El Duende del Retiro is popular legend in the Retiro park. It all started when the park was udes by the monarchy only, and was often visited by king Felipe V, the longest ruling king of Spain. The king loved seeing the flowers every time he went there, but the flowers were always changing, and new ones would bloom out of the blue. This confused the gardeners, which had no memory of planting those emerging flowers; someone else had planted them.

One day while in one of the royal walks, Felipe noticed something, lurking in the shadows. He decided to have a look, and upon further inspection he found out that that a small dwarf was behind the flower phenomenon. However, people didn’t believe him, saying that it was a  figment of his imagination, since it wasn’t the first time he had seen things that weren’t there; until... Little by little, more and more gardeners claimed they had seen the creature on various occasions, before disappearing, running off into the forest.

Once the park went public, it has been a hiding spot for young lovers. Some couples that have been in the Retiro affirm that they have had encounters with the Duende, and some say that thanks to that their relationship has been much better and stable.

The statue was created by Jose Noja in 1985, it is an homage to the supposed gnome that wandered about the Retiro planting flowers. It now rests upon one of the cages in Casa De Fieras, on top of what used to be the bear cage; playing the flute peacefully, awaiting to see some lovely couples that may come by, to give them his blessing.