The Spanish capital has a mixture of styles, people and cultures – and, as a result, lots to offer the discerning tourist, writes EMMA CULLINAN
‘YOU WILL never see the city like this again,” says the taxi driver as we glide through Madrid at 2am, having flown in very late beneath an ash cloud and under threat of Madrid airport being closed.
It’s rare for this city to be free of traffic and people. While Madrid has plenty for tourists – and is keen to promote its culture, shopping, eating and sport – it is very much a working city in perpetual motion which visitors have to fit into.
That’s no problem because this is not a one-size-fits-all place that seeks to impose itself on anyone – instead there is something here for every type of human.
Last time I was there I stayed on the north side of the city (where, on my 2am arrival, I got to witness extremely elegant prostitutes plying their trade on quiet pavements) and decided to walk down across the city to the south to see Picasso's mighty Guernicapainting in the Reina Sofia gallery.
Instead of the usual city centre fare of chain shops, supermarkets and offices, Madrid offers building sites and tiny shops: old-fashioned farmacias, small hardware stores, tiny grocers and shoe shops selling fantastical, colourful end-of-line footware at down-at-heel prices. Such shops have been wiped from many capitals because developers have bought up vast tracts of land and de mand the levels of rent that can only be supported by upmarket chains and brands.
Soon I am on a street where shops with names such as “Man” sell underwear that is lovingly displayed on window mannequins, and men sit together drinking coffee at pavement cafes. A gay district, and something that the tourist board is proud of – “with over half-a-million gays, the Madrid region is the capital of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) tourism in Spain. Calle Fuencarral and the Chueca district have become modern icons of Madrid . . . here bars, restaurants, nightclubs, cafes, bookshops, hairdressers, etc, all welcome tourists with open arms.” Madrid is part of a Catholic country that seems to have grown up and out of alienating sections of the human race.
The Spanish, like the Irish, are consumed with anger at just how heavily the recession has landed on them and they display this in their accommodatingly wide streets and many squares. On the two days I was there recently, city centre traffic was driven to gridlock (and beeping horns) as a result of demonstrations by put-upon workers.
In the central gathering place in Madrid, Puerta del Sol, women were handing out leaflets about the chronic illness fibromyalgia while the streets thronged with people wearing yellow Day-Glo jackets bearing the word “Oro” – they buy gold from those in the unhappy position of needing to swap heirlooms for cash.
Madrid is the highest capital city in Europe, and was founded in the 16th century by the kings of Castile. It’s an unusual capital location, up on a plateau in the middle of the country without access to the sea (and thus, centuries ago, overseas trade).
Royalty has shaped the city. When the Hapsburgs were in charge – from Filipe II to Carlos II in 1700 – they imposed their style by creating a town of narrow streets and squares. This is now the charming historical heart of Madrid.
Later, the French Bourbons grabbed the reins and carried out the sort of urban planning that Hausmann did in Paris, creating wide, grand boulevards lined with “palaces” (the Spanish use the word palace – or palacio – to describe any grand building, whether the gentry live there or not).
To experience the two, you can start at the top left-hand-corner of Parque del Retiro at the Plaza de la Cibeles – whose fountain (depicting Cybele the goddess of fertility) is used by Real Madrid football fans to celebrate victories in and around. The army, US government and Madrid mayor’s residences are all to be found on this colossal square.
Head towards the city centre up the wide Alcala street lined with classical, icing-sugar buildings and bear right – by the Baroque church of San Jose – up Gran Via. This was carved at the beginning of the 1900s, by demolishing many city-centre buildings, to create a wide street of shops, theatres and hotels.
The buildings are designs of their time – mixing classical styles with the upcoming art deco look. US architect Louis Weeks designed the telephone company building on the street in the 1920s in the style of a Chicago skyscraper although, despite being the tallest building in Madrid at the time, it looks as if someone lobbed the top of a US skyscraper and planted it here.
Turn left and you will head to the old part of town, but straight ahead is the enormous palace built in the 18th and 19th century in a classicist Baroque style, in white granite and marble. The large but plain exterior hides a blingy, art-strewn interior (with works by Goya and Velazquez, among others). The vast queues perhaps attest to the Hellogeneration, who hope to see how those with more money that them live their lives ( Hello's older sister Holamagazine was a Spanish invention) – or maybe it was because I witnessed the hoards on Wednesday when the usual €9 admission is waived.
The palace is on the edge of the historical Habsburg part of the city, and you can walk from here to the area’s most impressive square, Plaza Mayor. It is car-free and enclosed by three-storey buildings in an early Castilian Baroque style, using mainly red brick (echoes of the Moors) and grey slate. It’s good place for people-watching from cafes or just by hanging about with countless others.
In a small street off the square, you can get buns from nuns if you time it right (between 9.30am and and 1pm and then 4pm to 6.30pm) when people stand outside the Las Carboneras Convent on Plaza del Conde de Miranda 3 and ring a bell to be let in to choose pastries cooked on the premises.
A few streets away is Madrid’s hub, Puerta del Sol, which is pretty manic, with traffic tearing through and a metro stop at its core – but people still sit, meet, campaign and talk here. On one side is KM zero, a plaque in a pavement that marks the place where all radial roads in Spain depart from, with distances measured from here. Standing on it is said to bring you luck.
