Parque Bicentenario (Ex-Refinería 18 de Marzo)
On the site where Mexico's first urban oil refinery once roared, a vast ecological park now stretches across former PEMEX land in western Azcapotzalco. Parque Bicentenario is one of Mexico City's most unexpected green spaces — industrial archaeology wrapped in wildflower meadows, cycle paths, and a science museum.
From crude oil to clean air
The Refinería 18 de Marzo was inaugurated in 1933 by the British-owned El Águila company and later nationalised by PEMEX, operating until President Carlos Salinas de Gortari ordered its closure on environmental grounds in 1991. After years of decontamination, the 174-hectare site was reinvented as a public park inaugurated for Mexico's bicentennial celebrations in 2010.
Traces of the industrial past are deliberately preserved: rusted storage tank bases peek through the grass, and interpretive panels explain how the refinery shaped northern Mexico City's working-class identity. It is one of the most thought-provoking brownfield-to-park conversions in Latin America.
What awaits inside
The park contains a botanical garden, a large artificial lake, a children's science museum (Universum satellite), and kilometres of dedicated cycling and running tracks. On weekends, food trucks and artisan markets set up near the main entrance on Avenida 5 de Mayo, giving the place a festive, neighbourhood-fair atmosphere.
The Metro station Refinería on Line 6 is named after the old plant, and its graphic identity still features stylised oil tanks — a small, poignant nod to the neighbourhood's industrial DNA just steps from the park gate.
Parque Bicentenario (Ex-Refinería 18 de Marzo) on video
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