Hotels, motels and where to sleep
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Madrid is a municipality and city of Spain. It is the capital of
the State and the Community of Madrid. The city, which has
historical status as a town, is also known as the Villa and Corte.
The metropolitan area of Madrid has a population of 6,543,031
inhabitants, making it the third or fourth area metropolitan area of
the European Union, according to the source, behind those of Paris
and London, and in some sources behind also the Ruhr Region, as well
as the third most populous city in the European Union, behind Berlin
and London.
The origins of the city are subject to revision after recent
discoveries of Visigoth burials as well as remains that go back to
the Folklore or pre-Roman period. The archaeological excavations
also discovered remains that are attributed to Roman Madrid.
Findings from the Visigothic period have confirmed that the
subsequent fortified Muslim settlement of Maǧrīţ (of the ninth
century) had been based on a Visigothic document of the seventh
century called Matrice.
It was not until the eleventh century that Madrid was incorporated
into the Crown of Castile, after its conquest by Alfonso VI de León
in 1083. It was designated as the seat of the Court by King Felipe
II in 1561, becoming the first permanent capital of the city.
Spanish monarchy. From the Renaissance to the present it has been
the capital of Spain and the seat of the Government and the
administration of the State, except for brief intervals of time: the
first of them between the years 1601 and 1606, when the capital
passed to Valladolid; subsequently, from 1729 to 1733, in the
so-called royal lustrum, then the court moved to Seville by decision
of Isabel de Farnesio, who sought a cure for the depressive state of
her husband, King Felipe V. Capital was also moved during the War of
Independence when the Central Supreme Junta, opposed to José
Bonaparte, when the government was established in Seville, in 1808,
and in 1810, as Council of Regency, in Cádiz. Finally, during the
Civil War, although Madrid did not cease to be the capital of the
Republic under Article 5 of the Spanish Constitution of 1931, the
Republican Government moved in November 1936 to Valencia and
Barcelona in November of the following year, until the fall of
Catalonia in February of 1939, when a part of the Government headed
by its president, Juan Negrín, moved to Alica.
Madrid is located in the center of the Iberian Peninsula. Like other historic European capitals, its streets are characterized by lack of symmetry, locating the center of the city and most of its monuments in the southeast, near Puerta del Sol and Gran Vía, one of the main arteries of the city. city.
The climate of Madrid is continental, characterized by high temperatures in summer and mild winter weather. With rain during the spring and autumn, scarce and intense summer storms and occasional snow in winter. There are large differences between the northern (colder and rainier) and southern areas of the city.
Madrid, historically has been identified with the royal family,
responsible for the capital of the city to move it there Felipe II
from Toledo , where the influence of the Church posed obstacles to
the incipient empire of the Austrias.
Since the sixteenth century, Madrid has not stopped growing. The
real sites attract a lot of nobility, merchants, artisans and of
course army. Wealth attracts the cream of culture. In addition to
the creation of institutions located in nearby places such as the
University of Alcalá de Henares. Madrid is the protagonist and
witness of the main events in the history of Spain.
It is currently one of the largest and most cosmopolitan capitals in
Europe, hosting small communities from different places: Europeans,
North Africans, South Americans, Chinese, Indians and immigrants
from Eastern Europe.
Madrid is an open, cosmopolitan and tolerant city. It enjoyed a
cultural rebound in the 80s with the so-called movida , a cultural
movement that aimed to break with the traditionalism of Franco's
society. In the 90s the infrastructures of the city were expanded.
Currently, the city is a mixture of styles and vanguards in its
different neighborhoods.
The historic center of Madrid is located within the Paseo del Prado
boulevard to the east, Gran Via to the north, Ronda de Toledo and Atocha
to the south and the Manzanares River to the west. In the western part
of the historical center (from the royal palace to Puerta del Sol) is
the Latin Quarter - the oldest part of the city with narrow, crooked
streets and bell towers converted from minarets. The main street of the
Latin Quarter is Calle Mayor. The eastern part of the center is occupied
by the Quarter of Writers (Barrio de las Letras), where Lope de Vega and
Francisco de Quevedo lived, and Cervantes published the first edition of
Don Quixote.
In general, getting your bearings in Madrid is not
difficult: there are signs leading to the main attractions, and numbers
and signs with street names on the houses. In the center, the plaques
are small ceramic panels and are a separate attraction.
Malasaña , alternative neighborhood, between punk, rock and
acoustic music.
Chueca , neighborhood of the gay community, electronic music.
Lavapiés , multinational and multicultural, ethnic music.
La Latina , a traditional neighborhood.
Salamanca , wealthy bourgeoisie neighborhood, full of boutiques.
Retiro, another wealthy bourgeoisie neighborhood, south of the
previous one where the Prado Museum is located, El Retiro Park
Moncloa-Argüelles, student district, due to the proximity of the
Complutense University.
Chamberí, middle class neighborhood, the result of the widening of
Madrid in the nineteenth century.
Carabanchel and Vallecas, south of Madrid, these working-class
neighborhoods.
Streets and squares
1 Puerta del Sol. Puerta del Sol (Gate of the
Sun) is the central square of the modern city. In the 16th century,
there was a fortress wall here, and on the site of the square there was
one of the city gates, which gave the name to the place. The square was
the site of events such as the uprising of May 2, 1808 against the
French invasion and the proclamation of the second republic in 1931. The
square is home to one of the first stations of the Madrid metro.
The
square acquired its modern elliptical shape during the reign of Queen
Isabella II. Since then, the post office building (1761) with a clock,
the striking of which notifies Spain of the onset of the New Year, has
been preserved. On the square there is a monument to the Bear and the
Strawberry Tree, which is a symbol of the city, and a monument to King
Charles III. The square also serves as the zero point for measuring
distances in Spain: the corresponding sign is located near the entrance
to the district administration (Real Casa de Correos), next to the
traffic light. In the western part of the square is the statue of the
Virgin Mary (Estatua de la Mariblanca), a copy of the statue that has
stood on the square since the 16th century and is now located in the
former city hall.
2 Plaza Mayor.
Plaza Mayor is the main attraction of Habsburg Madrid (El Madrid de los
Austrias). For a long time it was the main square of the city, which is
reflected in the name.
The square was created during the reign of
King Philip III, in 1619-1620, and was inaugurated on May 15, 1620 on
the occasion of Isidore’s canonization. This gave rise to city holidays
in honor of St. Isidore: since then, May 15 has been an official day
off.
Premieres of plays by Spanish playwrights took place on the
square, knightly tournaments, bullfights and auto-da-fé were held. At
the end of the 18th century, the square was rebuilt under the leadership
of the architect Juan de Villanueva, who connected all the houses along
the perimeter of the square with arched passages. Plaza Mayor became the
model for square or rectangular colonnaded plazas in many Spanish cities
in Latin America.
The most striking house in the square is the Casa
de la Panaderia, a bakery that supplied the royal court with bread. The
house was built in 1590, the frescoes on the facade were added at the
end of the 17th century. At the top of the facade there is a barometer
that has not been working for a long time, which always shows “fine
weather”. In the center of the square is a monument to King Philip III,
the first Spanish king of the Habsburg dynasty. In the northeast corner
of the square (Calle Postas, 17) is the Posada del Peine Hotel (1610).
On Sundays there is a flea market on the square; most of the sellers are
philatelists and numismatists.
3 Plaza Paja. Lost in the narrow
streets of the Latin Quarter, Plaza Paja can be found by looking at the
large dome of the Iglesia de San Andres church (the front of the church
faces Plaza de San Andres, and the back faces Plaza Paja). In the Middle
Ages, the city market was located here. The southern part of the square
is occupied by the Bishop's Chapel (Capilla del Obispo, 1518) - one of
the few surviving examples of Gothic architecture in Madrid. The wooden
altar of the chapel (1550) already dates back to the Renaissance and is
considered one of the best examples of Plateresque sculpture.
On the
eastern side of the square, next to the chapel, is the palace of the
Vargas family (Palacio de los Vargas, 16th century). The façade of the
palace was redone in the 20th century to make the appearance more
harmonious with the chapel. At the entrance to the palace there is a
modern sculpture: a bronze man with a newspaper. The northern part of
the square is occupied by the tiny Prince of Anglona Square (Jardín del
Príncipe de Anglona) - one of the few that has remained unchanged since
the 18th century.
4 Plaza de la Villa. The main city square before
it became Puerta del Sol. There are three notable buildings on it:
City Hall (1640), reminiscent of the houses on Plaza Mayor with high
roofs and turrets, which is not surprising: they were built by one
architect - Gomez de Mora. The City Council of Madrid met in the town
hall until 2008.
Palace of the Cisneros (Casa de Cisneros, 1537),
connected by an arch to the town hall. The main façade, in Plateresque
style, faces Calle Sacramento.
Tower of Lujanes (Torre de los
Lujanes, 15th century) One of the oldest civil buildings in the city.
According to legend, the king of France, Francis I, was held captive in
the tower in 1525.
5 Plaza de Oriente (Eastern square). Until the
19th century, houses were crowded around the royal palace. When Madrid
was occupied by French troops, Napoleon's elder brother Joseph Bonaparte
ordered the square in front of the palace to be cleared (not least to
eliminate the possibility of a surprise attack on the palace). The
ensemble of the square was completed during the reign of Isabella II.
The Queen moved the equestrian sculpture of King Philip IV, created in
1640 based on a portrait by Velazquez, to the center of the square.
There is a square with sculptures on the square: initially they were
planned to be installed on the balustrade of the royal palace (as in the
Winter Palace of St. Petersburg), but Charles III forbade this, fearing
that the statues might fall. The statues depict five Visigothic and 15
early Christian kings.
In the eastern part of the square is the
building of the Opera House (Teatro Real).
6 Plaza de España (Plaza
de España). Plaza de España is located near the Royal Palace. The
central part of the square ensemble is occupied by a monument to
Cervantes and his heroes, opened on the 300th anniversary of the
writer’s death in 1915 by sculptors Teodoro Anasagasti and Matteo
Inurria.
Under Franco, it was decided to build high-rise buildings on
the square: in 1948, the skyscraper “Spain” (Edificio de Espana) with a
height of 117 m, reminiscent of Moscow’s Stalinist high-rise buildings
(for example, the Ukraine Hotel), appeared. Nine years later, the Madrid
Tower (Torre de Madrid) was erected, nicknamed La Girafa (The Giraffe)
for its height. For some time, this 142-foot tower was the tallest
concrete building in the world. Both skyscrapers were designed by
Otamendi architects.
7 Gran Via. The main street of the modern city,
the Madrid analogue of Broadway and the Champs Elysees.
8 Plaza de
Cibeles (Plaza de Cibeles, Cibeles Square). The square is located at the
intersection of Calle de Alcala and Paseo de Prado. In the center is a
fountain with the chariot of the fertility goddess Cybele (built in 1781
by Ventura Rodriguez), which gave the name to the square. The image of
Cybele on a chariot drawn by lions is one of the symbols of the city.
The square is surrounded by four buildings:
Palace of Communications
(Palacio de Comunicaciones / Palacio de Cibeles, 1904-1917). The
building, which previously housed the Spanish Post Office, is called the
“wedding cake” by Madrid residents. For two euros you can climb the
tower, which offers a fantastic view of the eastern part of the center
(10:00-19:00 except Mon).
Palace of the Marquises de Linares (Palacio
de Linares / Casa de America / House of America) in the northeast corner
of the square. There is a museum of the peoples of Latin America here.
Buenavista Palace (1779), the family residence of the Dukes of Alba, and
now the General Staff of the Spanish Armed Forces.
The Bank of Spain
(1884) is a neoclassical complex occupying the southwestern quarter.
Spain's gold reserves are kept in the bank's basement; Before the
installation of modern security measures, the bank had a system for
flooding the basements with water from the Cybele Fountain in an
emergency.
9 Plaza de Colon (Columbus Square) (metro station Colon).
The square is located north of Plaza de Cibeles and is dedicated to
Columbus and his discoveries: in the center of the square there is a
monument to the navigator, along Calle de Goya there is the Park of
Geographical Discoveries with a monument in honor of the discovery of
America. In the southeastern corner of the square is the colossal
building of the National Library of Spain.
10 Plaza de Santa Ana.
Located east of Puerta del Sol, Piazza Sant'Anna is the heart of the
Literary Quarter. In the square there is a monument to the playwright
Calderon de la Barca and a modest but touching monument to Lorca. The
eastern part of the square is occupied by the Spanish Theater (Teatro
Español) - the oldest theater in the city, dating back to the 17th
century. The façade of the theater is decorated with bas-reliefs of
great Spanish playwrights.
11 Plaza de Canalejas (east of Puerta del
Sol). Canalejas, also known as the Square of the Four Corners (plaza de
las Cuatro Calles), is formed by the facades of three Art Nouveau houses
standing in a circle:
Bank of Spanish America (1902) on the corner of
the street. San Jeronimo;
Meneses Mansion (Edificio Meneses, 1914)
The Allende House (Casa de Allende, 1920) is the architectural dominant
of the square, one of the best examples of eclectic Art Nouveau. The
house is influenced by the architecture of the Spanish regions,
especially Cantabria. Note the seashell rustication and ceramic roof of
the building.
12 District AZCA (Asociación Mixta de Compensación de
la Manzana A de la Zona Comercial de la Avenida del Generalísimo) (Nuevo
Ministerios metro station). This modern financial district is located on
Avenue Castellana (formerly Avenue Generalissimo Franco) and is similar
to the La Défense district of Paris. The Picasso Tower on the 157 m high
square of the same name has become one of the symbols of modern Madrid.
The architect of the skyscraper is Minoru Yamasaki, the author of the
destroyed buildings of the World Trade Center in New York.
Crystal Palace (Palacio de Cristal)
13 Almudena Cathedral (Santa Maria la Real de La Almudena), Plaza de
la Armas. The cathedral is located on the southern side of the royal
palace and forms a harmonious ensemble with it.
When the capital was
moved from Toledo to Madrid in 1561, the center of the diocese remained
in Toledo. In 1879, a new cathedral was founded, dedicated to Our Lady
of Almudena, designed to become the religious center of the country. Its
appearance is very eclectic: neo-Gothic towers were built according to
the original design, but construction stopped during the Civil War; in
the 1950s, the dome received baroque elements for greater harmony with
the royal palace, and the facade received classicist elements; The crypt
is made in the neo-Romanesque style. Note the doors with a detailed
bas-relief depicting the finding of the icon of Our Lady of Almudena. In
1993, the cathedral was consecrated by Pope John II.
14 Church of
St. Jerome (Iglesia de San Jeronimo el Real), Calle de Felipe IV (from
the back of the Prado). If you associate the term “Gothic” with dark
shades, take a look at this elegant white church. It was built in 1505
in the so-called style. Isabella Gothic as part of the lost monastery of
St. Jerome and long served as the official church of the royal family in
Madrid.
15 Church of San Gines (Parroquia de San Gines), Calle
Arenal, 13. The interior contains frescoes by Goya.
