Madrid

Quick Facts

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Coordinates

• Latitude: 40.416741
• Longitude: -3.70325

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Introduction

Parque del Retiro, Madrid

© All Rights Reserved greenpea

Madrid, as the capital city of Spain, has its share of beautiful buildings. Every fan of culture will have a hard time to choose between the various cultural offerings the city boasts. For those less concerned with culture, it's good to know that food is a major issue in this big city. Even though there is hardly any water nearby, very good fish is served in all high quality restaurants. Madrileños are always busy and quite fashionable, which makes the atmosphere in town completely different of that of any other Spanish city.

Neighbourhoods

• Sol: the departure point of all Spanish roads, the kilometer count starts from a small tile in this square. the statue of a bear marks the entrance to one of the bigger shopping streets: Calle del Carmen.
• Plaza Mayor: with beautiful facades, terraces and artists all around
• Plaza España: an oasis in the middle of busy city roads, but with the beautiful statue of Don Quichote (the most famous Spanish novel, written by Miguel de Cervantes).
• Lavapies: the multi cultural neighbourhood of Madrid, with an almost unlimited number of restaurants
• La Latina: beautiful (older) part of Madrid, where you can go to El Rastro (market) every Sunday.
• Chueca: gay area, with it's vibrant nightlife, north of Sol.
• Salamanca: famous for shopping
• Atocha: in the south-east of the center houses the main train station

Sights and Activities

Palacio Real

At the western end of the city center lies the Palacio Real, and the Cathedral La Almudena. The palace is located at the spot where the city was founded in the 10th century. After the old alcazar burned down on Christmas eve 1734, construction on the new palace began in 1738 and was completed in 1755. At this moment the palace is only used for official ceremonies. The Cathedral La Almudena is much more recent in date, although the first stone was laid in 1883, it wasn't until 1993 that the Cathedral was completed.

Plaza Major

Madrid - Plaza Major

© All Rights Reserved Herr Bert

Maybe one of Madrid's most photographed sights is the Plaza Major. This square that dates back to the 16th century, has been used for many things, from markets, fiestas, football matches, to execusions and bullfights. Most Spanish towns have a Plaza Major but the one in Madrid is special, because it is completely surrounded by buildings in the same style. If you visit it, also take a good look at the paintings on the northside of the plaza, on the casa de panaderia. Under the arches of the buildings you can find many gift shops, and restaurants.

Museums

Madrid has a few great museums for art fanatics (or novices). The Prado has an excellent collection of old masters. With special emphasis on the Spanish masters, like El Greco, Diego Velasquez and Goya. The Reina Sofia displays a great range of modern art, amongst others the famous painting "Guernika" by Pablo Picasso. Another museum worth checking out is the Thyssen Bornemisza, which offers a mixture of art attractions.

The Prado and the Reina Sofia can both be visited for free on Sundays.

Parks

Retiro Parque, Madrid

© All Rights Reserved Herr Bert

• The Retiro park - during weekdays it is quiet, in the weekend it is perfect for strolling and watching people.
• Casa de Campo park - situated on the outskirts of Madrid, with a zoo and an attraction park
• Botanical garden - close to the Prado Museum, with a great variety of plants.
• Juan Carlos I Park - situated close to Madrids TradeFair IFEMA, containing different styles, a park with a modern set-up containing many pieces of modern art.
• Parque de la Montaña - situated close to the Plaza de España, houses the Temple of Debod, an Ancient Egyptian Temple.

Events and Festivals

There is the annual San Isidro Festival in Madrid every May and it's a lot of fun. The city will set up stages in various districts, bands will play, and people will dance. Also during San Isidro the main road Paseo de Castellana feature artwork and one year included, if you bring your own t-shirt, painting on the street with a steamroller.

La Noche en Blanco is held on a saturdaynight in September. It is an event in which there are numerous cultural perfomances staged thoughout the entire city during the entire night.

Every September one of the world's biggest cycling races is held in Spain. Together with the Tour de France and the Giro d' Italia, the Vuelta de Espana is the only race to last for three weeks. The last stage of this race finishes on the Passeo del Prado, but also makes are couple of lapse through out the city. The finish of the Vuelta is usualy on the sunday of the third week of September.

Virtually the entire country goes on vacation in August. So if you prefer less crowds this would be a good time to go, unless you want to see the locals in their element. Madrid and Barcelona are very empty during this month as most people go to the beach i.e. Valencia, Costa del Sol, Costa Brava, Malaga.

Weather

It doesn't really start getting hot in Madrid until mid-May, beginning of June. In the summer it does get very hot since Madrid is inland and on a plateau. Summer can reach 45 °C. For the winter bring a thermal, sweater, and a jacket and some thin gloves as the weather does drop to 0 °C, but it's nothing too unbearable. The Spanish however, do feel that the Madrid climate is horrible. There is a saying about the weather in Madrid: "Del invierno al infierno" which translates "from winter to hell".

