Juan Antonio Scissorhands

Once upon a time there was a Sevillian designer who, inspired by the film Edward Scissorhands, wanted to fulfill his dream: to create his own hedge sculptures in an idyllic place where imagination and nature went hand in hand. "I stopped decorating discos and starting to sculpt ducklings," explains Juan Antonio Pizarraya.

Five years ago Pizarraya discovered a hill full of abandoned vineyards in San Martín de Valdeiglesias, a town in the mountains west of Madrid. From the first moment he knew that here was the place where sculpted mythological characters and creatures such as Romulus and Remus, a centaur, a unicorn and a dragon could live undisturbed - surrounded by 560 plant species from around the world.

And so Pizarraya sold his house in Madrid and his beach apartment to buy the more than 25,000 square meters that make up this idiosyncratic garden. But it still wasn't enough to fund the 1.5 million euros investment, and so he also had to knock on the door of the banks. Now, he's mortgaged up to his eyeballs, but happy. Within five days of opening at the beginning of last week, his park, El Bosque Encantado (or, The enchanted forest), had already received 1,200 visits.

"Which way are you going? Help! We can't get out!" Some kids have got themselves lost in the magic labyrinth. Once all safely out, they head off to follow the Prehistory Route, "to fight against the dinosaurs!" It's midday and the sun is beating down strongly on the Guisando hill, where the park is situated. The rays hit Pinocchio's pointed nose, while Snow White and her dwarves don't know where to seek shelter. The goblins, hidden in the bushes, enjoy the incredible views of San Martín from the small mountain. Lying in wait, looking after them day and night, Juan Antonio Pizarraya lives and works.

The majority of the park's 300 hedge sculptures are made from ligustrum, a Mediterranean zone plant that grows quickly and withstands the heat as well as the cold. The goats, though, are made from boxwood, a plant that takes longer to grow and is very delicate. Pizarraya has designed and created 55 of the figures. "The rest are by important European sculptors," he says.

The figures have taken between one and three years to grow - the art of topiary takes its time. "You have to know how to tame the plant and for that you need a lot of patience," says Pizarraya. It took three years for the Snow White figure to adapt to its shape, for example.

One hundred and five children from the nearby Villa de Prado camp are making the most of the scarcity of visitors in the morning to take over El Bosque Encantado. "The number of tourists perks up as the sun goes down," says Javier, the park's driver who collects visitors from San Martín station every 15 minutes from 10am to 10pm. Entrance is 8 euros if you take the coach and 10 euros if you take your own car.

While the older ones have a ball in the labyrinth and along the Prehistory Route, the little ones line up in pairs, watched over by the monitors.

Pizarraya, with his pruning machine in his hand, bumps into the group. Dani and Álvaro, two four-year-old twins, make the most of the occasion to ask El Bosque's boss a question: "Can we come back another day?"