MADRID'S TOP TEN ATTRACTIONS

From its privileged location surrounded by trees and some of Madrid´s greatest monuments, the National Museum of the Prado is one of the most visited attractions in the capital. The museum is home to the most important Spanish painting collection in the world.

Not far from El Prado, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, with almost 1,000 works of art, is extraordinarily located in a cultural and artistic itinerary that is unique in the world. Enjoy a privileged tour of seven centuries of European painting, from its origins in the 13th century to the end of the 20th.

The Queen Sofia Museum houses The Guernica, by Pablo Ruiz Picasso, the most important gem in its collection, which holds the new tendencies of contemporary art. The recent extension to the museum, by renowned French architect Jean Nouvel, enhances the original building’s facilities and services, and adds two new exhibition rooms, a library and an auditorium.

The history of the Puerta del Sol is replete with important events, amongst which is the so-called Mutiny by Esquilache in 1766, the resistance to Napoleon's troops on 2nd May 1808, the reading of the Constitución de Cádiz and the proclamation of Fernando VII as constitutional king in 1812. The Plaza received its present appearance between 1857 and 1862 when it was transformed by Lucio del Valle, Juan Rivera and José Morer. In 1950 Manuel Herrero Palaces created a garden area with two fountains in the centre, and in 1986 the architects Antonio Riviere, Javier Ortega and Antonio González Capitel altered it once more to allow more space for pedestrians.

The Plaza Mayor is one of the most beautiful, busy and emblematic urban areas in what is known as the Madrid of the House of Austria. Located in the historical and commercial heart of the city, the Plaza Mayor and its neighbouring streets are filled with an endless swarming mass of locals and tourists. The Plaza is rectangular in shape and is surrounded by three-floor residential buildings. It measures 129 by 94 metres and has a total of nine entranceways.

Home to the Kings of Spain, from Carlos III all the way through to Alfonso XIII, Madrid´s Royal Palace is now open to anyone who wants to take a trip through Spanish history. Visitors can wonder through the many rooms, enjoying the beautiful architecture and the art collection still housed here. Though it is no longer the current royal family´s home, it is still their official residence and the place where public acts and official ceremonies are held.

In accordance with the definition of the Royal Spanish Language Academy, a “tapa” is any portion of solid food able to accompany a drink. It is clear that the concept is as broad as one wants. Madrilians like this form of eating called “tapear” that consists of picking at diverse portions of different dishes, varying and combining solid and liquid tastes, a great gastronomical exercise. Tapas are everything, from the most traditional declicacy to the most vanguardist bite, and always washed down with a good wine and enjoying the best company.

Watch a puppet show, learn your future from a fortune-teller, enjoy a relaxing massage, do a course in Tai-Chi, listen to all kinds of live music, play sports, take a boat trip or just relax under a tree with a newspaper or a good book; you can do all these things in Retiro Park, right in the heart of Madrid. Breathe in the fresh air and relax in this broad green space, one of the city’s favourite haunts for both residents and visitors alike.

Madrilians are known for their passion for shopping. The Salamanca neighborhood, from the Puerta de Alcalá circus to the Marqués de Salamanca square, around Serrano and José Ortega y Gasset streets, is Madrid’s most exclusive shopping district. Feel the luxury, the design and the glamour of national and international fashion and jewelry stores and the most prestigious labels. Claudio Coello, Lagasca, Jorge Juan, Ayala and Hermosilla streets are the showcase of Spanish designers, for this is where most of them have their sales outlets.

Although started in 1866 following plans by Francisco Jareño, the works of this enormous building did not finish until 1892. The National Library holds amongst its treasures not only the largest collection of books in Spain, but also valuable manuscripts, works from the XV and XV century, engravings, music scores, rare editions and all types of printed documents. The National Archaeological Museum shows a faithful reproduction of the Altamira Caves and amongst its treasures holds valuable pieces of Iberian art, with the Dama de Elche in place of honour.

Madrid's nightlife is legendary. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world. There are always places where you can go out, dance, laugh, talk… In Madrid, going out at night is a fountain of culture. So what is it about the nightlife in Madrid that has everyone talking about it? Could it be the restaurants, bars and discos? Could it be that there are open areas where you can go from one bar to the next without having to take more than 10 steps? Could it be the variety of people who decide to go out and have a little something any and every day of the week? Or could it be that we don't like sleeping much?

La Plaza de Toros Monumental de Las Ventas is considered to be the most important bullfighting arena in the world. The Monumental de las Ventas was built of brick over a metallic structure inspired by very late Neo-Mudejar style. Its decoration, by Manuel Muñoz Monasterio, is based on ceramic tiles showing the coats of arms of all the Spanish provinces and other, purely ornamental, motifs. The bullring itself measures 60 metres in diameter and the surrounding passageway between the bullring and the seating is 2.2 metres wide.