16 Royal (old)
Church of St. Petra (San Pedro el Real/San Pedro el Viejo), Calle
Nuncio, 14. The 15th-century church was converted from a 14th-century
mosque; it is one of two surviving Mudejar-style minarets in Madrid. The
tower has a slight slope and is jokingly referred to by locals as the
Spanish version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
17 Basilica of St.
Michael (Basílica Pontificia de San Miguel), Calle de San Justo, 4. The
Baroque church was built in 1739-45 and has the status of a papal
basilica. The unusual semicircular facade depicts allegorical statues of
Love, Faith, Hope and Strength.
18 Church of St. Nicholas (Iglesia
de San Nicolas de los Servitas), Calle de San Nicolas. The oldest church
in the city (12th century) is notable for its brick bell tower with
horseshoe-shaped windows in the Mudejar style.
19 Cathedral of St.
Francis the Great (San Francisco el Grande Basilica). The neoclassical
cathedral was built in the second half of the 18th century and is
decorated with paintings by Goya. Admission during services is free, at
other times - 3 euros with a guided tour. Currently, the cathedral
serves as a national pantheon, in which outstanding figures of Spanish
culture and statesmen are buried. To the left of the entrance to the
cathedral is an observation deck with the best view of Manzanares and
the neighborhoods across the river.
20 Church of the Holy Cross
(Iglesia de Santa Cruz), Calle Atocha, 6. An 80-meter brick tower rises
above Santa Cruz Square. Since the 15th century, there has been a church
on this site, which burned and collapsed many times; The modern eclectic
building was built in 1899-1902 with an eye on the architecture of all
previous buildings: it has Gothic and Mudejar elements, and the facade
is made in the late Baroque style - Churrigueresque.
21 Temple of
Debod (in West Park). In gratitude for its help in saving Nubian
monuments that were threatened with flooding during the construction of
the Aswan Dam, the Egyptian government donated an ancient Egyptian
temple to Spain in 1968. It was dismantled into large blocks and
transported to Madrid, becoming one of the few examples of Egyptian
architecture outside of Egypt. The temple was dedicated to the god Amun
and the goddess Isis.
22 Royal Palace (Palacio del Rei), Calle de Bailén. €10. After the
fire of 1734, which completely destroyed the previous palace (which
stood on the site of an Arab castle), it was decided to build a new
building similar to Versailles. Construction began under the direction
of the Italian architect Filippo Juvarra, and after his death was
continued by Giovanni Batista Sacchetti, Sabatini and Ventura.
Construction lasted from 1738 to 1764. The first king to live in the
palace was Charles III.
The royal family does not currently reside in
the palace, which is used for protocol events. Some of the halls and the
royal armory are open to the public: you can admire tapestries, antique
furniture, porcelain panels in the porcelain hall and other royal
luxury.
Every first Wednesday of the month (except July and August),
at noon, a beautiful Horse Guards dressage ceremony takes place at the
gates of the palace - something like a changing of the guard.
23 Palace of Santa Cruz (Palacio de Santa Cruz, 1629-1636), Plaza de
Santa Cruz. One of the most remarkable buildings of the Habsburg Baroque
style was originally built, oddly enough, as a prison. In 1767 it was
rebuilt into a palace (preserving the historical façade); it now houses
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
12 Angry houses (Casas a la
malicia). When Madrid was declared the capital in 1561, the city's
population grew sharply. Given the housing shortage, Philip II applied
an ancient medieval rule, the Regalía de Aposento, according to which
owners of multi-story buildings were obliged to provide housing for an
official or courtier. Its origins lay in the traditional itinerant
nature of the Spanish court, but after securing the capital in Madrid,
such free tenants had no intention of ever vacating the premises.
As
a result, many madrileños built houses that could be passed off as
one-story houses, called casas a la malicia—angry houses. If checked,
the lower floor quickly became a stable, and the upper floor an attic or
barn, leaving only the middle floor, which was occupied by the
homeowner's family.
Characteristic architectural solutions for angry
houses are sloping roofs (hiding a spacious attic) and small windows
located so that it is unclear which floor they are on. Several angry
houses remain in the center of Madrid:
24 Calle de la
Redondilla/Calle de los Mancebos. The most typical example, preserved
without modifications since the 1570s
25 Calle del Toro.
26 Calle del Rollo/Calle Segovia. The façade facing Calle Segovia is
later, but the back is a typical 17th-century angry house.
27 Calle
del Pez, 31.
28 Ministry of Agriculture, Paseo de la infanta Isabel.
A powerful neoclassical building rises above Atocha Station. Above the
pediment there is a sculptural composition by Agustin Querol: the
central figure of Glory holds a palm branch, and to the left and right
of it are riders on pegasuses, symbolizing trade and art: the right one
holds a laurel (symbol of Apollo), and the left one holds a caduceus
(symbol of Mercury).
29 Bridge of Toledo (Puente de Toledo) (metro
station Marques de Vadillo). The granite bridge over the Manzanares
River was built by the architect Pedro de Ribera in the Baroque style in
1718-1732. The bridge is pedestrian; In the middle there are statues of
St. Isidore and St. Maria Torribia.
1 Cronopios Idiomas Madrid , Calle Espalter 12. ☎ +34 915 222 014. Mon-Fri 08:30 - 17:30. Intensive course 85 euros per week. Teacher-led cooperative Spanish language school. Spanish courses take a communicative approach to make language learning relaxed, fun and effective. Other services offered include hosting cultural workshops and excursions, during which the school works with a historian and art historian, and finding accommodation for students.
Three art museums located nearby form the so-called. museum triangle:
2 Prado Museum (Museo del Prado),
Paseo del Prado, s/n (Paseo del Arte). ✉ ☎ +34 (902107077) 10:00–20:00,
Sun — 10:00–19:00, on public holidays may be closed or open until 14:00.
The main art museum of the country and one of the most significant
museums in Europe. The Prado was founded in 1819 and is located in a
huge classicist palace. The collection is based on works by Goya,
Velazquez, Titian, Rubens, and Bosch.
Prices: adult ticket - 14 €,
pensioners - 7 €, children under 18 years old free. From Monday to
Saturday from 18:00 to 20:00 and on Sunday from 17:00 to 19:00 (and all
day on May 18 and November 19) free admission for all visitors. During
the free time there is a huge queue; out of two free hours you can spend
one and a half hours standing in line, so it is recommended not to look
for free cheese and come to the Prado in the morning and afternoon.
During paid hours, the largest influx of visitors is from 11 to 13:30.
At the entrance to the museum you can take an audio guide: 3.5 € for the
permanent collection and 5 € for the permanent collection and temporary
exhibitions. Photography is prohibited in the Prado.
At the box
office you can also buy a combined ticket for the entire museum triangle
(Paseo del Arte Card) for 25.60 €. Tickets for the current day can be
purchased not only at the box office, but also at a machine that accepts
only credit cards. On the website
https:https://www.museodelprado.es/ru/poseshchenie-muzeja/ you can buy a
ticket online, with an additional commission of 1€; You can also reserve
an audio guide there.
The museum has four entrances, but the ticket
office is only on the north side. If you have a ticket, you can enter at
any entrance.
3 Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Paseo del Prado, 8. ✉
Tue-Sun: 10:00-19:00. This museum houses the Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza
collection, donated to the state in 1993 and previously considered one
of the richest private collections in the world. The exhibition presents
paintings from different eras, from the Renaissance to the works of the
impressionists, surrealists and cubists, etc.
4 Reina Sofia Museum,
Calle de Santa Isabel, 52. ✉ Tue-Sat: 10:00–21:00, Sun: 10:00–14:30.
Modern Art Museum. In particular, here is the most famous painting by
Pablo Picasso “Guernica”, as well as the creations of Salvador Dali and
Joan Miró.
5 Royal Palace. ✉ Tue-Fri:10:00 - 14:30, 16:30 - 20:30; Sat-Sun:
10:00-20:30. King Philip V, the first Spanish monarch of the Bourbon
dynasty, built a new royal palace on the ruins of the old alcazar. The
decoration of the palace is the main staircase, the throne room, the
Gasparini hall and the royal chapel; Historical furniture has been
preserved in various rooms.
6 Maritime Museum (Museo Naval de
Madrid), Paseo del Prado 5 (metro station Banco de España). Tue-Sun
10:00-18:00. For free. The museum opened in 1843 and is one of the
oldest such museums in Europe. It has a rich thematic collection
reflecting the history of the Spanish fleet: ship models, maps,
paintings on a maritime theme, weapons, navigational instruments,
including those that took part in historical battles.
7 Goya’s
Pantheon (Ermita de San Antonio), Glorieta San Antonio de la Florida, 5.
Tue–Sun 09:30–20:00. For free. The Chapel of St. Anthony of Florida was
built in 1792-1798, and its interior was completely painted by Francisco
Goya. Now there is the artist’s grave here. After more people began to
come to the chapel to view the frescoes than to pray, it was declared a
cultural and historical monument, and a similar twin chapel with copies
of the frescoes was built nearby.
8 Museum of Railway Transport,
Paseo de las Delicias, 61 (entrance from Calle Cristo del Camino).
Tue-Sat: 10:00-15:00. Located on the site of the old Delicias station,
little changed since the 19th century. Contains a rich collection of
steam locomotives and passenger cars illustrating the evolution of
railway transport.
9 National Archaeological Museum, Calle de
Serrano, 13. Interesting archaeological exhibition, including a
reconstruction of a prehistoric cave. There are artifacts from Ancient
Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as the pre-Roman culture of the Iberian
Peninsula.
10 Aviation Museum. Tue-Sun 10:00-14:00. For free. A
paradise for vintage aircraft lovers on the outskirts of the city. The
exhibition includes rare military and civilian aircraft and helicopters
from the 1910s to the 1970s, including unique exhibits: the first
Spanish aircraft, Franco’s personal aircraft, gyroplanes of the 1930s.
Also on display are uniforms, medals, engines, models, and weapons.
11 Museum of the History of Madrid (El Museo de Historia de Madrid),
Calle de Fuencarral, 78 (metro station Tribunal). Tue-Sun: 09:30-20:00.
Located in a historic hospital building from the 18th century. Offers
multimedia presentations on the history of the city.
12 Museum of
St. Isidore (Museo De Los Orígenes), Plaza de San Andrés, 2. Another
historical museum dedicated to the history of Madrid until it became the
capital of the state.
13 Crew Museum (Museo de Carruajes), Cuesta de
San Vicente (Campo del Moro). The museum is located on the site of the
former royal stables. The exhibition includes royal carriages dating
back to the 16th century, as well as various elements of harness and
accessories for horse-drawn carriages.
14 Bullfighting Museum (Museo
Taurino), Plaza de Toros de las Ventas, Alcalá 237 (metro Ventas).
Tue-Fri: 09:30–14:30, also open on Sunday in summer. for free.
Paintings, drawings, engravings of bullfighting (including Goya),
sculptures of bullfighters, historical costumes, a stuffed bull and a
collection of historical documents related to the world of bullfighting.
15 Museum of the Americas, Avenida Reyes Católicos 6 (metro Moncloa).
Tue-Sun: 10:00–15:00. Thousands of cultural artifacts from the Spanish
colonies in the Americas, including pre-Columbian eras.
16 National
Museum of Science and Technology (El Museo Nacional de Ciencia y
Tecnología), Paseo de las Delicias, 61 (metro Delicias). Tue-Sat:
09:00-15:00, Sun: 10:00-14:30. The museum is aimed at children and
teenagers; The exhibition shows the evolution of various branches of
science and technology.
17 Madrid Planetarium, Avenida del
Planetario, 16. Modern planetarium with multimedia presentations.
18
Chamberí Station Museum (Estación de metro de Chamberí), Calle de Santa
Engracia, 39 (Plaza de Chamberi (two metro stations north of Plaza de
colon)). Museum in the hall of a former metro station: you can see what
the Madrid metro looked like in the mid-60s.
19 Teatro Real, Plaza Isabel II (m. Opera). The main opera house of
the city.
20 Teatro Espanol, Calle Príncipe, 25. Dramatic
productions of classic Spanish plays.
21 Teatro Rialto, Gran Via, 54
(m. S/Domingo, Callao). ☎ +34 (91) 541-91-66. Performances: Tue-Thu and
Sat: 19:00 and 21:00, Fri: 19:00, Sun: 17:00. Flamenco and musicals.
22 Parque del Retiro/
Retiro Park. The most famous park in the city, located between Calle
Alcalá, Avenida Mendes y Pelayo and Calle Alfonso XII. The park was
formerly part of the Habsburg residence. Previously, on the site of the
park there was a monastery of monks of the Order of St. Jerome. Philip
IV and his entourage loved to retire and relax in this place. This is
where the name Buen Retiro comes from - “good solitude”. After the
construction of the royal palace under Charles III, the park ensemble
fell into disrepair. In 1868, the park was transferred to municipal
management, after which it became one of the favorite recreational
places for citizens. The park contains a memorial to King Alfonso XII,
two pavilions by the famous 19th century architect Velazquez - the
Crystal Palace and the Velazquez Palace. The public toilet is located
closer to the entrance from the metro. Sep 2021
23 Western Park
(Parque del Oueste). Here the execution of the townspeople who rebelled
in 1808 against the Napoleonic occupation took place. An unusual
monument was erected in memory of this. In the northern part of the park
there is a beautiful rose garden and a cable car station connecting the
Western Park and Casa de Campo. Next to the station is a strange
monument to Goya in the form of four concrete slabs.
At the top of
the hill is the Egyptian Temple of Debod (see above). The hill offers a
good view of the royal palace below.
24 Royal Botanical Garden (Real
Jardín Botánico), Plaza Murillo, 2. One of the oldest botanical gardens
in Europe contains over 100 species of trees and 30,000 species of
plants from around the world.
25 Casa de Campo. A huge forest park,
larger in area than the historical center of the city, “the lungs of
Madrid”. A popular place among rollerbladers and cyclists. Accessible by
cable car connecting it to the Western Park.
26 Madrid Zoo. A small
zoo with a dolphinarium located in the Casa de Campo park
27 Campo
del Moro. A park laid out on the site of the royal stables and
outbuildings, adjacent directly to the royal palace. The northeast
corner of the park is called the Sabatini Gardens.
28 Arena Las Ventas (metro Ventas). Until the beginning of the 18th
century, horse bullfighting in Madrid was held in the Plaza Mayor in the
presence of the king. After the formation of the traditions of modern
foot bullfighting in the 18th century, the main arena was located in the
area of the Alcala Gate. In 1929, the current Las Ventas arena was built
in neo-Mudéjar style. The most important series of bullfights in the
world, the Feria de San Isidro, is held in May, in honor of the city's
festival of St. Isidore. At other times, the arena is used as a concert
venue.
In front of the Las Ventas arena there is a monument to the
matadors who died during the bullfight and a monument to Dr. Alexander
Fleming, who discovered penicillin. Thanks to this discovery, many of
those wounded during the bullfight survived.
