It is the result of a project led by the architect Ginés Garrido, who won the international ideas competition organised by the Madrid City Council in 2005 to redevelop the area.

The section of the river that is now known as Madrid Río is the section that was boxed in by the M-30 bypass road, a road that isolated the river between the two directions of the highway as well as creating a barrier and fracture between the two sides of the city, the district of Arganzuela on the left bank, and the districts of Latina, Carabanchel and Usera on the right bank.

The connection of the M-30 with the A-5 motorway, the road to Extremadura, separated the city in an impassable way from Casa de Campo, Madrid's largest park.

Initially, the project for the renaturation of the Manzanares River as it passes through Madrid Río contemplated the opening of all the dams, except the last one, to create the conditions that would make it possible for the Madrid Río rowing school to train, but finally, contrary to what was first agreed and due to pressure from the local residents, it was also decided to also open the last one so that the river could flow freely.

Accessible wooden boards and fish ladders have been added to encourage the continuity of the underwater fauna along the river.