1 The Best of Madrid Madrid is a rich amalgam of differing worlds. Narrow-laned old quarters and handsome plazas filled with regal statues are bordered by wide avenues and modern skyscrapers. World-class art galleries and museums vie for attention with secre- tive convents and tiny 17th-century churches. The Plaza Mayor, the city’s photogenic main plaza, was once the stage for the Inquisition’s horrific autos de fe; today it is filled with strolling families, tourists, lively cafes, and souvenir shops. Yet hedonism has always played a vital part in the city’s lifestyle, and in a spontaneous nonstop way that leaves you breathless. It is said that Madrid has more bars and cafes than Belgium or Holland. And the bars here not only open early but also close late (or never shut at all if you include the after-hours bars), and weekend dawn traffic jams of cars and night buses block the city thoroughfares as revelers weave their way to, from, or between their favorite spots. Madrileños also love to eat well—be it at a favorite neigh- borhood tasca or a fabled culinary mecca. Restaurants and chefs serving cuisine from recipes that haven’t changed for generations compete for the citizens’ affections with innovative newcomers experimenting with fusion and molecular gastronomy. The city’s shoppers have their pick from ultrachic stores and boutiques selling the latest in interna- tional fashion to street markets where an elusive antique is bargained for a song. You name it, Madrid has got it. 1 THE MOST UNFORGETTABLE MADRID EXPERIENCES • Sitting in Sol or Sombra at the Bull- sol (sunny side) or sombra (in the shade); fights: With origins as old as pagan you’ll pay more to get out of the sun. Spain, the art of bullfighting is the Observe how the feverish crowds appre- expression of Iberian temperament and ciate the ballet of the banderilleros, the passions. Detractors object to the sport thundering fury of the bull, the arro- as cruel, bloody, violent, hot, and sav- gance of the matador—all leading to age. Aficionados, however, understand “death in the afternoon.” Peak time for bullfighting as a microcosm of death, attending bullfights is during the capi- catharsis, and rebirth. These philosophi- tal’s San Isidro fiestas in May, when 4 cal underpinningsCOPYRIGHTED may not be immedi- consecutive MATERIAL weeks of daily corridas fea- ately apparent, but if you strive to ture some of the biggest names in the understand the bullfight, it can be one bullfighting world. See p. 181. of the most evocative and memorable • Seeing the Masterpieces at the Prado: events in Spain. Head for the country’s It’s one of the world’s premier art muse- biggest plaza de toros (bullring), at ums, ranking with the Louvre. The Ventas (on the eastern border of Prado—which saw a bright innovative Madrid’s Salamanca district, close to expansion in 2007—is home to over the M-30 highway). Tickets are either 4,000 masterpieces, many of them 4 acquired by kings through the ages. The • Lounging in an Outdoor Cafe: In wealth of Spanish art is staggering— sultry summertime, Madrileños come everything from Goya’s Naked Maja to alive on their terrazas. The drinking and the celebrated Las Meninas (The Maids good times can go on until dawn. In of Honor) by Velázquez (my favorite). glamorous hangouts or on lowly street Masterpiece after masterpiece unfolds corners, the cafe scene takes place before your eyes: You can imagine your mainly along an axis shaped by the fate in Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Paseo de la Castellana, Paseo del Prado, Earthly Delights or recoil from the hor- and Paseo de Recoletos. The Paseo del ror of Goya’s Disasters of War etchings. Pintor Rosales, on the western edge of When the Spanish artistic soul gets too Argüelles district, near the teleférico and dark, escape to the Italian salons and overlooking the Casa de Campo, also view canvases by Caravaggio, Fra bids an attractive tree-fringed collection Angelico, and Botticelli. Be warned, of open-air cafes; and down at the though, that a quick run-through won’t southern end of Lavapiés, the colorful suffice: It would take a lifetime to savor Calle Argumasa offers a fashionable the Prado’s wonders. See p. 174. spill of lively alfresco bars. Wander up • Feasting on Tapas in the Tascas: Tapas, and down the boulevards and select a those bite-size portions washed down spot that appeals to you. For traditional THE BEST OF MADRID OF BEST THE with wine, beer, or sherry, are reason atmosphere in a historic setting, the 1 enough to go to Madrid! Spanish tapas touristy but fun terrazas at Plaza Mayor are so good their once-secret recipes win out. See chapter 6. have been broadcast around the world, • Shopping