29 Real Madrid, Av de Concha Espina, 1. Mon-Sat: 10:00–19:00, Sun
and holidays: 10:30–18:30, on match days admission closes 5 hours before
the match. €19. Real Madrid was recognized by FIFA as the best football
club of the 20th century. In 1920, the club was awarded the title of
royal and it received its name. The team's stadium is the Santiago
Bernabeu, located in the northern part of the city. The stadium's
capacity is more than 80 thousand spectators. The opening of the stadium
took place on December 14, 1947, the stadium is named after Santiago
Bernabeu Yeste, president of the club in 1943-1978.
The stadium is a
popular tourist attraction, and the queue at the ticket office can be no
shorter than at the Prado. The stadium tour includes an observation deck
on top of the stands, the Real Madrid Museum, a visit to the VIP stands,
locker rooms, and substitutes' benches.
30 Atlético Madrid. Another
famous club, one of the strongest in the history of Spain. The club is
based at the Wanda Metropolitan stadium, which seats about 55 thousand
spectators
31 Segway ride, Cuesta de Santo Domingo 4. ☎ +34 (91) 593-83-52. 30€/hour. You can rent a Segway by the hour.
Purchases
1 San Miguel Market (Mercado de San Miguel, 1916). Art
Nouveau market, the only one remaining in Madrid. Now it has many
stalls, small shops, cafes and even a library under one roof.
2 El
Rastro Market, Calle de la Ribera de Curtidores, 21 (Puerta de Toledo
metro station). The largest flea market in the city, one of its oldest
markets (from the beginning of the 18th century). Opens directly on the
street on Sundays and holidays from 9 am; As with any flea market, the
main thing is not the assortment, but the atmosphere of the market.
The city has several large shopping centers of the Corte Inglés chain.
The most famous are located near the Goya metro station and near Puerta
del Sol. In these huge shopping centers you can buy almost everything,
from supermarket groceries to electronics and books. Prices online are
moderate, and there are occasional sales and discounts.
In the city center there are many hot spots of shareware Wi-Fi from
the company Gowex (the networks are called Gowex or Wifi Gratis). You
get 30 minutes free every day or unlimited access for a month for 10€,
but to register you need to receive an SMS to a Spanish number. Many
cafes and restaurants have free Wi-Fi for visitors, but even a free
network will usually be locked with a password.
There are quite a
few Internet cafes in the city and suburbs, called locutorio. Just ask
someone local ¿Donde està locutorio? and you can get the answer by at
least approximately understanding the direction. The cost of one hour in
such an establishment is 1 euro. You can usually make a phone call
there, and a check will be issued for the cost of the call.
The center of Madrid is quite safe, including at night. Regular safety precautions should be followed, including keeping an eye on pockets and bags in tourist areas. The areas around Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor are especially different.
Although Madrid has existed since the 9th century at the latest, since a pre-Moorish settlement may already have existed there, hardly any traces have survived from this period. The first document for the name Madrid comes from Arabic sources (Ibn Ḥayyān al-Qurṭubī, Muqtabis; al-Ḥimyarī, Kitab ar-rawd al Mi'tar) and reads Majrit / مجريط / Maǧrīṭ. Some authors have attempted to derive this name etymologically, partly from Arabic, partly, assuming a pre-existent settlement from the Visigoth period, from early Romanesque, possibly also Romance Andalusí. The Arabic etymon is based on the word majra / مَجْرى / maǧrā, which can mean canal, water pipe or river bed. The Latin etymon is matricem (according to matrix, "womb"), which is translated here as "source (of a stream)". In its Mozarabic form, this was matrič. Since both etyma refer to water and sound similar, the thought has also been raised that it could be a Romance-Arabic hybrid formation.
Although no human fossil remains have been found, a great variety of tools have been found, especially in the surroundings of Arganda del Rey and Manzanares, which allow proving the existence of human settlements on the terraces of the river in the place that today occupies the city. The current city is located in territory that, prior to Roman domination, was occupied by the Carpetan group.
Rome's conquest and colonization of the Iberian
Peninsula, initially carried out as a Roman military maneuver in its
long series of wars with Carthage, lasted almost two centuries, from the
Second Punic War to 27 BC. C. in which they complete the pacification of
the north of the territory and divide it into three provinces. The
region currently occupied by Madrid would be located in Tarraconense.
Although it is possible that during the Roman period the territory
of Madrid was nothing more than a rural region, benefiting from the
location of crossroads and natural wealth, the discovery of the remains
of a basilica from the Hispano-Visigothic period in the surrounding area
of the church of Santa María de la Almudena has been presented as
evidence of the existence of an urban settlement in that period. Other
archaeological signs of the presence of a stable population in Madrid
are found in the remains of two Visigothic necropolises, one in the
former colony of the Conde de Vallellano - Paseo de Extremadura, next to
the Casa de Campo - and another in Tetuán de las Victorias. . Inside the
medieval town, a rather deteriorated tombstone was found with the
legend, never completed and interpreted in various ways, but which could
indicate the presence of a stable population as early as the 7th
century:
min.n. bokatus. indignvs. prs. imo / et tertio. regno.
domno. rvd. / mi. regvm. era dccxxxv
The first historical evidence of the existence of a
stable settlement dates back to the Muslim era.46 In the second half of
the 9th century, the emir of Córdoba Muhammad I (852-886) built a
fortress on a promontory next to the river, which is one of the many
fortifications that he ordered to be built in the border territory of
the Middle Brand with the triple purpose of guarding the passes of the
Guadarrama mountain range and protecting Toledo from the raids of the
Christian kingdoms of the north, from being a starting point to in turn
for Muslim incursions into these kingdoms and to establish the authority
of Córdoba in this region. We find the first written news about Madrid
in the Cordoba chronicler Ibn Hayyan (987-1075), who, quoting another
previous chronicler, al-Razi (888-955), says:
Beautiful works, many
deeds, great triumphs and total care for the well-being of Muslims are
owed to Muhammad and the time of his reign, worrying about their
borders, guarding their gaps, consolidating their extreme places and
attending to their needs. He was the one who ordered the construction of
the Esteras castle, to store the crops of Medinaceli, located on its
northwest side. And he was the one who, for the people of the border of
Toledo, built the castle of Talamanca, and the castle of Madrid and the
castle of Peñahora. He frequently gathered news from the brands and paid
attention to what was happening in them, sending people he trusted to
check that they were okay.
Next to the fortress, the town mainly
develops to the south and east. This population is called Maǧrīţ (AFI
[maʤriːtˁ]) (in old Spanish Magerit [maʤeˈɾit]), which could be an
Arabization of the Romance name Matrice, "matrix", in allusion to a
stream of that name that ran next to the primitive city, along the
current Segovia street, or be a hybrid between the Arabic word Maǧra,
which means "channel" or "water course", and the Romance suffix -it (<
Latin -etum), which indicates abundance ; The meaning would therefore be
"a place abundant in water", in reference to the various surface and
underground streams that could be found on the city site.
The
most complete information about Muslim Madrid is given by the geographer
Al-Himyari in the 15th century, who, citing older sources, says of this
city that it was:
A noble city of al-Andalus built by the emir
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman. From Madrid to the Maqida bridge, which was
the limit of the lands of Islam, there are 31 miles. In Madrid there is
a clay with which pots are made that can be used to put on the fire for
twenty years without breaking, and what is cooked in them is preserved
without being affected by the cold or heat of the environment. The
Madrid castle is one of the most powerful, built by the emir Muhammad
ibn Abd al-Rahman. Ibn Hayyan mentions in his History the moat that was
dug outside the walls of Madrid, saying that a tomb was found in it with
a skeleton that measured 51 arms, that is, 102 spans (approximately 9
m), from the cushion of the head to the end of the feet. He drew up a
record of this, certifying it, the cadi of Madrid, who went to the scene
and observed it along with several witnesses.
The tradition has
been maintained over time that the primitive hisn or Andalusian fortress
occupied the site on which the Christian fortress and later the current
Royal Palace were later built. Many researchers have worked with this
hypothesis, developing proposals to reconstruct the layout of the walls
of the old al-mudayna or citadel based on this idea. However, there is
no archaeological or documentary evidence that the hisn was in that
location, and currently scholars tend to think that the citadel wall
passed through the current plaza that separates the Almudena Cathedral
from the Palace and through both did not include the latter's plot. The
walled Andalusian city, therefore, would have been built on the hill
delimited to the south by the ravine of the San Pedro stream (current
Segovia street), to the north by the Arenal stream (current Arenal
street) and to the west through the ravine that ends in the Manzanares
plain. Outside the walls, a larger population developed towards the
south and west, which was surrounded by a second wall in Christian
times.
From the various archaeological works carried out in the
city from the mid-19th century onwards, remains have been found such as:
the Arab wall of the Cuesta de la Vega, the watchtower of the Plaza de
Oriente and the vestiges of a water trip from the plaza. of the
Chariots. Other remains of the wall, now missing, are known from the old
plans of the city. The main mosque, whose existence gave the town the
character of a medina or city, occupied the place where the church of
Santa María was later built, which in turn was demolished in the 19th
century to widen the Calle Mayor. This was already the main street of
the city in Andalusian times.
In the year 932, King Ramiro II, in
his process of territorial conquest in the south of the kingdom of León,
attacked the Umayyad fortress of Madrid, in his idea of conquering
Toledo. Already occupied by al-Nasir, some time before, the fortresses
on the right bank of the Tagus, Ramiro was only able to settle
momentarily and dismantle the fortifications of Madrid and plunder its
nearest lands, from where he brought numerous people. The walls of
Madrid were reinforced after this attack.
During the caliphal
era, Madrid belonged to the Guadalajara cora. After the disintegration
of this caliphate, the city became part of the Taifa kingdom of Toledo.
In Arab Madrid, Maslama al-Mayriti, called "the Andalusian Euclid",
a notable astronomer and founder of a mathematical school in Córdoba,
was born in the 10th century.
With the fall of the Taifa kingdom of Toledo at the
hands of Alfonso VI of León, the city was taken by the Segovian
Quiñoneros Díaz Sanz de Quesada and Fernán García de la Torre in 1085
without resistance, probably by capitulation. The city and its alfoz
were integrated into the kingdom of León as royal territories. The
Christians replaced the Muslims in the occupation of the central part of
the city, leaving the peripheral neighborhoods or suburbs, which in the
previous period were inhabited by the aljama of the Villa. There was
also a Jewish quarter, which was first located around the current Royal
Theater, and later where the current Almudena Cathedral, although the
late romantic tradition placed it in the surroundings of what would
later become the Lavapiés neighborhood, which It is impossible because
in the Middle Ages it was an inhospitable and uninhabited area, and
furthermore there have never been Jewish quarters outside the city
walls.
During the following century, Madrid continued to receive
attacks from the new Muslim powers of the peninsula, the Almoravids, who
burned the city in 1109, and the Almohads, who laid siege to it in 1197.
The Christian victory of Las Navas de Tolosa definitively removed the
Muslim influence from the center of the peninsula.
Two
outstanding religious events come from this period that mark the
development of the personality of popular Christianity in Madrid: the
"discovery" of the image of the Virgin of Almudena and the life of
Isidro Labrador, who would later be canonized. The city It prospered
and received the title of town in 1123. Following the usual repopulation
scheme in Castile, Madrid was constituted as a council, head of a
community of towns and lands, the community of towns and lands of
Madrid. The government of the city falls on all Madrid residents with
the rank of neighbors, meeting in an open council until in 1346, King
Alfonso . In 1152, King Alfonso VII established the limits of the
community of town and land between the Guadarrama and Jarama rivers. In
1188, a representation from Madrid participated for the first time in
the Cortes of Castile. In 1202, Alfonso VIII granted it its first
municipal jurisdiction, which regulated the functioning of the council,
whose powers were expanded in 1222 by Fernando III the Saint.
Despite Madrid's support for Pedro I, later the rulers of the House of
Trastámara would frequently reside in the town due to the abundance and
quality of its hunting grounds, of which they were very fond. Even
before, Alfonso Subsequently, a prolonged dispute between the City
Council and the Church ended with an agreement to distribute pastures
for this one and tree feet for that one, with which a tree was
incorporated into the shield along with the bear and the seven stars of
the homonymous constellation. . The identification of the tree with the
strawberry tree is more obscure, beyond the homophony with the name of
the city.
The Cortes of Castile met for the first time in Madrid
in 1309 under the reign of Ferdinand IV and subsequently in 1329, 1339,
1391, 1393, 1419 and twice in 1435. Beginning with the unification of
several kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula under a common Crown, the
Cortes were convened in Madrid with greater frequency.
In the
15th century, when the number of cities with procurators in the Cortes
of Castile was set at eighteen, the town maintained its vote in them.
In the War of the Communities, at the head of its councilor Juan de
Zapata, Madrid joined the uprising against Charles I (1520), taking the
fortress on August 31, 1520 (see: Site of the Alcázar of Madrid).
However, after the defeat of the commoners in Villalar, the town was
besieged and occupied by royal troops in mid-May 1521. Despite all this,
Charles I's successor, Philip II, decided to set up the court in Madrid
on February 13, 1561 (462 years ago).
The establishment of the
capital in Madrid would be decisive for the evolution of the city and
would cause the vicissitudes of the country and the monarchy, to a
greater or lesser extent, to influence the destiny of the city. Except
for a brief period between 1601 and 1606, when the court moved to
Valladolid, the capital will be consubstantial with Madrid. A famous
expression indicated that identity: "only Madrid is court", which,
conceptually, was also understood the other way around: "Madrid is only
court."
With the establishment of the court in Madrid, its
population begins to grow significantly. The royal bureaucracy, the
members of the court and all the people necessary for their support are
joined by disinherited people and hustlers from across the Spanish
Empire. In 1625, Philip IV demolished the city wall, already
overwhelmed, and built what would be the last one near Madrid. This
fence, built exclusively for fiscal reasons (portazgo tax) will limit
the growth of the city until the 19th century. Government tasks are
centralized in the Royal Alcázar, a set of buildings located on the land
that will later be occupied by the Royal Palace and the Plaza de
Oriente. At the same time, the surface area of another palace at the
eastern end of the city, beyond the fence, is increased. This is the
Buen Retiro palace, begun to be built by the Catholic Monarchs (who also
moved the monastery of San Jerónimo el Real to its vicinity, previously
located near Manzanares, area of the current Príncipe Pío station), of
which remains its gardens, the Kingdom Hall and the Ballroom, the latter
known as the Casón del Buen Retiro and currently used by the Prado
Museum.
The change of dynasty would bring important changes
for the city. The monarchs of the new dynasty found it to be a dark
town, with narrow streets, overcrowded, without sewage systems and
pestilent. The Bourbons considered the need to equate Madrid with other
European capitals. The fire of the Alcázar of Madrid in 1734 (an
unfortunate event that caused the disappearance of a third of the royal
collection of paintings) led to the construction of the Royal Palace.7
The works lasted until 1755 and it was not occupied until the reign of
Charles III. Bridges, hospitals, parks, fountains, buildings for
scientific use, sewage ordinances and other actions were promoted by
this last monarch, (who received the popular title of "best mayor of
Madrid"), with the collaboration of architects and urban planners from
great professional and artistic category: Francesco Sabatini, Ventura
Rodríguez and Juan de Villanueva, among others.
