if you come to the Retiro and you see especially ‘La Casa de Fieras’.