the Rastro: Madrid’s flea but they always taste better at home. A market represents a 500-year-old tradi- tapeo is akin to a London pub-crawl— tion. Savvy shoppers arrive before 7am you travel from one tapas bar to another. every Sunday to beat the rush and claim Each has a different specialty. Tapas the best merchandise. The teeming bars, called tascas, are a quintessential place doesn’t really get going until about Spanish experience, be it in Galicia, 9am, and then it’s shoulder-to-shoulder Andalusia, Catalonia, or Castile. Origi- stretching down Calle Ribera de nally, tapas were cured ham or chorizo Curtidores. Real or fake antiques, sec- (spicy sausage). Today they are likely to ondhand clothing, porno films, Franco- include everything—gambas (deep-fried era furniture, paintings (endless copies shrimp); anchovies marinated in vine- of Velázquez), bullfight posters, old gar; stuffed peppers; a cool, spicy gazpa- books, religious relics, and plenty of cho; or hake salad. To go really native, just plain junk, including motorcycles try mollejas (lamb sweetbreads) or cria- from World War II, are for sale. These dillas (bull testicles). These dazzling streets also contain some of the finest spreads will hold you over until the permanent antiques shops in Madrid. fashionable 10pm dining hour. The But beware: Pickpockets are out in full best streets for your tasca crawl include force. More than a few mugging victims THE MOST UNFORGETTABLE MADRID EXPERIENCES MADRID UNFORGETTABLE MOST THE Ventura de la Vega, the area around have later found their purses here for Plaza de Santa Ana or Plaza de Santa resale—thoroughly emptied, of course. Bárbara, Cava Baja, or Calle de Cuchil- Note: The town hall has recently leros. Calle Hartzenbusch, in the Cham- expressed an interest in moving the berí district, also has some tempting Rastro to Mercamadrid, the city’s big- locales. See chapter 6. gest wholesale market located in an industrial estate on the outskirts of teleférico chair lift or by metro to Lago. 5 town. Their rationale is that there’ll be See p. 191. more space to move around, though to • Nursing a Drink at Museo Chicote get there, visitors will have to take the (& 91-532-67-37): The 1930s interior cercanías (suburban trains). Current at Madrid’s most famous bar looks the waves of protests from vendors and same as it did during the Spanish Civil regular visitors alike hope to thwart this War. Shells might have been flying uninspired and unpopular proposal. See along the Gran Vía, but the interna- p. 223. tional press corps covering the war • Sunday Strolling in the Retiro: Spread drank on—a tunnel is rumored to have across 140 cool hectares (350 acres) in connected it with the vintage Bar Cock sweltering Madrid, Parque del Retiro on a parallel street, handy if they felt MADRID OF BEST THE was originally designed as the gardens like a change of scene and didn’t want of Buen Retiro palace, occupied by to risk stepping into the street. After the Philip IV in the 1630s. In 1767, Charles war, the crowd of regulars included III opened part of the gardens to the major writers, artists, and actors. By the general public. Only after the collapse late 1960s, it had degenerated into a of Isabella II’s monarchy in 1868 did pickup bar frequented by prostitutes. the park become available to all Madrile- Today it has regained the joie de vivre of ños. Statues dot the grounds (a tower- yore and is one of the smart, sophisti- ing 1902 monument to Alfonso XII cated spots to rendezvous in Madrid. 1 presides over the lake), which also con- See p. 244. tain some 15,000 trees, a rose garden, • Experiencing the Madrid Night EXPERIENCES MADRID UNFORGETTABLE MOST THE and a few art galleries. The best time for Scene: The 1980s expression movida, a stroll is Sunday morning before lunch, roughly translated as the “shift” or the when vendors hawk their wares, magi- “movement,” referred to the world of cians perform their acts, fortunetellers arts and entertainment released from read their tarot cards, and large Disney- practically all restrictions and censor- style moving models of Tweety Bird and ship after the death of repressive dicta- Bugs Bunny delight the kids. In 2003, tor Franco. Then it covered all aspects after being drained and closed to the of local life, encompassing a wide range public for over a year, the park’s famed of social projects and progressive causes. lago (lake) was reopened with a pristine Today’s movida is simply a lively, non- new supply of water, a replenished fish political fun scene that doesn’t really get population, and smart new borders and going till after midnight, and even later jetty areas to accommodate the barcos at weekends.