The Prado Hall
project, on the outskirts of the city, between the Buen Retiro complex
and the fence, is probably the most important and the one that has left
a most important legacy to the city: the Prado and Recoletos promenades,
the fountains of Neptune, Cybele and Apollo, the Royal Botanical Garden,
the Royal Astronomical Observatory or the Villanueva building, initially
intended to house the Royal Cabinet of Natural History, although it
would finally be assigned to the then newly established Prado Museum.
However, the relationship of the "king mayor" with his
subjects-neighbors was not always good; Several measures of his
modernization program were violently contested during the Esquilache
mutiny of 1766, although more complex causes also converged there.
The city appears seen from the southwest, and somewhat different
from how Wyngaerde could have drawn it two hundred years before. The
Alcázar de los Austrias has been replaced by the Bourbon palace of
Philip V, the Segovia bridge (on the left) is the current one, and the
profile of the enormous dome of San Francisco the Great dominates the
rest of the town's churches. To the north (on the left) you can see the
"mountain" of Príncipe Pío, where the executions of May 3, 1808,
immortalized in Goya's painting, took place.
The uprising of the people of Madrid against the
French troops on May 2, 1808 marks the beginning of the War of
Independence. King Joseph Bonaparte carried out reforms in the capital,
and his orders were frequent to demolish convents to make squares, for
which he acquired the nickname Pepe Plazuelas. The future of the war
forced him on two occasions to flee Madrid but the occupation of the
city resulted in the destruction of valuable buildings, such as the Buen
Retiro Palace.
The confiscation meant a drastic change in the
real estate property system, in addition to concentrating a large art
collection, the Trinidad Museum, which in 1872 was dissolved and its
funds became those of the Prado Museum (created during the reign of
Ferdinand VII). It also involves the creation in Madrid of the Central
University, which will retain the name Complutense since it comes from
the physical and legal transfer of the faculty and students of the
renowned University of Alcalá to the nearby capital.
During the
19th century, the city's population continued to grow. The perception of
the changes that would cause the pre-industrial city to disappear
stimulated the appearance of "Madrileñista" literature, of a
costumbrista nature, such as that of Ramón de Mesonero Romanos. The
statistical and all kinds of information compiled by Pascual Madoz in
his Geographical-Statistical-Historical Dictionary for all of Spain was
especially exhaustive for Madrid, whose article has a very significant
heading: «Madrid: audience, province, mayor, vicariate, district and
town ».
In 1868, Felipe IV's fence was finally torn down and the
city was able to grow, in principle in an orderly manner, thanks to the
Castro plan and the completion of the expansions. It will be the
opportunity for fabulous businesses, which enriched José de Salamanca y
Mayol, Marquis of Salamanca, who gave his name to the new neighborhood
created to the east of what will become the central axis of the city
(the Paseo de la Castellana, extension of the Paseo del Prado). A modern
water supply system is established (the Canal de Isabel II) and rail
communication is established that will make Madrid the center of the
radial communications network, which also leaves its mark on the urban
fabric (train station). Delicias, Atocha station and Príncipe Pío
station).
In the first thirty years of the 20th century, the Madrid population reached more than one million inhabitants. New suburbs such as Las Ventas, Tetuán or El Carmen welcomed the newly arrived proletariat, while the Madrid bourgeoisie settled in the expansions. These transformations promoted the idea of the linear city, by Arturo Soria. At the same time, the Gran Vía was opened, in order to decongest the old town, and the city's metro was inaugurated in 1919. During the reign of Alfonso University City.
The municipal elections of April 12, 1931 gave a
great victory to the republican-socialist conjunction in Madrid,
which obtained 69.2% of the votes (90,630 votes for the conjunction
and 31,616 for the monarchists, which were translated into 15
socialist councilors and 15 republicans compared to 20 monarchist
councilors). Pedro Rico, of the Federal Democratic Republican Party,
was elected mayor by the municipal corporation. The republican
victory in Madrid and most of the provincial capitals marked the
decomposition of the monarchy and the advent of the Second Spanish
Republic, just two days after the elections. The republican
committee assumed power on the afternoon of the 14th, and proclaimed
the Republic in the Real Casa de Correos in Puerta del Sol,
headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior, before a fervent
crowd. The Constitution of the Republic promulgated in 1931 It was
the first to legislate on the capital of the State, explicitly
establishing it in Madrid. One of the first actions of the new
government was to cede the Casa de Campo, until then royal property,
to the people of Madrid; opening to the public for the first time on
May 1, 1931 at a massive country festival.
The outbreak of
the Spanish civil war took place in Melilla in the middle of the
afternoon on Friday, July 17, and was known in Madrid in the
following hours. Still on Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th the
city maintained a certain normality. After the crushing of the
poorly planned rebellion in Madrid, in the La Montaña barracks and
the Carabanchel barracks, in which the loyal elements of the Army
and the Security Forces were aided by the popular militias
(organized since the end of 1934 by the Communist Party of Spain
under the name of the Workers' and Peasants' Armed Militias), to
which the Government authorized the delivery of weapons. From that
moment on, indiscriminate repression began not only against those
who had participated in the rebellion, but also against those who,
because they did not share the political ideas of the Popular Front,
were considered "disaffected to the Regime." Numerous interrogation,
detention and torture centers (the "Czechs") emerged, from where
many detainees were only released to be "paraded", and their corpses
later appeared in the outskirts of the city. There were numerous
"prisoner removals" in which the so-called Vigilance Militias
entered the prisons (San Antón, Ventas, etc.) with their lists of
people to be eliminated, they "removed" the prisoners who appeared
on the lists and They were shot on the outskirts of the city. The
massacres of Paracuellos de Jarama and Torrejón de Ardoz in
November/December 1936 were of special magnitude, in which the most
well-founded calculations show between 2,000 and 3,000 victims. The
"prisoner removals" in Republican territory ended with the arrival
of Melchor Rodríguez García to the position of general delegate of
Prisons. Countless private homes were also seized, and the same fate
befell the headquarters of right-wing political parties. Churches
were attacked and burned, with irreparable artistic and cultural
losses, and by official government decree of August 1936, all
churches in Republican Spain and therefore also those in Madrid were
definitively closed.
The resistance of the militias,
militarized in the form of the Popular Army of the Republic in 1937,
led by the Madrid Defense Board, manages to stop the offensive
during the Battle of Madrid in the western neighborhoods of the
city, especially in the area around the Argüelles neighborhood and
the University City, where the front was stabilized, and which was
devastated in the conflict, losing in addition to the University
buildings themselves such valuable elements as the Royal Site of
Moncloa, which included the homonymous palace (the current one is a
post-war reconstruction) and the House of Velázquez.
The city
would not suffer another assault by land during the war, but it was
punished by artillery fire and aerial bombardments, the first in
history on a capital, similar to what other European cities suffered
during the Second World War. The aviation operations of the rebel
side, supported by aircraft from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy,
caused 1,490 deaths, 430 missing and 3,502 injuries in four months,
from November 7, 1936 to March 9, 1937. apart from causing numerous
damage to emblematic buildings, such as those that affected, from
November 14 to 17, 1936, the Prado Museum, the Museum of Modern Art,
the Cajal Institute, the National Archaeological Museum and the
Liria Palace. Aviation was also used to frighten the enemy.
Madrid's resistance was exalted by propaganda in favor of the
republican cause with the slogan "They will not pass!" and mocked at
the end of the war, with Celia Gámez's song "We've already passed!",
but the situation forced the institutions and the Government, as
well as the civilian population, to be evacuated to the interior and
southern regions. I raised. The end of the war was especially
chaotic in Madrid, with the violent confrontation between armed
units of the Communist Party and those loyal to the Madrid Defense
Board, led by General Miaja, Colonel Segismundo Casado and the
socialist Julián Besteiro. The armed clashes in the streets of the
city caused numerous victims and led to bloody reprisals and
shootings by both sides. After the war ended on April 1, 1939,
Madrid began to suffer from Franco's repression; In July of that
year, Count Galeazzo Ciano, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Fascist
Italy, wrote in his diary that there were between 200 and 250
executions daily.
Once the war is over, the city continues its
unstoppable spatial growth, while at the same time healing the wounds
that the conflict had left in the city, especially on its west façade.
Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards emigrate from the countryside to the
city. Madrid (along with Barcelona and Bilbao) is one of the cities that
benefit the most from these population movements. As of June 5, 1948,
the process of annexation to Madrid of up to thirteen neighboring
municipalities begins, which ends on July 31, 1954 (Aravaca, Barajas,
Canillas, Canillejas, Chamartín de la Rosa, Fuencarral, Hortaleza, El
Pardo , Vallecas, Vicálvaro, Villaverde, Carabanchel Alto and
Carabanchel Bajo), with which its extension goes from 66 km² to the
current 607 km² and gains about 300,000 new inhabitants. Urban disorder
was the norm: shanty towns grew (masterfully described by Luis
Martín-Santos in his novel Time of Silence), while the historic center
was subject to speculation, allowing the demolition of buildings of
artistic or traditional value to be replaced. For others with a modern
aesthetic, buildings with innovative architecture are built, such as the
suspended Torres de Colón. In some cases the architectural interventions
have a character of marking the political presence, trying to enhance
the concept of Franco's "imperial Madrid", as in the Moncloa area, where
the Victory Arch and the Ministry of Air stand, in a neo-Herrerian
style, or the Casa Sindical (currently the Ministry of Health), building
of the Vertical Unions.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Plan,
approved in 1963, prompted by the demographic explosion of the capital,
began the trend to divert the urban population concentration from Madrid
towards metropolitan municipalities such as Alcorcón, Alcobendas,
Coslada, Fuenlabrada, Getafe, Leganés, Móstoles, San Sebastián de los
Reyes, San Fernando de Henares and Torrejón de Ardoz, which become
dormitory cities. In 1973, the first sections of the M-30, the city's
first ring road, were inaugurated.
After the death of the dictator Franco, Madrid was one
of the main scenarios during the Transition period. The first months of
1977 were notable for political and social unrest, with strikes,
demonstrations and violent counter-demonstrations with fatalities. Other
serious events were the two kidnappings by GRAPO and the episode of the
Atocha massacre in 1977 that resulted in the murder by members of the
extreme right of labor lawyers in an office located on this street. His
massive funeral, prior to the legalization of the PCE, was narrated
cinematically in Siete Días de Enero, by Juan Antonio Bardem. With the
consolidation of the democratic regime, the 1978 constitution confirmed
Madrid as the capital of democratic Spain in whose support the massive
demonstrations would take place after the thwarted coup d'état of
February 23, 1981.
In 1979, the first democratic municipal
elections took place since the Second Republic in which the UCD list led
by José Luis Álvarez received the most votes, but without an absolute
majority. Enrique Tierno Galván was elected mayor of the city, thanks to
the pact between the PSOE and the PCE. During this mayor's office, the
City Council regenerated the city from an urban and social point of
view. What was the dying capital of Franco's regime became the most
important cultural center in Europe. The Madrid Movida was an example of
this strength. There were also important improvements in the quality of
life of the city's inhabitants. After the death of Enrique Tierno
Galván, he was replaced by Juan Barranco, from the PSOE, with support
from the PCE. Later the city turned to more conservative positions with
Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún, from the CDS, and José María Álvarez del
Manzano, from the PP. Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, of the PP, was appointed
mayor of the city after his period at the head of the government of the
Autonomous Community of Madrid. Finally, on December 27, 2011, Ana
Botella becomes the first mayor in the history of the municipality,
after the appointment of her predecessor as Minister of Justice of
Spain.
The democratic election of mayors definitely brings great
benefits to the city, as mayors are forced to improve the quality of
life of citizens, to whom they respond (Franco mayors were directly
elected by Franco): construction of libraries, sports facilities, health
centers; elimination of shanty towns; cleaning of the Manzanares River;
road improvement; closure of the M-30 to the north, burial of the M-30
in the Manzanares area; construction of new ring roads (M-40, M-45,
M-50), while increasing the capacity of access roads (converted into
highways or duplicated with a toll highway); parking regulation (ORA) in
the interior of the city, which reaches the limit of the M-30, with
repeated neighborhood protests, all with the aim of absorbing and
regulating the growing traffic. The role of large real estate companies
has been decisive in marking the new urban style in the city of Madrid.
The new neighborhoods are organized around the block closed to the
outside, with a core made up of green areas, swimming pools, children's
play areas, sports courts, etc. This new urban style has been modeling a
new social concept in which the street is no longer understood as a
place of coexistence but as a mere transit element. People in Madrid now
tend to meet more in bars, private homes, parks or even parking lots,
creating previously unknown phenomena such as the bottle.
On the
morning of March 11, 2004, the city's commuter transport network was the
scene of the attacks of March 11, 2004 claimed by Al-Qaeda, the most
serious terrorist attack suffered in Spain and in the European Union. in
which 192 people were murdered and more than 1,900 were injured. On
March 11, 2007, just three years later, the kings of Spain inaugurated a
memorial to the victims of the attack in the Plaza de Carlos V. On
December 30, 2006, ETA blew up the parking lot of terminal T4 at Barajas
airport, causing the death of two people. Since the attacks against Luis
Carrero Blanco (1973) and the bar on Correo Street (1974, in front of
the General Directorate of Security), Madrid has suffered a good part of
the activity of this terrorist group, as well as that of other groups of
all signs, such as those of the extreme right, GRAPO and Islamic
terrorism.
In the 21st century, the city continues to address new
challenges: maintaining the population within the urban core (Madrid is
the municipality in Spain in which the increase in housing prices has
been greatest); expansion of the city (with the creation of new
neighborhoods through the Urban Action Plan: Montecarmelo, La Peseta,
Arroyo del Fresno, Valdebebas, Las Tablas, Sanchinarro, Ensanche de
Vallecas...); remodeling of the historic center; absorption and
integration of immigration that comes to the city.
By plane
The Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport is located approximately 13
kilometers from the city center. It is among the 20 busiest airports
in the world. You can reach it from almost anywhere in the world,
especially from Latin America.
There are several alternatives that connect the capital with the
airport. Line 8 of the Metro de Madrid offers services from the
Nuevos Ministerios interchange to the "Aeropuerto T1-T2-T3" and
"Aeropuerto T4" stops. The latter shares a location with the railway
station that leaves from the airport through the Renfe Cercanías
service , being the C-1 and C-10 lines that operate the service to
the stations of Chamartín, Nuevos Ministerios, Recoletos, Atocha,
Méndez Álvaro, Delicias, Pirámides and Príncipe Pío.
Several bus lines of the Municipal Transport Company ( EMT ) connect
the airport with the city. Line 200 connects terminals T1, T2, T3
and T4 with the Avenida América interchange. Line 101 with
Canillejas and line 203 Express from the airport that runs 24 hours
a day and connects the four terminals of the airport with O'Donell,
Cibeles and Atocha (this last stop is not operational between 11:30
p.m. and 6 p.m. 00).
