Few European cities take their entertainment as seriously as Madrid. There are dozens of theatres with performances of everything from Spanish Golden Age classics to experimental drama. Bars and dance clubs are crowded throughout the week and small venues offer jazz, rock, salsa and world music almost every night. All this and world famous orchestras, ballet and opera are on offer on a daily basis. Spain has no national theatre but this gap is filled by the Centro Dramático Nacional based at the Teatro María Guerrero (Calle Tamayo y Baus 4, Tel: 91 319 4769). All major events tickets can be booked by telephone. The two main agencies are TeleEntradas (Tel: 902 38 3333) and TeleTicket (Tel: 902 48 8488). Tickets for concerts and shows can also be bought at Fnac (Calle Preciados 28).
Flamenco is undoubtedly Spain’s most distinctive art form and Madrid is now the place for the best performances. The Nuevo Ballet Español is very much worth seeing. Alternatively if you want to see dance, the best place is at a tablao, where artists earn their living between performances. The show usually comes with expensive drinks and dinner, but if you are still awake after midnight, when most of the tourists disappear and the major artists appear, you may catch a fantastic performance. Café de Chinitas (Calle Torija 7, Tel: 91 547 1501) is Madrid’s most luxurious tablao. Madrid is the city of the ‘golden triangle’ of art museums, with the Prado, the Reina Sofía and the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, regarded by many critics as the most important private collection in the world. You need days rather than hours for the Prado, so concentrate on the Spanish painters of the Golden Age: Velázquez, Ribera, Zurbarán, Murillo and Goya, not forgetting El Greco. The Reina Sofia is Madrid’s National Museum of Modern Art, and home to Picasso’s Guernica, the impassioned denunciation of war and fascism. The triangle of museums are all located on on one avenue, forming the ‘Art Promenade’.
The Palacio Real (Calle Bailén, Metro: Opera), Madrid’s vast and lavish Royal Palace is well worth a visit. As is the popular Parque del Retiro (Main entrance: Plaza de la Independencia, Metro: Retiro), the city’s green lung, covering 300 acres, which holds a very special place in the heart of all Madrileños.
Football fans will enjoy a trip to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu (Calle Concha Espina 1), the home of Real Madrid. If you don’t have a problem with heights, the Mirador del Faro (Avenida de los Reyes Católicos, Metro: Moncloa) is the place to go for a 360-degree view of Madrid and the mountains. Take the glass lift to the top of the tower built in 1992.
Further afield is the 4,500 acre Casa de Campo on the western side of the River Manzanares. It was once a royal hunting estate and was first opened to the public in 1931. You can walk through the woods, hire boats on the lake and eat al fresco in summer. An interesting way to get to the park is on the Teleféricocable car (Paseo de Pintor Rosales, Metro: Arguelles), which runs over the trees, almost to the centre of the park and offers great views of the Palacio Real. Other attractions on offer are tennis courts and swimming pools.
The tourist board offices can be found at Barajas Airport (International Arrivals) and at Plaza Mayor 3 (Tel: 91 588 1636).
Excursions
Chinchón From the 16th-century porticoed Plaza Mayor to the church perched above it or the monastery converted into a Parador Hotel—Chinchón is a picturesque town that attracts countless Madrileños every weekend to its bars and mesones, or traditoinal inns. For local information, visit www.ciudad-chinchon.com. Get there by bus from Conde de Casal bus station, Tel: 91 409 7602.
Segovia is famous for the Roman aqueduct, fairytale castle (Alcázar) and traditional restaurants, serving roasts of baby lamb and suckling pig.
Segovia can be reached on the Cercanías trains from Atocha or Chamartín stations, or by bus from the Sepulvedana bus station on the Paseo de la Florida.
Toledo A fortified hilltop city surrounded by the Tajo river, Toledo was once Spain’s capital city. Strolling along its narrow streets is one of the best ways to appreciate this city. Among the numerous sites worth visiting is the cathedral and its museum with paintings by El Greco and Caravaggio. And don’t miss the Iglesia de Santo Tomé, with El Greco’s famous Burial of the Count of Orgaz. The bus to Toledo is faster and more convenient than the train, and leaves hourly from the Estación Sur de Autobuses (Calle Méndez Alvaro 83, Tel: 468 42 00).