But you know that you are already lucky to be in Madrid. The Madrid tourist authority is selling itself to English speakers in a logo derived from half of its name – “Mad about you”. But ion many ways Madrid is just mad – in an eclectic, rushed anything goes kind of way.
Go there
Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) and Iberia (iberia.com) fly to Madrid from Dublin
5 places to stay
Petit Palace Londres. Galdo Street 2, petitpalacehotel
londres.com. This city centre hotel is in the happy position of being surrounded by pedestrianised streets. There are a variety of rooms – try to get a corner one with balconies if you can. Many rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows, timber floors and light contemporary décor.
Gran Hotel Conde Duque. Plaza Conde Valle Suchil 5, 0034-91-447-7000, hotelcondeduque.es. Slightly to the north of the city centre, this four-star hotel looks onto a leafy square and the building itself has been declared a heritage structure by the powers that be. The décor is classical elegance, with period style furniture in communal spaces. Beds are in dark wood, but the rooms are lightened by wooden floors and pale walls.
Hostel Horizonte. C/Atocha 28, 2º B, 0034-91-369-0996, hostelhorizonte.com. In the historical part of Madrid close to the Prado Museum, it is in a former 19th century palace, decorated to preserve that sense of grandeur. Rates €25-€38 single; €38-€72 double.
Chic Basic. 00-34-91-420-1580, chicandbasic.com. This small, stylish chain has two hotels in Madrid: the Mayerling and the Atocha. The first is in a converted textile warehouse, and the second is near the Reina Sofia gallery. Prices start at about €100 for a double.
Hotel Plaza Mayor. C/Atocha 2 , 00-34-91-360-0606, h-plazamayor.com. Simple two-star, 33-bedroom hotel in the historical centre which is itself in an attractive 200-year old building.
5 places to eat
El Cenador del Prado.
4 Calle del Prado, 00-34-91-429-1561, elcenadorelprado.com. This restaurant combines Mediterranean, Spanish and Middle Eastern cuisine.
El Brilliante. Plaza del Emperador Carlos V 8, 00-34-91-539-2806. A busy, well-priced, no nonsense tapas bar opposite the Reina Sofia gallery where the fried squid roll (bocadillo de calamares) is a specialty, for those happy to try local fare.
La Viuda Blanca. Campomanes 6, 00-34-91-548-7529, laviudablanca.com. Don’t be fooled by the coolness of this restaurant – staff are very friendly. Menu is modern Mediterranean. There’s a set lunch for under €15.
El Botin. C/Cuchilleros 17, 00-34-91-366-4217, botin.es. Opened in the early 1700s, this is Europe’s oldest restaurant. Popular with tourists and Madrileños too.
La Latina district. If you want to wander about and choose your own place to eat, head for this district. For tapas try La Plaza de Santa Ana: two tapas bars to look out for are Naturbier, Plaza de Santa
Ana 9, 0034-13600597, naturbier.com, which brews its own beer, and the Cervecería Alemana beside it.
5 places to go
Museo del Prado. Calle Ruiz de Alarcón 23, 00-34-91-330-2800, museodelprado.es. The collection includes Spanish painting from the 12th century, with work by Diego Velazquez and Francisco de Goya. There’s also an impressive collection of Italian paintings.
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Paseo del Prado 8, 00-34-91-369-0151, museothyssen.org. Art lovers can be thankful of the shopping expeditions carried out by the Thyssen-Bornemisza family as they amassed a one-stop history of art. In here are major pieces dating from the 14th century.
Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. Plaza del Emperador Carlos V, 00-34-91-774-1000, museoreinasofia.es. The big pull here is Picasso's Guernica. The gallery has a surprising amount of Picassos and gorgeous bright models of dancers by Bauhaus artist Oskar Schlemmer.
Parque del Retiro. Easily accessible on the east side of the city centre, this is the perfect break-out space from Madrid’s tireless movement and noise. You can do the usual strolling and picnicking here, or slosh about on the boating lake.
Parque de Atracciones. Casa de Campo, 00-34-90-234-5009 (reachable by Metro: Batán station). If you’re with kids who are all Picassoed out, give in and take them to this theme park. It has rides ranging from heart-in-your-throat skydives, and splashy, rapid floatables to more sedate cartoon-like trains and “baby” boats.
Hot spots
Mercado de San Miguel.
Plaza San Miguel, mercadodesanmiguel.es. Stop for drinks, sweets or savoury snacks. You take whatever you buy to high wooden tables in the centre, sit on high stools and people-watch.
Chocolateria San Gines. Pasadizo de San Ginés 11, 00-34-91-365-6546. Why stop at hot chocolate when you can add sticks of fried dough? Here for over a century, this attracts chocaholics into the early hours when clubbers try to carb out a future for themselves after a long night.
Shop spots
ABC Serrano. Calle Serrano 61, 00-34-91-577- 5031, abcserrano.com. The usual department store fare
including Spanish brands that will be new to Irish visitors. There are also El Corte Inglés stores around the city, including one by Puerto del Sol.
El Rastro market. In the streets around Calle Ribera de Curtidores. Go to Metro La Latina or Plaza Mayor. Sundays, early morning until about 3pm. Some might say the tourist scrum here resembles carnage, but who wants a quiet market?