Regarding the journey by taxi , you must take into account certain
precautions at the airport. As of January 7, 2014, a new fixed rate
for the current airport began to apply for all official taxis of the
municipality of Madrid, white with a red band. The fare is 30 euros
from or to the airport from any point that is located within the
first ring road of the city that receives the name of M-30 . These
are the most trips that will be made because the entire tourist area
and the historic center of Madrid are within the M-30 .
It is a fixed price and can not be increased under any
circumstances. Includes all possible reasons: passengers, suitcases,
hypothetical weekend supplements, night, return, tolls. No surcharge
is admissible under any circumstances. If the taxi driver tries to
charge more than that amount request a receipt (they are required to
deliver it for the amount paid) and must be reported to the Madrid
City Council.
If the trip is from the airport to a point outside the M-30 , the
current rates that must be shown on a sticker inside the taxi in the
passenger window will apply. Again, in case of doubt, request a
receipt for the amount paid (everything must be included and
detailed on the receipt). If they have overcharged, the taxi driver
must be reported to the Madrid City Council.
Because taxi drivers must wait long lines to pick up passengers at
the airport terminals, some taxi drivers may be reluctant (and
sometimes even aggressive) when the desired destination is a place
not far from the airport. It is necessary to inform airport managers
when the taxi driver refuses to offer service for this reason.
Likewise, it is also frequent that some unscrupulous taxi drivers
try to charge non-existent supplements when it comes to short races
starting from the airport.
As for other Private Transportation Services, we can find different
options such as Aerocity or DotTransfers , specializing in private
door-to-door transportation from the airport to any point in the
city or vice versa, transfers to business events or individuals
By train
Madrid is the center of the Spanish High Speed Network (AVE). As
for international connections, there is a train service to Lisbon
and Paris , the latter operated jointly by Renfe and SNCF under the
name Elipsos . As of January 9, 2013, the inauguration date of the
Barcelona - Gerona - Figueras line , it is possible to travel from
Madrid to Paris by high speed, with transfer to a TGV train at
Figueras station. It is planned that, as of April 2013, there will
be trains that make the journey without transshipment.
Madrid has two main stations: the Puerta de Atocha station and the
Madrid - Chamartín station . From the Puerta de Atocha station all
trains leave to the south and east of the peninsula, and all
high-speed trains with the exception of the trains that run towards
Valladolid . The station of Chamartín is the terminus station of the
connections with the north, including the Basque Country and Galicia
. Trenhotel services to Paris, Lisbon and Galicia also depart from
Chamartín station.
International rail services
Paris , France ( Trenhotel Elipsos Francisco de Goya )
Lisbon , Portugal. ( Trenhotel Lusitania )
Cerbère , France ( Costa Brava Star )
By bus
Stations of:
Avenue of America.
South Bus Station , in the Méndez Álvaro interchange.
Moncloa
Plaza de Castilla.
Elliptical Square
Prince Pius.
By car
Highways: Madrid is practically in the center of the Peninsula.
It has a network of radial highways to the main points of the
country (whose names follow the direction of the hands of the
clock). The free highways are A-1 , A-2 , A-3 , A-4 , A-5 and A-6 .
Some of them have toll alternatives with the same number, but
preceded by an R. The toll to leave Madrid is between five and ten
euros.
To these motorways we must add the A-42 motorway (Madrid-Toledo),
and its toll alternative, the AP-41.
Circumvallation : Begin with an M and surround the city. Not all do
the full circle. M-30 , M-40 , M-45 , M-50 . Sometimes, the
orientation can be somewhat complicated with the existing
indications if you do not know some streets of Madrid and its road
network. The M-30 runs for a good part of its journey underground
where there will be no reception of GPS devices for the navigators
of the cars.
By bicycle
For certain routes, an increasingly popular alternative is to use
the bicycle. There is a public rental system managed by the EMT
(Municipal Transport Company) called BiciMAD and which makes
available to its users an infrastructure of stations located on
several streets in a large part of the interior of the M-30 as well
as more than 2,000 bicycles in total. For a more tourist use, the
occasional Card of 1, 3 or 5 days has been created and does not
require the payment of an annual subscription. The fee for the first
hour of use (or its corresponding fraction) is € 2.
There are also private bicycle rental services that are scattered
around the city but unlike those of BiciMAD, they are not electric.
You have to use a mobile phone with data to locate and unlock them
in order to use them. Two very widespread are oBike (yellow), Mobike
(gray) and Donkey Republic (orange).
In electric scooter and similar
Increasingly, the use of light transport vehicles with wheels,
electric or not, such as skateboards, skates, skateboards,
hoverboards, segways, electric unicycles, ... well in rental regime
is well owned. The municipal regulations prohibit exhaustively the
use of this type of equipment on the sidewalks. Only pedestrians can
walk on a sidewalk. If someone wants to use one of these devices on
the sidewalk must go disassembled dragging or if it is mounted, must
go at the same speed pedestrians very difficult if not impossible if
you want to keep the balance on it.
The municipal police will fine anyone who does and the person who is
mounted on it will be responsible for any abuse of a passerby or any
other incident that may occur. Keep in mind that in case of injury
with injuries the indenmnizaciones to the injured can be a huge
amount not to mention in case of disability or death.
The City Council of Madrid approved in October 2018 a municipal
ordinance regulating the circulation of different types of vehicles.
The electric skateboards can do it exclusively by the road and by
the streets whose maximum speed is 30 km / h which are all the
streets of Madrid of a single lane either in one direction or a
single lane in each direction.
Special attention must be paid to the requirements to be able to use
this type of vehicle, such as the obligation to wear a helmet, the
minimum age to rent them or simply to be able to drive them.
The most widely used electric skateboards are those of Lime (green),
VOI. (orange), Wind (blue) and Bird (black).
By metro
The Madrid Metro is an efficient and simple service for newcomers to
the city. A single ticket for the municipality of Madrid (zone A)
costs between € 1.5 and € 2 (November 2018).
Since July 2017 it is no longer possible to buy paper tickets. It is
necessary to acquire an electronic card that can be recharged in the
machines located in all the subway stations of the network.
These cards can be purchased at some metro stations (not all),
tobacconists and other authorized points. The card costs 2.5 euros
and then you have to recharge it with the balance to be able to
travel with it. The recharge if possible in all metro stations in
the machines that are at your entrance. They can be topped up with
cash or credit and debit cards.
This card is also valid for use in EMT city buses (although the EMT
buses still allow payment in cash provided it is paid with coins or
small bills).
There are the following networks in the Madrid metro:
Metromadrid: is the metro network of the municipality of Madrid
(zone A). It is valid for a single trip between Metro stations in
zone A.
Light rail: it is a tram that connects the periphery of the city. It
has 3 lines.
Metrosur: is the Metro network in the municipalities of Alcorcón,
Leganés and Getafe (zone B1), Móstoles and Fuenlabrada (zone B2).
Metronorte: is the Metro network in the municipalities of Alcobendas
and San Sebastián de los Reyes.
Metroeste: is the Metro network in the municipalities of Coslada and
San Fernando de Henares.
TFM: is the Metro network in the municipalities of Rivas Vaciamadrid
(areas B1 and B2) and Arganda del Rey (area B3): € 1.00.
These last four are linked to the Metromadrid through the Puerta del
Sur , Tres Olivos , Estadio Olimpico and Puerta de Arganda stations
, respectively. The prices are summarized:
Simple combined ALL THE METRO NETWORK (METROMADRID, METROSUR,
METRONORTE, METROESTE AND TFM) € 3.00
Simple MetroMadrid METROMADRID (ZONE A) 1'5-2 €
Simple MetroSur METROSUR and Joaquín Vilumbrales (Line 10) (AREAS B1
and B2)
Simple MetroNorte METRONORTE (Hospital del Norte-La Granja) (ZONE
B1)
Simple MetroEste METROESTE (Henares-Barrio del Puerto) (ZONE B1)
Simple TFM TFM (Arganda-Arganda del Rey Gate) (ZONE B1, B2 and B3)
Metrobus 10 trips METROMADRID (ZONE A) and EMT € 12.20
Metrosur 10 trips METROSUR
MetroNorte 10 trips METRONORTE (Hospital del Norte-La Granja)
MetroThis 10 trips METROESTE (Henares-Barrio del Puerto)
TFM 10 trips TFM. (Gate of Arganda-Arganda del Rey) (ZONE B1, B2 and
B3)
Simple + Supplement METROMADRID (ZONE A) and to enter or exit
through the stations T-1 T-2 T-3 and T-4 € 4.50-5.00
Simple Combined Metro + Supplement ALL THE METRO NETWORK
(METROMADRID, METROSUR, METRONORTE, METROESTE AND TFM) and to enter
or exit through the stations T-1 T-2 T-3 and T-4 € 6.00
Airport supplement Necessary for entry or exit at Airport T-1 T-2
T-3 and Airport T-4 for travelers with a Metrobus ticket, Single or
Single Combined € 2
Tourist Ticket Prices according to the area (A or T) and the
duration of the subscription (1 to 7 days)
Zone A 1 day € 8.00 / 2 days € 13.40 / 3 days € 17.40 / 5 days €
20.40 / 7 days € 33.40
Zone T 1 day € 16.00 / 2 days € 26.80 / 3 days € 33.40 / 5 days €
48.00 / 7 days € 66.80
Children under 11 years: 50% discount, and children under 4 years do
not need ticket.
By bus
The single ticket costs € 1.50 and can be purchased directly from
the driver or use the MultiTransport card used to travel on the
Metro. To see the plan and news visit the Municipal Transport
Company website. All the vehicles of the EMT have free Wi-Fi.
By train
The city has a good suburban rail network, known as Cercanías and
operated by Renfe, which communicates it quickly and comfortably
with its metropolitan area and some of the most important cities in
the Community of Madrid. Currently it is formed by nine lines, and
all except the C-9 line (Cercedilla-Cotos) are part of its route
through the city.
The rates established in January 2015 are expressed here:
Crossed areas Single ticket (€) Bonotrén (€)
1 or 2
1.75
10.00
3
1.85
13.70
4
2.60
18.55
5
3.40
24.30
6
4.05
28.55
7
5.50
38.45
By taxi
The taxi service is reliable (except for some taxi drivers
especially at the airport and mainly if you are a foreigner).
The price of an official taxi service of the city of Madrid, white
with a red band, from the airport to any point that is located
within the first ring of the city ring that receives the name of
M-30 is 30 € These are the most trips that will be made because the
entire tourist area and the historic center of Madrid are within the
M-30 .
It is a fixed price and can not be increased under any
circumstances. It includes absolutely everything: suitcases,
passengers, hypothetical weekend or night supplements, ... No
surcharge is admissible under any circumstances. If the taxi driver
tries to charge more than that amount request a receipt (they are
required to deliver it and for the amount paid, can not argue that
there is any amount that is paid outside the receipt) and must be
reported.
If the trip is from the airport to a point outside the M-30 , the
current rates that must be shown on a sticker inside the taxi in the
passenger window will apply. Again, in case of doubt, request a
receipt for the amount paid (everything must be included and
detailed on the receipt). If they have overcharged, the taxi driver
should be reported at the town hall.
Transport vehicles with driver (VTC)
There are several companies that offer transport vehicles with
driver. From the most widespread in the world such as Uber or Cabify
to local car rental companies with driver.
There are also shared minibuses with other travelers who travel
around Madrid leaving and picking up travelers.
Visit the section of private pick-up services at the airport with a
fixed price. There are two companies: MAD SHUTTLE and Aerociti.
In private car
To visit the center of Madrid, it is preferable to leave the car
parked and use public transport. At peak times the traffic is
unbearable and finding parking may be impossible at certain times of
the day.
Much of the historic center are areas for residents. This means that
if you enter them a vehicle that does not belong to a resident will
be fined. The accesses with cameras are watched and the city council
is very effective fining those vehicles. Numerous agents run through
the city, fining improperly parked vehicles.
Additionally, the Madrid City Council has planned for the fall of
2018 to establish a large area called the Priority Residence Area
(APR) covers the entire historic center of Madrid whose access to
vehicles will be vetoed. Only vehicles belonging to residents of
that area and electric vehicles, other than public transport (buses,
taxis and VTC) can enter.
There are parking meters throughout the center (particularly
throughout the area within the circle of the M-30 ). The green areas
are more expensive than the blue ones and allow to park less time.
There are guards continuously patrolling the areas to fine anyone
who is incorrectly parked.
In addition, the most polluting cars pay more, they have more
restrictions and in case of episodes of high pollution they are the
first to be prohibited from entering.
A tip: if you arrive in Madrid by car leave it parked in a garage as
soon as possible and take public transport.
In rental car
Multiple companies provide car rental service at the airport
arrivals, train stations and other points in the city. If you are
going to be alone in the historical center it is a very bad option
because you will have problems to park it (foresee the cost of the
parking) and also you will not be able to enter with them to the
historic center. This option is discouraged for inside the city
although it may be useful to travel to nearby places with the
possibility of parking. Some companies rent electric cars which give
a little more flexibility in the old town although the parking
problem persists: Bluemove and Wattacars are two of them.
Cars and motorcycles shared (Carsharing)
The service of shared cars or motorcycles is becoming more popular
in Madrid. Many of these vehicles are electric propulsion which
gives them enormous advantages in terms of access to restricted
areas and the possibility of free parking. Therefore, attention
should be paid to know if the vehicle being rented is electric or
with an explosion engine to take advantage of the first ones.
To be able to use them, it is necessary to have data coverage in the
mobile phone, install an application in it (app) and enter personal
data and a card as a means of payment. Some companies allow to use
the same application in the different cities where they provide
service. The price is based on the time the vehicle is used and is
charged to the means of payment provided in the user's profile in
the application.
The companies that provide service in Madrid are:
Electric cars : Car2Go, Emov, Zity
Hybrid cars : Wible, whose special feature is that it can be used
both inside Madrid and out of the city, which is a good option for
visits to places outside the urban area.
Automobiles with thermal engines : Advance, I breathe
Electric motorcycles : eCooltra, Muving, Ioscoot, Movo, Coup,
Acciona Mobility and soon will be also Yugo
This service may have its usefulness but presents its problems for
tourists:
- You have to have data service on your mobile phone. For tourists
from the European Union it is not a problem because you can continue
to use your phones with the same rates as in your country of origin
but if the phone is from a company outside the European Union the
cost of using data roaming can be so High that the cost skyrockets.
- Cars have the disadvantage that you have to find a place to park
them. Those who are electric can park for free in paid areas (blue
or green) but the problem is that there is usually no place to park
even in those areas. That is why it is preferable to use motorcycles
that can be parked in the exclusive areas of motorcycle parking or
above the sidewalks if it is wide enough and if there is no obstacle
to an exit, zebra crossing, ...
An additional advantage that electric cars have is that they can
access the Residential Priority Area (APR) a large area that covers
the entire historic center of the city of Madrid whose access is
vetoed to other cars. Even so, it is very difficult to find parking
lots and this type of cars can not be parked in private car parks,
they can only park on the street.
