Madrid Travel Guide
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Madrid was never really a quiet, early-to-bed city, whatever people may tell you. Outwardly grayer and more austere in Franco's time, it always held an innate bustling joie de vivre that refused even then to be suppressed. In the '50s and '60s people thronged the Gran Vía till the early hours at weekends and drivers screamed round the Cibeles fountain at dawn like drag racers high on adrenaline (there were fewer cars then, so more room to maneuver).
In today's open, democratic, ever-growing metropolis of more than five million inhabitants, Madrid's natural ebullience has been given wider rein and the city offers a liberal and imaginative abundance of hedonistic and cultural amenities, mingled with the trappings of new prosperity. Blatant capital wealth reflects in buildings like the leaning concrete-and-glass KIO towers at Plaza Castilla, the mini-Manhattan business blocks of AZCA beside the Castellana Avenue, and in affluent outer suburbs like Majadahonda and Las Rozas, where American-influenced commercial centers surrounded by urbanized rows of chalets and duplexes bristle with Burger Kings and Citibanks.
But at its heart remains the old traditional Madrid of Los Austrias, Plaza Mayor, and Royal Palace, still exuding their timeless atmosphere, and ringed in turn by regenerated castizo (traditional) districts like Chueca, Malasaña, and Lavapiés. Theses district have remained unchanged architecturally for centuries, but offer a vibrant, stimulating blend of the bohemian and the ethnically varied thanks to a resident bevy of artists and a fresh influx of nationalities ranging from Pakistani to Peruvian.
The day starts early all over the capital, with some cafes opening at 5:30am for coffee and churros, and ends late (or never shuts at all if you include the after hours bars). At 4am at the weekend, traffic jams of cars and night buses block the city thoroughfares as revelers weave their way to, from, or between their favorite locales. Fun attractions range from discos, clubs, and flamenco boîtes to theaters, concert halls, and a score of cinemas showing the latest V.O. (versión original) movies. (Weekend madrugada performances go on till dawn.)
Long-established flagship of the cultural front is the famed Prado. Once patronizingly referred to as the only reason to visit Madrid, it's rivaled -- if still not equaled -- by a wealth of other museums, art galleries, ecclesiastical buildings, and prestigious monuments. Consumerism has rocketed and shoppers can have a field day in Salamanca district's world-class stores and boutiques; while for inveterate foodies, the city's seemingly endless chain of eateries provide a choice of worldwide cuisine ranging from Thai to Cuban. If you simply fancy a snifter (or two), over 17,000 bars existed at the last count, more -- it's said -- than in the whole of Belgium.
Traffic jams and expanding population apart, healthy changes abound, too. Formerly renowned as being dusty and a bit short on parks, Madrid is now officially one of the "greenest" cities in Europe with verdant areas springing up every year thanks to an ecology-conscious town hall. Granddaddy of them all is the great Retiro, where Madrileños over the past decades have relaxed amid the endless array of trees, flowers, and fountains or floating on boats on the lake. This huge park, built on the site of a former palace, is often referred to as the "lungs" of the 600m-high (2,000-ft.) capital. Further aid in its battle against urban pollution comes from the trees and grasslands of the huge Casa del Campo to the west and by the regular flow of pure mountain air breezing in from the Guadarramas 97km (60 miles) away.
Getting around on public transport is economical and increasingly efficient with streamlined metro services now extending as far as the airport, and cercanías (suburban) trains reaching new satellite towns like San Sebastian de los Reyes. In the expanding area north of Plaza Castilla, the city plans an ultra modern tram service that will be a far cry from the creaking vehicles that crisscrossed the city a few decades back. And improved highways mean that out-of-town bus services can whiz you to Castilian gems like Toledo and Segovia in barely an hour.