Getting there

By Plane

Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD) handles more than 40 million passengers a year between Spain's attractive capital city and hundreds of domestic, European and international destinations.

It is located 13 kilometres north-east of central Madrid. The metro is easy to access from Terminals 1, 2 and 3. As of May 2007 construction of the metrostation at Terminal 4 is completed, which makes it easier to travel from Terminals 4 and 4S to the city. Line 8, the pink line, will take you from the airport and you can switch lines accordingly.

A journey by taxi to the centre of Madrid can be made in under 30 minutes, depending on traffic.

By Train

Atocha Station is Madrid's rail hub, and was build by architect Gustav Eiffel. It is on Line 1, the blue line, on the Metro.

A feature of the train station is the large atrium filled with palm trees and a pond full of turtles.

• Seville - A high speed train (AVE) connects Madrid to Seville in 2 and a half hours.
• Valencia - A high speed service (Alaris) will make the journey in 3 and a half hours.
• Barcelona - The Talgo will get you from Madrid to Barcelona in 7 hours. In the near future this should be reduced to approx. 3 hours (at the moment it is possible to get to Camp de Tarragona, and continue from there, making the entire trip in 3,5 hours.
• Málaga in just under 3 hours.

The other major train station in Madrid is Chamartin, which is easier to use if you have to take a journey to the north of Madrid. From Chamartin there are also high speed trains departing:

• Segovia by AVE in 30 minutes, and Valladolid in 1 hour

Getting around

The metro and the bus system are reliable and efficient. The metro runs until 1:30 am but not to worry for those late night partiers, the búhos (Owl) bus system starts at 12:00 am and runs throughout the city. The system starts at the Plaza de Cibeles, a 15 minute walk from the Puerta del Sol and leave every half hour from midnight to 3 am and every hour from 3 am until the metro opens again at 6 am.

Madrid Barajas Airport by metro

The most logical route to take into the center of Madrid is to take the number 8 line (pink) until Nuevos Ministerios, change to the number 10 line (dark blue) until Tribunal. Now you are just North of the city center. A change to the number 1 line (light blue), will get you to Gran Via, Sol and if you need to take a train out of Madrid, to the Atocha railway station (metro: Atocha-Renfe). The estimated time you need to get from the city to the airport is about 1 hour.

In May 2007 the metro station at Barajas Terminal 4 has opened, this means reducing the time you need to get to Terminal 4 and 4S (flights carried out by Iberia and Vueling (T4), and Intercontinental flights(T4-S) by approximately half an hour. There are still busses running from Terminal 1, 2 and 3 for people who have a connecting flight.

The new service also comes with a price tag. The transfer from the city to the Airport was always included in the normal price of a metro ticket, but now you have to pay a € 1,00 fee for the ride to the airport. This can be done, by purchasing an extra (separate) € 1,00 ticket at one of the vendor machines, or you can buy a 10 ride ticket, with the extra connection fare on it. You choose the normal 10 rides tickets, and enter the number of extra fares you need. (normally one to the city, and another one when you also leave Madrid by plane)

Eat

Tapas are the specialty of the house and they come in all different forms and prices. Some popular tapas are Tortilla, Calamari, Jamon Serrano, and Croquetas. It is also normal to receive tapas when you order something to drink (although not every bar does that anymore). In restaurants you can order portions of tapas for 4 to 6 euros. For two persons, three portions are usually enough.

Churros are another specialty of Spain, and you can find a lot of people eating these around 10.30 h - 11.00 h, when it is time for a second breakfast.

The best time to have your warm meal, is at lunch time, which is at about 14.00 h in the Madrid region. Many restaurants offer a meal of the day, sometimes even including bread and wine, at all very reasonable prices. Most restaurants will close after lunch, and will re-open for dinner around 21.00 h, but most Madrileños won't eat their dinner before 22.00 h.

Drink

Kalimoxto is a fun summer drink and is composed of mixing red wine & coke, fifty, fifty. You can serve it with ice and add a slice of lemon. I don't believe there is an open container policy in Spain. I don't suggest taking your cocktail out of the club and drinking but I do remember people having home-made Kalimoxto in the Plaza Mayor. Otherwise in the clubs Fanta limon or orange mixed with vodka is popular.

Kapital (Calle de Atocha, 125 · 91-420-2906), is a popular spot for international college students and boasts 7 floors of music but is really only about 5 floors of music, with one room filled with couches and a large screen TV serves more as a make-out corner.

Palacio Gaviria (Calle Arenal, 9. Metro: Sol) is another place popular with the ERASMUS students.

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You can find internet cafes almost everywhere in Madrid. Just keep your eyes open and you will find one easily...