- Both cars and motorcycles have specific areas of use that coincide
with the city center (in Madrid it is approximately the area that is
inside the M-30 although it is necessary to check on the website of
each company its area of use). Normally all areas of the historical
center of Madrid are included in the areas of use.
If you want to stay longer in Madrid, you will look around for an
apartment - and then quickly realize that the wallet will at best
give you a room in a shared apartment. Housing in Madrid is
extremely expensive, and to make matters worse, housing in Spain is
usually bought and not rented. Rented rooms and apartments are
usually furnished. There are many offers at the Spanish "second
hand" (segundamano).
But even for a shorter stay (e.g. a
week), a vacation rental can be a cheap option, especially if you
are traveling as a family or small group. A wide range of holiday
apartments can be found on portals such as airBnB. Some of the
apartments are from Madrilenians who are temporarily not there, but
some are rented exclusively to tourists. In both cases, these
apartments are mostly in apartment buildings and have a
self-catering kitchen, so that you can experience some of the
everyday life of the locals in the house and while shopping.
A place to stay in the immediate city center (Sol, Letras, Austrias
or La Latina) naturally has the advantage of being in close
proximity to the main sights. Malasaña and Chueca are still close
enough to the main points of visitor interest (1-2km walk or 1-2
stops on the metro) and slightly cheaper. It's also surrounded by
more locals than tourists, yet still has a variety of restaurants,
eateries and nightlife options. If you invest in a cheap weekly or
10-trip metro card, accommodation in Chamberí, Arganzuela or Moncloa
(each 2-3 km from the city center) is also not a problem. If you are
looking for luxury accommodation surrounded by chic restaurants and
representative offices of expensive designer brands, you will find
what you are looking for in Salamanca.
Simply
There are
countless small hostels, some with very reasonable prices.
Upscale
Villa Real Hotel, in the Plaza de las Cortes. A small
pleasant hotel in a central location. The hotel has a small
restaurant and a bar where you can eat small dishes. Feature: ★★★★★.
Price: A double room costs €215 per night (11/2008).
Westin
Palace Hotel, in Plaza de los Cortes. An old luxury hotel. If you
can't live there for cost reasons, you should still see the hall
with the large Art Nouveau dome and have a coffee or cava/champagne.
Feature: ★★★★★.
Hotel Petit Palace Lealtad Plaza, c/Antonio
Maura, 5, 28014 Madrid. Tel: +34 915 224 547. Design Hotel, El
Retiro, Madrid. Feature: ★★★★.
Madrilenian tapas contain all the delicacies of the entire
Spanish cuisine, such as seafood, ham and sausages, pickled
vegetables, potato dishes or cheese.
Dishes typical of Madrid
are:
Sopa de ajo, garlic soup, usually with peppers. grilled ham,
fried bread and a lost egg
Callos a la madrileña, tripe stew
Oreja de cerdo, pork ears in garlic
Cocido madrileño, chickpea,
ham, chorizo, leek and pasta stew. The soup is served and eaten
first, followed by chickpeas and meat on separate plates.
The
following restaurants are known for the Cocido madrileño:
La
Bola, Guillermo Rolland, 1. Tel.: +34 915476930, Email:
abola@labola.es. Open: Mon to Sat 1pm to 4pm, 8.30pm to 11pm, Sun
closed. Price: €35.
, near Royal Palace.
Lhardy, Carrera de
San Jeronimo 8. Tel.: +34 915213385, Fax: +34 915 231 171.
La
Daniela Goya, Calle General Pardinas 21. Tel.: +34 915752329, Email:
lhardy@lhardy.com. Price: €30.
Taberna Malacatin, Calle Rada 5.
Tel.: +34 9913655241.
, Reservations recommended.
Of course
there are restaurants in Madrid with specialties of regional Spanish
cuisine, for example:
Goizeko kabi, Comandante Zorita, 37.
Tel: +34 915330185, email: isaac@goizekogaztelupe.com. Price: €60.
, Basque cuisine.
Casa Gallego, Calle de Bordadores. Tel.: +34
915 419 055, +34 915 419 056, Fax: +34 915 591 225, Email:
reservas@lacasagallega.com. Open: daily from 12 p.m. to midnight.
Price: € 35. Edit info
, Galician cuisine.
O'pazo, Calle de la
Reina Mercedes, 20. Tel.: +34 915532333, e-mail: opazo@opazo.es.
Price: 55.
, Galician cuisine.
SEÑORIO DE ALCOCER, Av. Alberto
Alcocer, 1. Tel.: +34 913451696, email: info@senoriodealcocer.es.
Open: 1pm to 4pm, 8.30pm to midnight, so closed. Price: €60.
,Metro: Cuzco (Línea 10), Navarre cuisine.
EL CALDERO, Huertas
(Centro), 15. Tel.: +34 914295044. Price: €35.
, Catalan cuisine
from Murcia.
LA BARRACA, Reina, 29. Email: info@labarraca.es.
Open: daily 1.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m., 8.30 p.m. to midnight. Price:
€30.
, Metro Gran Vía or Banco de España Catalan cuisine from
Valencia, rice, paella.
Cheap
VIPS, at the Neptune
Fountain next to the Starbucks Cafe. You can have breakfast or lunch
there at a reasonable price.
Cafeteria Prado, at Paseo del Prado
n. 16. A breakfast cafe where you can have a light meal or a coffee
at any time.
Middle
Café «Embassy», Paseo de la
Castellana, 12, Madrid, 28046 (on the corner of Ayala street. Metro
Colón). Tel: +34 914 359 480. The Embassy is a tea room opened in
1931, by Margaret Kearney Taylor, as an English tearoom for the
staff of the many existing foreign embassies in the area. It is now
a restaurant, tea room and bakery. The café is very famous for the
international spies who frequented it during the Second War, as well
as for the nearby Hotel «Ritz», which was the center of Nazi
espionage operations in Madrid in the early 1940's. To this day,
many personalities, politicians, aristocrats, intellectuals, .
always at the same time. Open: Mon-Fri 09:30-21:00.
La Vaca
Argentina, Calle San Agustin 3 near the Plaza de las Cortes
(Parliament Building). The restaurant offers good quality meat,
Iberian or Argentinian beef. Prices are reasonable: starters 8-15
euros, main courses 20-25 euros. A carpaccio, for example, costs
11.50 euros and a solomillo (fillet steak) 23.50 euros. Argentinian
Malbec red wine is served with it. All prices 11/2008. The
restaurant opens at 8:30 p.m. in the evening.
Casa Botín, C/.
Cuchilleros, 17. Tel.: +34 366 42 17, Email:
botin@restaurantebotin.com. Open: 1pm to 4pm, 8pm to midnight.
Price: €40.
, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the
oldest restaurant in the world, founded in 1725.
Albaroque
Tradicion, Atocha 34. Tel.: +34 896570. Price: menu €27-35, a la
carte €33-40.
, Metro station Anton Martin.
Bolivar, Manuela
Malasana 28. Tel: +34 451274. Open: Mon to Sat 1.30pm to 3.30pm,
8.30pm to 11.30pm, Sun closed. Price: menu €38, a la carte €30 to
€45.
, Metro Station San Bernardo.
La Fragua de Sebin, Divino
Pastor 21. Tel.: +34 459597. Price: menu €30-45, a la carte €25-40.
, Metro Station San Bernardo.
Las Tortillas de Gabino, Rafael
Calvo 20. Tel: +34 197505. Open: Mon to Sat 1.30pm to 4pm, 9pm to
11.30pm, Sun closed. Price: A la Varte € 25 to 35.
, Metro
station Ruben Dario.
Quintana 30. Tel: +34 426520. Open: Sun
closed evenings. Price: A la carte €30 to €35.
, Metro Station
Arguelles.
Upscale
Restaurant Balsac, at 7 Calle Moreto.
Tel.: +34 914 200 177. Two stars. A gourmet restaurant that ranks
among the best in town. You have to reckon with 65-75 euros per
person for a starter, main course, red wine (1 bottle for 2 people),
mineral water and coffee, but you will be served a meal that is
excellent in terms of quality and taste. The Balsac is closed on
Sat. (noon), Sun and the 2nd half of August.
cafes and pastry
shops
Pasteleria La Duquesita, Calle Fernando VI, 2 (Metro 4, 5,
10 Alsonso Martínez). Tel.: +34 91 308 02 31. Traditional
patisserie, offers excellent tarts that are also beautiful to look
at. Price: tarts 5-6 €.
Madrid is not called the city with the longest nights in Europe for
nothing. If you want to go out here, you will always find something to
suit your taste and - if you wish - until late in the morning. For
non-Madrilenians, the going-out times may be a bit unusual: the real
going out starts at 10 p.m. at the earliest, rather later, and often
lasts until 6 or 7 in the morning. Longer is also possible. Before you
really go out, it's best to sit down in one of the cozy street cafés,
for example on the Plaza de Santa Ana. It is precisely from this square
that you can discover the nightlife of the Huertas district with its
umpteen pubs and bars.
If you are specifically looking for
information and event tips and don't like being pushed down the street
by the crowds, you should look in one of the major newspapers (El País,
El Mundo, ABC). These offer free time supplements for Madrid on certain
days. Another source is the "Guía del Ocio" (leisure guide). The small
booklet is published weekly, is always valid from Friday to Thursday and
is available at almost every kiosk for €1.00. From the theater program
to restaurant tips, you will find everything there.
Flamenco
Cafe de Chinitas, Calle Torija 7. Tel: +34 915595135. Open: Mon to Sat
8pm to midnight, shows at 8pm and 10.30pm, Sun closed.
, Metro Santo
Domingo.
Candela, Calle de Olmio 2. Tel.: +34 914673382.
, Metro
Anton Martin or Tirso de Molina.
Cardamomo, Calle Echegaray 15. Tel:
+34 913690757. Open: Tue to Sun, show 10pm, food 9pm. Price: entry and
drink €39, entry, drink and dinner €72. Edit info, Seville Metro.
Corral de la Moreria, Calle Moreria 17. Tel.: +34 913658446, Fax: +34
913641219, Email: info@corraldelamoreria.com. Open: Performances at 9pm
and 11pm. Price: Admission € 38.90.
, Metro Opera.
Classical
music
Auditorio Nacional de Musica (Auditorio Nacional de Música,
Metro-Cruz del Rayo y Prosperidad), Calle Principe de Vergara 446. Tel.:
+34 913370140, +34 913370139, Fax: +34 913370300, Email:
auditorio.nacional@ inaem.mcu.es . Ticket sales Plaza de Andrés Segovia
entrance Mon 4pm to 6pm, Sat to Fri 10am to 5pm, Sat 11am to 1pm.
musicals
Teatro Lara, Calle Corredera Baja de San Pablo, 15
(Metro 3, 5 Callao). Small private theater in Malasaña, mainly musicals,
also concerts.
theatre
Matadero Madrid. Metro Legazpi.
Madrid's former slaughterhouse has been transformed into a
state-of-the-art cultural center that also hosts theatrical and musical
performances. Open: Tue to Fri 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sat, Sun 11 a.m. to 10
p.m.
Zarzuela
Teatro de la Zarzuela (Metro Station: Banco de
Espana.), Calle de Jovellanos 4. Tel: +34 5245400. The zarzuela is the
Spanish version of the operetta. The works of the Spanish classics
Calderon de la Barca or Lope de Vega often serve as models.
For the daily supply of water, chewing gum and other
basic groceries, the so-called Chinos are particularly recommended in
the center - small shops ("Alimentacion y frutos secos"), which, as the
name suggests, are mostly run by Chinese and also open at night have. On
the other hand, there are few supermarkets in the tourist areas and they
are sometimes quite unobtrusive and overlooked.
If you get out of
the direct inner city area a bit, you will find many cheap fashion and
shoe shops.
In Madrid there are still some typical old small
shops that could not survive in other cities, for example:
1
Belloso, Calle Mayor 33 (Metro Sol). Religious Articles.
2 Capas
Sesena, Calle de la Cruz 23 (Metro Sol). mantillas.
3 Casa de Diego,
Puerta del Sol 12 (Metro Sol). Walking sticks, umbrellas, castanets,
combs, scarves, fans.Edit info
4 Casa Hernanz, Calle Toledo, 18
(Metro Sol). espadrilles.
5 Casa Jimenez, Calle de Preciados 42
(Metro Sol). Scarves, mantillas, fans, combs.
6 Casa Yustas, Plaza
Mayor 30 (Metro Sol or Opera). hats.
7 El Caballo Cojo, Calle de
Segovia, 7 (Metro La Latina). pottery.
8 El Flamenco Vive, Calle del
Conde de Lemos 7 (Metro Opera). Everything you need for flamenco:
guitars, castanets and dresses.
9 La Favorita, Plaza Mayor 25 (Metro
Sol). hats.
10 ABC Serrano (Edificio ABC
Serrano), Calle Serrano, 61, Paseo de Castellana, 34 (Metro Núñez de
Balboa or Ruben Darío) wikipediacommons. The former editorial and
printing works of the conservative daily ABC was built in 1920 in
neoplateresque and neomudéjar style. In 1991-1993 it was transformed
into an elegant shopping center with more than 80 shops. Open: Mon-Sat
9.15am-9pm, Sun 12pm-8pm.
11 El Jardin de Serrano, Calle Goya 6-8
(Metro Serrano). Shopping center with more than 20 shops.
12 Isolée,
Calle Claudio Coello, 55 (Metro Serrano). Tel: +34 902876136. Open:
Mon-Sat 10.30am-8.30pm.
13 Moda Shopping, Av. del General Perón,
38-40 or Paseo Castellana 95 (Metro Line 10 Santiago Bernabeu). Tel: +34
915811525. Open: Mon-Sat 10am-9pm.
14 Principe Pio, Paseo de la
Florida 2 (Principe Pio Train Station). Tel.: +34 917580040, email:
info@ccprincipepio.com. Open: 10am - 10pm.
15 Las Rozas Village, Las Rozas (accessible from the A6 motorway exit 19 or by bus 625 or 628 from Moneloa bus station). Outlet center in a suburb about 20 km northwest of Madrid. Open: Mon to Fri 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sat 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
16 El Corte Ingles, Calle Serrano 47. Tel.: +34 4325490. Metro Station: Serrano. If you're looking for something special and can't find it anywhere else, try El Corte Ingles. The department store sometimes has the charm of a KaDeWe in the 1950s (only with less friendly staff) at today's KaDeWe prices - but there is a lot that doesn't exist anywhere else. Open: 10am to 10pm, some public holidays 11am to 9pm.
17 Mercado de
San Miguel, Plaza San Miguel (near Plaza Mayor, Metro Sol). The market
hall was built from 1913 to 1916 as an iron construction. The best time
to come here is in the morning.
18 Mercado de la Paz, Calle Ayala 26
(Metro Velazquez or Serrano). Tel: +34 4350743. The building was built
by Gustave Eiffel in the 19C and has been used as a covered market since
193. Here you can find cheese, meat and other foods. Open: Mon to Fri 9
a.m. to 2 p.m., 5.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m., Sat 9 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.
