Things to do in Madrid
A list of things you must do while in Madrid
Royal Palace
Despite being the official residence of King Juan Carlos and the Spanish Royal Family, the Palace is not their residence, and is owned by the Spanish State. It hasn’t been used as a residence for the head of state since the fall of the second republic, for this reason the current Royal Family live in Palacio de la Zarzuela. The Palace is used mostly for state ceremonies. Open to the public when not in official use, you can get to the Palace via the Opera Metro Station.
It was built on the site of a Moorish Castle from the 9th century, but the current building was completed in 1755, and finally occupied by Charles III in 1764. It has over 2800 rooms, making it one of the largest palaces in Europe so get ready for some walking.
As at many similar places of interest it contains a hugely valuable art collection including works by Caravaggio, Velazquez, and many others.
For full details visit the official website at www.patrimonionacional.es
Flamenco Dancing
Flamenco is derived from Romany people in the cities of Andalucia but is very strong in Madrid where you can find many venues to spend the evening watching some dancing. Flamenco is even listed by UNESCO for being “one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”.
Try Espacio Flamenco on Ribera de Curtidores, 26 where you can sit in its lounge / restaurant on the weekends to enjoy its performances. It even doubles up as a Flamenco school. Then you have Clan, on Ronda da Toledo, where there’s a mix of styles including some bally dancing.
During the course of the year there are a few Festivals taking place which include Flamenco, check our events guide to keep ahead of the game.
Monuments
Madrid is the third-largest city in the European Union after London and Berlin. The number of monuments is, even by those standards out of proportion with the size of the city – there are literally hundreds of them, providing not just photo opportunities but a fascinating insight into the history of Madrid which you can discover just by looking around you.
Teleferico Madrid
The Madrid Cable Car (the Teleférico de Madrid) runs from the city right into Casa de Campo, an enormous (1700 hectare) park formerly used as a hunting estate. You can also get superb views of the city from here and is definitely worth making the effort to do. To get to the start go to Paseo del Pintor Rosales from where the 2500 metre-long route takes you up to a height of 40 metres over the trees and into the heart of the Casa de Campo.
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