19
Mercado de Maravillas, Calle Bravo Murillo 122 (Metro Alvorado or Cuatro
Caminos). Tel: +34 5348429. The largest indoor market in Madrid is known
for its wide range of fresh fish.
20 Adolfo Dominguez,
Calle Serrano 5 and 96 (Metro Serrano and Rubén Darío respectively).
Phone: +34 5778280, +34 5767053.
21 Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Calle
Serrano 27 (Metro Serrano). Tel: +34 3190501. Open: Mon-Sat 10am-8.30pm.
22 Devota y Lomba, Calle de San Mateo 20 (Metro Tribunal or Alonso
Martínez). Tel.: +34 913086020. Open: Mon-Fri 10am-7pm.
23 Elena
Benarroch, Calle de Zurbarán 16 (Alonso Martínez). Phone: +34 914355144.
Hoss Homeless, Calle Serrano 16. Tel.: +34 9178810612. Metro Serrano.
Javier Larrainzar, Calle Jorge Juan, 44.
Jesus del Pozo, Calle
Almirante,. Tel: +34 915313646. Metro Chueca or Colon. Open: Mon to Fri
11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 5.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m., Sat 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Kina
Fernandez, Calle Claudio Coello 75. Tel.: +34 914262420. Metro Serrano
or Nunez de Balboa.
La Compania Multihispana, Calle Hortaleza 30.
Tel.: +34 9155323833. Metro Gran Via.
Loreak Mendian, Calle Argensola
5. Tel: +34 915214152. Metro Alonso Martinez. Open: Mon to Fri 11 a.m.
to 2 p.m., 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Sat 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Lydia Delgado,
Hermosilla, 49. Tel: +34 915751072. Metro Velazquez.
Paco Casado,
Calle Castello 6. Tel.: +34 914310150. Metro Avenida de Anerica.
Pedro del Hierro, , 24th and 63rd Serrano Streets. Tel.: +34 915756906.
Serrano Metro.
Peter Back, 20 Admiral Street. Tel.: +34 915216628.
Metro Colon.
Piedad de Diego, 90 Lagasca Street Tel: +34 915769180.
Metro Nunez de Balboa
Garcia Purification, 28 Serrano Street.
Robert Torretta, George John, 14 (George John Alley). Metro Colon.
Opening hours: Mo until Fr 10.30 am to 2 pm, 5 pm to 8 pm, Sa 10.30 am
to 2.00 pm.
Roberto Verino, 27 Claudio Coello Street or 30 Serrano
Street. Tel.: +34 915777391. Serrano Metro.
Supreme, 24 Heroes Martin
Street. Tel.: +34 915410042. Metro Ventura Rodriguez. Hours: Mo to Sa 10
to 14 hours, 17 to 20 hours.
Sybilla, George John, 14 bis (George
John Alley). Tel.: +34 91 5781322. Metro Cologne. Geöffnet: My bus From
10.30 to 20.30 Hours.
The Deli Room, Santa Barbara 4. Tel.: +34
915211983. Metro Court. Hours: Mo to Fr 10 to 14, 17 to 21 Hours, Sa 11
to 15, 17 to 21 Hours.
Victory and Lucino, 75 Lagasca Street. Tel.:
+34 914318786. Nunez Metro of Balboa.
La
Boulette, 28 Ayala Street, Peace Market (Salamanca). Tel.: +34 431 77
25. Metro Station Salamanca, large chain. Opening hours: 8 to 3 pm, 5.30
pm to 8 pm.
El Palacio de los quesos, Calle Mayor, 53. Tel.: +34 548
16 23. with a selection of more than 80 cases. Hours: Mo to Fr 9 to
2.30pm, 5pm to 8.30pm, Sa 9 to 2.30pm.
La Garriga, Promenade of the
Castle, 153 (Castle). Tel.: +34 570 01 39. Cuzco Metro Station. Hours:
Mo to Fr 9 to 3.30pm , 5pm to 8pm, Sa 9 to 2.30pm.
Cuenllas, Ferraz
Street, 3 (Arguelles). Tel.: +34 547 31 33. Metro Station Ventura
Rodriguez / Spain Square. Hours: Mo to Fr 9 to 3.30 pm, 5 pm to 8 pm, Sa
9 to 2.30 pm.
The Lioness, St. Elizabeth Street, 1 (Footwash). Tel.:
+34 369 06 81. Anthony Martin Metro Station. Hours: Mo to Fr 9 to 3.30
pm, 5 pm to 8 pm, Sa 9 to 2.30 pm.
Lopez Pascual, 13 Lower Running
Street (Malasaña). Tel.: +34 522 85 1. Novitiate Metro Station.
St. Guines Chocolate Shop, pSt. Guines Bakery
5. Tel.: +3
Antigua Pastelleria del Pozo, Calle del Pozo 8. Tel.: +34
915223894. Established since 1830 and is the oldest confectionery in
Madrid. Your specialties are turrones (Honey with almonds).
El
Riojano, Calle Mayor 10. Tel.: +34 913664482. Couches and their own
chocolates.
La Mallorqina, Sun Gate 8. Tel.: +34 915211201. old barns
from the year
Master Churrero, 2 Hyacinth Benavente Square. Tel.: +3
House Miro. is a shopping mall that has owned and sold turrones and
mazapanes since Turrones is a sweeter almond/pepper mass. You will find
the barn in the Carrera San Jeronimo 30. The race starts at the
Parliament and carries the mountain up to Plaza Puerto del Sol.
The
Bow Tie, 14 Villanueva Street. Tel.: +34 914357454. Metro Recollections.
Sweets and chocolates, the specialty are small choices of chocolate
(pajaritas).
La Violeta, Plaza de Canalejas 6. Tel.: +34 915225522.
Metro Seville, southern gardens since 1915, furniture in shape and color
of various.
Oriol Balaguer, Ortega and Gasset Street , 44. Tel.: +34
914016463. Balboa Subway (L5, L9), List (L4) Geöffnet: Mo bis Fr 9 bis 9
pm, So 9 bis 2.30 pm.
Bomboniera Santa, Calle Serrano , 56. Tel.: +34
915768646. Serrano Subway (L4) Transportation: Mo bus 10am to 1417pm to
8.30pm
Acosta, 36 Beautiful Street. Tel.: +34
917103026. Velazquez Metro.
Camper, Precadios Street 2. Callao
Subway.
Gloves Luque, Calle Espoz y Mina 3. Tel.: +34 915223287.
Metro Sun, for more than 100 years has been hands-on.
Loewe, 26
Serrano Street (Ladies, 34 Serrano Street (Men). Tel.: +34 915776056,
+34 914263588. Serrano Metro or Gran Via.
Manolo Blahnik, Calle
Serrano , 58. Tel.: +34 915759648. Metro Columbus (L4) , Serrano (L4),
the most famous Spanish shoe designers. Hours: 10am to 2pm, 4.30pm to
8.30pm.
Nero Denda, 38 Castle Street. Tel.: +34 914359723. Velazquez
Metro, Handtaschen.
Piedmont, Marquis of Monastery Street, 5. Tel.:
+34 917025561. Serrano Metro. Hours: Mo to Fr 11 to 8.30pm, Sa 11 to
2.30pm, 5.30pm to 8.30pm Hours.
Der Flohmarkt The
Trail. The "Flohmarkt" in Madrid, although only in some parts of the
lower streets the name Flohmarkt really worth it. In most areas it is
actually a market, on the handler all possible to sell. Has any Sunday
schedule been found static. Recommend it, not much later than 11 hours,
then it is still not so extreme voll. On the trail gilt even more than
actually already in Madrid: Hand on Gold! Backpacks carried by the
bodies, the bag stays with the hand!
Book Fair. Metro Atocha, at
Botanical Garden and Parque de Retiro, some books.
Coin and Stamp
Market, Main Square. Metro Sun, Municipalities and Brief Markets.
Geöffnet: So this morning.
Real Fabrica de Tapices (Royal Carpet Manufactory), Calle de Funterrabia 2. Tel: +34 943405501, Fax: +34 915513409. Metro Mendez Pelayo or Atocha. The Royal Carpet Manufactory was founded in 1721 and is one of the most famous carpet manufacturers in Europe. Carpets and tapestries are still made here today and you can watch the draftsmen and weavers at work. Around 50 craftsmen are currently employed here. A square meter of tapestry costs up to € 9,000. The carpet manufacture also specializes in restoration work. Open: Mon to Fri 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Price: €3
Lavinia, Calle Ortega y Gasset 16. Tel: +34 4260604. Metro
station Nunez de Balboa, offers more than 4000 different wines and
spirits.
Mariano Aguado, Calle Echegaray 19. Tel.: +34 4296088. is a
wine shop that has been in business for 150 years. Also of note is the
shop's painted ceiling. Open: Mon to Fri 9.30 a.m. to 2 p.m., 5.30 p.m.
to 8 p.m., Sat, Sun 9.30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Madrid is less dangerous than is often made out to be.
Nonetheless, crime is a serious problem that tourists can also and
especially have to deal with. The following tips will help to avoid
unpleasant experiences:
A ubiquitous plague is pickpocketing and
trickery. A large number of mainly Romanian children relieve tourists in
particular of a lot of money every day. You are e.g. B. at the Plaza
Mayor with a bit of observation to discover at work. Popular and more
likely to be perpetrated by older thieves is the careless opening of
backpacks carried on the back in the subway, on the escalators or on
certain bus routes. The carelessness that arises, for example, when
using a mobile phone is also a popular feature. The main areas of theft
are the Puerta del Sol and Nuevos Ministerios metro stations, as well as
transfer stations between different lines in general, as they offer the
perpetrators more escape options.
Also beware of women who pin a
flower on you or hand out sprigs of rosemary and ask for some small
change. This is just for taking out the wallet and making it easier to
steal. Otherwise, if you give money to beggars, there is a risk that
they will work with thieves who watch where the "benefactor" puts his
money. Of course, you shouldn't get involved with shell players, buy
"magically" dancing comic figures or sign petitions that you don't
understand. Occasionally one hears of con artists posing as police
officers and claiming to be looking for counterfeit money or drugs. In
fact, of course, they want to search the victims' pockets to get
valuables. The real police will not readily search tourists and will
never simply ask you to leave your purse or bag with them. Other con
artist scams involve giving directions on the map (tell someone on the
map to show you the way while being robbed), inviting you to a game of
street football, claiming you've just been covered in bird droppings
(the friendly con man helps clean, to distract the victim) or plain,
simple jostling.
Bumbags or neck pouches are therefore
recommended, worn under the T-shirt and with little content. Distribute
money better, for example in trouser pockets. Anyone who does not have a
second identification document (e.g. passport) should at least keep a
copy in the hotel - this makes it easier to obtain it again if the worst
comes to the worst. If you like it modern, you can scan everything and
store it in a password-protected and, if possible, encrypted area on
your website. Before you leave, you should make a note of your credit
and bank card numbers as well as the blocking phone numbers of the
respective issuers. Leave non-essential cards and IDs in Germany!
Since ATMs can be tampered with, it's a good idea to only use them
during bank branch opening hours so you can get help from staff if you
need it.
Real Academia Española de la Historia (Real Academia de la Historia,
Royal Spanish History Academy), 21 Calle de Leon (Metro Antón Martín)
wikipediacommons. Built in 1788 by the architect of the Prado, Juan de
Villanova, the Academy contains a library containing more than 200,000
books and manuscripts. Open: reading room Mon to Fri 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., 4
p.m. to 7 p.m., Jul and Sep 8.15 a.m. to 3 p.m., Aug closed.
Biblioteca Pública Municipal Iván de Vargas (Biblioteca Pública
Municipal - Iván de Vargas), calle San Justo, 2, 28005 Madrid. Tel.: +34
918 22 61 00, email: bpivandevargas@madrid.es wikipediacommonsfacebook.
Centrally located library, easy to use, no registration required for use
on site. Feature: free WiFi. Open: Mon-Fri 8:30am-2:00pm, 3:00pm-8:30pm;
Sat–Sun 9:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m.; closed: Dec 24, Dec 25, Dec 31
Centro de Danza Karen Taft, Calle Libertad 15. Tel.:
+34 915321373. Chueca.
Estudios Amor de Dios, Calle Santa Isabel05.
Phone: +34 913600434.
Casa Pata, Calle Canizares 10. Tel.: +34
914298471.
El Horno, Calle Esgrima 11. Tel.: +34 915275701.
Of course, there are almost infinitely many language
schools in Madrid. It is best and cheapest to get a place in the
official language school. However, this is not easy due to the high
rush. You also have to enroll for at least three months. Otherwise there
are still masses of private schools that actually offer all possible
variants of lesson times and intensity. The most common models are
weekly intensive courses with 4-5 hours per day and - depending on the
school - cultural program or longer courses with 1-2 hours per day. In
general, you should make sure that the school has received the CEELE
certificate. Recommended from experience are:
CEE Idiomas (es,
en, fr, it, de), Calle Carmen, 6; 28013 Madrid. Tel.: +34 915 220 472,
+34 915 313 856, +34 915 211 004, email: cee1@arrakis.es. Directly at
Sol (Metro: Sol). The unbeatably cheapest of the private schools, but
more of a class designed for the masses. No cultural program. Mainly
offers monthly courses of one (€72 per month) and two (€127 per month)
hours per day.
Cronopios Idiomas Spanish Language School, Calle
Espalter 12. Tel: +34 915 222 014. Cooperative school run by the
teachers. The Spanish courses are based on a communicative approach to
make language learning relaxed, fun and effective. Other services
include cultural workshops and guided tours, where the school
collaborates with a historian and an art expert, as well as housing
searches for students. Open: Mon-Fri 08:30 - 17:30.
Something that seems difficult given the enormous air pollution in
Madrid. (No, it's not fog covering the streets - it's all just dirt!
From just outside, the haze over the city can often be seen very
clearly.) Physical exertion should therefore be avoided.
If you
have statutory health insurance in Germany, you can simply go to the
nearest public health center (Centro de Salud) and after a bit of
paperwork you will be treated like a Spaniard. Knowledge of Spanish is
strongly recommended here. The co-payment for medication is 40 percent.
On the other hand, medicines in Spain are usually considerably cheaper
than in Germany, and medicines can also be prescribed that have to be
paid for privately in Germany.
However, private (foreign) health
insurance, which is available for less than €10 a year, is probably more
advisable. This opens up the private healthcare system, which is
strictly separated from the public one, which on the one hand avoids the
restrictions on the ability to prescribe medicines and co-payments (if
the contract provides for this), and on the other hand avoids sometimes
considerable waiting times in the public health centers. Disadvantage:
It must - at least partially - be paid immediately in cash. Clarify
beforehand whether the insurance company accepts receipts in Spanish and
what information they must contain!
(In the case of inpatient
treatment, the differences between private and statutory insurance
should be even greater - please research this elsewhere and add it
here.)
Hospital Universitario La Paz, Paseo de la
Castellana 261 (Metro: Virgen de la Begona). Phone: +34 917277000.
Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Velle del Doctor
Esquerdo 46 (Metro: O'Donell). Phone: +34 915868000.
Ciudad Sanitaria
La Paz (Emergency Clinic), Paseo de la Castellana 261. Tel.: +34
917342600.
Estudio Sampere (es, de, fr, it, .), Calle Lagasca,
16; 28001 Madrid. Tel.: +34 914 314 366, Fax: +34 915 759 509, Email:
office@sampere.es. North of the Retiro (Metro: Retiro). School with very
good and cheap courses. Offers various course models and accommodation
at affordable prices. Cultural program, international audience, friendly
instructors. Various certifications, including IC, CEELE, .
Tandem
(es, de, en, it, pt), Calle Marqués de Cubas, 8; 28014 Madrid. Tel.: +34
915 322 715, Fax: +34 915 224 539, Email: tandem@tandem-madrid.com. At
Plaza de Cibeles (Metro: Banco de España). Very good and personal
school. Good cultural program, but a bit more expensive. More
specialized in intensive courses. A lot of German-speaking and helpful
staff.
Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Madrid (es), Calle Jesús
Maestro, s.n.; 28003 Madrid. Tel.: +34 915 335 802, +34 915 335 803, +34
915 335 804, email: eoimadridjm@eoidiomas.com. At the Islas Filipinas
metro station. The official school of the Communidad de Madrid. Very
prestigious, very cheap: around €90 for 3 months with 2 hours per day.
EU citizens do not need a work permit. However, a tax
number (N.I.E.) and the social security number are required. The latter
can be obtained easily and quickly from the many branches of the Spanish
Seguridad Social, which N.I.E. at special police offices. At the N.I.E.
the number is enough, no card is required for EU citizens.
Contracts for dependent work must be confirmed by the Seguridad Social
before starting work, which can take several months - probably an
important reason why so much undeclared work is done.
In the case of dependent employees (blue-collar
workers/salaried employees), the employer pays a large part of the
social security contributions. In contrast to German law, according to
which the self-employed are usually not insured under social security,
in Spain the self-employed are also subject to social security. The
monthly (minimum?) contribution is around €250.
The social
security obligation for the self-employed is often concealed or even
negated by clients - understandable, because otherwise hardly anyone
would agree to starvation fees that would suddenly be negative after the
correct deduction of social security and taxes.
Job language
teacher
If you can speak English well, e.g. spent a year in an
English-speaking country during your school days and have a little
pedagogical skills, you can quickly find a job as an English teacher in
Madrid - or several at several language schools. Officially, the
teachers are all native speakers, but with the typically catastrophic
language skills of the Spaniards, hardly anyone notices if the English
teacher is actually German.
It becomes more difficult as a German
teacher because the need is much lower. Even trained teachers of German
as a foreign language can (at least initially) have problems making a
living. Because the wage and salary level is far below that in Germany.
Combined with the extremely high rents in Madrid, it is becoming
difficult to earn enough to put anything aside.
For beginners, an
hourly wage of 15 € - preparation and driving time not paid separately -
is to be regarded as good. However, there are many exploiter language
schools that pay as little as eight euros per hour - and that as a fee
that is taxable (without tax allowances) and of which 250 euros per
month are payable to social security. Anyone who makes the mistake of
accepting such a job is almost forced to do undeclared work - which at
least some of the language schools seem to be aware of, after all they
don't ask for proper invoices etc. or even offer undeclared work of
their own accord. However, it is not advisable to accept such offers:
there are (very rarely) checks and anything can come out, and there is
no insurance cover in the event of accidents and the like. In the event
of a dispute or especially at the end of the activity, it can be
practically impossible to get the money you are entitled to - black
money can neither be sued nor paid by bank transfer. The biggest
argument, however, is that such exploitative wages destroy the market
and, over time, force the existing reputable language schools to work
dubiously themselves.
Addresses of German-language embassies:
Embassy of
the Federal Republic of Germany (Embajada de la República Federal de
Alemania), Calle de Fortuny, 8. Tel.: +34 915579000, Fax: +34 913102104.
Embassy of Austria (Embajada de Austria), Paseo de la Castellana 91.
Tel.: +34 915565315, Fax: +34 915973579.
Embassy of Switzerland
(Embajada de Suiza), Calle Nuñez de Balboa 35-7° Edificio Goya. Phone:
+34 914363960, Fax: +34 914363980.
24 hour crime
reporting number: 902102112
Central Police Station, Calle Leganitos,
19 (near Plaza de España). Tel.: +34 915488537, +34 915488008, Email:
satemadrid@esmadrid.com. Open: 9 a.m. to midnight.
, Metro Santo
Domingo (Line 2), Plaza de España (Line 3 and 10) and Callao (Lines 3
and 5), Bus 1, 2, 44, 46, 74, 75, 133, 148 and C.
Plaza Mayor Tourist Center (Centro de Turismo Plaza
Mayor), Plaza Mayor, 27 (Salón de Columnas de la Casa de la Panadería),
Plaza Mayor, 27, 28012 Madrid (Metro: Sol (L1, L2 and L3) and Ópera (L5
).Cercanías: Sol). Tel.: +34 91 578 78 10, email: turismo@esmadrid.com.
Open: daily 9:30 am - 8:30 pm.
Colón Tourist Center, Plaza de Colón
(Metro: Colón (L4). Cercanías: Recoletos. Bus: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 14, 15,
19, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 37 , 45, 51, 52, 53, 74, 146, 149, 150, 152,
202, in the underground passage). Open: 9:30 - 20:30.
Plaza de
Cibeles Tourist Information Point, Bulevar, corner of Paseo del Prado.
(Metro: Banco de España (L2)). Open: 9:30 - 20:30.
Plaza de Callao
Tourist Information Point, Plaza de Callao, corner of Calle Preciados
(Metro: Callao (L3 and L5)). Open: 9:30 - 20:30.
Paseo del Arte
Tourist Information Point, Calle Santa Isabel (Corner Glorieta de Carlos
V) (Metro: Atocha (L1)). Open: 9:30 - 20:30.
Madrid-Barajas Airport
Tourist Information Point, Madrid-Barajas Airport Terminal 2 between
Arrivals Halls 5 and 6, and Terminal 4 between Arrivals Halls 10 and 11
(Metro: Aeropuerto T1, T2, T3 (L8) and Aeropuerto T4 (L8). Cercanías:
Aeropuerto T4). Open: 9:00 - 20:00.
Tourist Information Screen -
Literary Quarter, Huertas, 39 (Asociación de Empresarios y Comerciantes
del Barrio de las Letras) (Metro: Antón Martín (L1)).
CentroCentro
Tourist Information Point, Palacio de Cibeles (Plaza de Cibeles, s/n)
(Metro: Banco de España (L2)). Open: Tue-Sun 10:00-20:00.
Foreign
Tourist Assistance Service (SATE)
Foreign Tourist Assistance Service
(SATE), City Center Police Station. Calle Leganitos,19 (next to Plaza de
España) (Metro: Santo Domingo (L2), Plaza de España (L3 and L10) and
Callao (L3 and L5), Bus 1, 2, 44, 46, 74, 75, 133 , 148, C). Tel.: +34
902102112, email: satemadrid@esmadrid.com. Open: daily from 9 a.m. to
midnight.
Especially if you are staying in Madrid a
little longer and want to get in touch with locals, you should consider
buying a Spanish SIM card (on a credit basis), called tarjeta prepago in
Spanish. Tickets cost around €25 and can be bought from almost any store
(ID required!). Depending on the provider, you get more or less of the
acquisition costs as a credit immediately or after you enter your
address data. (Example: Movistar card: 25 € purchase price, which
includes 19 € instant credit. You get the remaining 6 € after sending in
the Spanish address.)
There are three mobile operators in Spain:
Movistar (it). Comparable to T-Mobile.
Vodafone (es, en, fr, de, it,
pt)
Amena (it, en). Comparable to O2.
In general,
it has to be said that telephoning in the fixed network in Spain is
still quite expensive. Telefónica (the "Spanish Telecom") charges €0.139
dial-up fee for a call to Germany and an additional €0.139 per minute.
However, it is cheaper to go to call shops (Locutorio) or with calling
cards (to be found in supermarkets and call shops). There is no system
of cheap area codes, at least not in competition.
For
international calls, however, there is the option of first dialing 902
999 007, then dialing a "1" after the announcement and then the
international number. The costs are significantly lower than those of
Telefónica, but still more than 4 cents per minute. More information is
available here (es, en, nl, de, fr).
Internet cafes
are quite common, often in connection with locutorios, from which you
can make cheap calls - but the viruses on the Spanish computers are even
more common. Internet banking is therefore absolutely taboo, and even
with e-mails you should change all passwords at least after you return.
It would be better to set up a separate vacation account to which all or
only important emails can be forwarded. The price for an hour of
Internet is usually one to two euros, a printed page is usually 15
cents.
There is also paid Wi-Fi at the airport and other
locations. It's doubtful whether it's worth taking your notebook out
onto the street and using one of the many unsecured WLANs, given the
risk to life, limb and property that might be involved depending on the
location and time of day.
The city of Madrid is located in the central area of the Iberian
Peninsula, a few kilometers north of Cerro de los Ángeles, the
geographical center of the Peninsula. The city's coordinates are 40°26′N
3°41′W. The population center of Madrid is located 657 m above sea
level, making it one of the highest capitals in Europe. The maximum
altitude of the municipality is approximately 846 meters, which occurs
to the northwest of Pardo, near Torrelodones, and its minimum altitude
of about 543 m occurs in the south, on the banks of the Manzanares
River. The closest coastal point It is located 305 km from Madrid,
located in the province of Valencia.
The geographical and
climatic context of Madrid is that of the Southern Subplateau, within
the Central Plateau. The city is located a few kilometers from the
Guadarrama mountain range and hydrographically it is located in the
Tagus basin.
The main river in Madrid is the Manzanares, which enters the
municipality around Mount El Pardo, feeding the reservoir of the same
name, which is also served by the waters of the Manina and Tejada
streams. After this natural space, the river begins its urban course
around the university city, then briefly entering the Casa de Campo,
where it receives the waters of the Meaques stream.
In this more
urban section, towards the Puente del Rey, it received the waters of the
Leganitos stream (its valley is the Paseo de San Vicente), then that of
another stream that ran along Segovia street, and further on the waters
of the stream of the Castellana Fountain (the fountain was located in
the so-called Altos del Hipódromo, towards where the current National
Museum of Natural Sciences is located, and the flow of the stream ran
along the current Castellana-Prado axis).
In its next section it
serves as a border between numerous districts, leaving on its southwest
margin those of Latina, Carabanchel, Usera and Villaverde and in the
northeast the districts of Centro, Arganzuela, Puente de Vallecas, Villa
de Vallecas and the rest of the city. . In this phase, specifically
between the districts of Arganzuela and Puente de Vallecas, it receives
the channel of the underground Abroñigal stream, whose route almost
entirely coincides with that of the M-30 highway, as the depression
caused by its channel is used as a soundproofing measure. of the fast
track; It also receives the waters of the Butarque stream, these around
the Villaverde district.
Upon leaving the city of Madrid, the
river enters the eastern end of the municipality of Getafe, where it
receives the waters of the Culebro stream, to flow shortly after into
the waters of the Jarama river, already in the area of
Rivas-Vaciamadrid.
In addition to those that drain into the
Manzanares, there are other small river courses in the city of Madrid
and its surroundings. This is the case of the streams of La Moraleja, de
la Vega, Valdelamasa or Viñuelas, which drain directly into the Jarama
or the Cedrón stream, which drains into the Guadarrama river.
According to the Köppen climate classification, the climate of Madrid
in the period 1981-2010 can be considered transitional between the
typical Mediterranean climate (Csa) and the cold semi-arid climate
(BSk), tending more towards the former. Other sources describe Madrid's
climate as continentalized Mediterranean, differentiating it from the
typical Mediterranean climate (which occurs in areas near the coast), by
having a greater annual thermal amplitude and less rainfall due to its
altitude and distance from the sea. Madrid's climate is greatly
influenced by urban conditions (see: heat island). The average
temperature (reference period: 1981-2010) is around 14.5 and 15 °C.
Winters are moderately cold, with average temperatures in the
coldest month (January) around 6°C. Frost is frequent in December and
January and snowfall is occasional during winter (between 1 and 4 days
of snow per year). In this month the average maximum temperature is
around 10 °C and the average minimum temperature is around 3 °C. Summers
are very hot. The warmest months are July and August, although July is
slightly warmer. In this month, the averages exceed 25 °C, with average
maximum temperatures between 32 and 33.5 °C and average minimum
temperatures of around 17 to 19 °C. At some times of the day,
temperatures can exceed 35 °C during the summer. The daily thermal
amplitude is important in the urban periphery (exceeding 13 °C), but it
is reduced in the center of the city due to the effect anthropic (even
dropping below 10 °C). The annual thermal amplitude is high (between 19
and 20 °C, a figure typical of the Southern Plateau) as a consequence of
the great distance from the sea and the altitude (around 650 meters).
Madrid enjoys about 2,800 hours of sunshine annually, which makes it
one of the cities with the most hours of sunshine on the peninsula.
Annual rainfall is around 400 mm, with a marked minimum in summer
(especially in July and August). In fact, along with Athens, which has a
similar annual rainfall, although with less cold winters, it is the
driest capital in Europe. Maximum precipitation occurs in autumn
(October to December) and in the spring months of April and May. The
average humidity during the year is around 57%, with a great oscillation
between the cold seasons, which are much more humid, and the warm
seasons, which are very dry. The average annual wind speed is between 7
and 10 km/h.
Below are three tables with the climatological
values in the reference period between the years 1981 and 2010 in the
three AEMET observatories located in the municipality of Madrid: the
Retiro observatory located at 667 m above sea level, the Madrid-Barajas
airport observatory at 609 m and the Madrid-Cuatro Vientos airport
observatory at 690 m. Note that the extreme values are also taken in the
period 1981-2010.
Below are some extreme values recorded in the
three meteorological stations of the AEMET of the municipality of Madrid
considered from between 1920 and 1961 depending on the station and the
climatological variable. The absolute maximum temperature is 42.2 °C,
recorded on July 24, 1995 at the Madrid-Barajas airport observatory, and
the absolute minimum temperature of -15.2 °C recorded on January 16,
1945 at the Madrid-Barajas airport observatory. The record for maximum
precipitation in one day is 87 mm on September 21, 1972 at the Retiro
observatory, and the maximum wind gust of 147 km/h recorded on July 7,
2017 at the Madrid airport observatory. Decks.
Considering the
period after 2010, the maximum historical temperatures of 42.7 °C were
recorded at the Madrid-Barajas airport, on August 14, 2021 and 40.6 °C
in the Retiro park in Madrid, the August 10, 2012 and August 14, 2021.
At the Madrid-Cuatro Vientos airport, the historical maximum temperature
of 42.2 °C was recorded on August 14, 2021.