Although Madrid is officially divided into 21 districts it is really a
city of neighbourhoods and since each has its own special feel and
customs to really know Madrid you need to understand its Barrios.
Originally Madrid was never planned. It just evolved. In the 9th century the
advancing Moors put it firmly on the map with a fortress or alcázar on the
escarpment overlooking the feeble Manzanares river.
After the reconquest, Philip ll decreed Madrid the new capital of Spain in 1561
and when a fire destroyed the site of the alcázar, the magnificent 18th century
Royal Palace replaced it.
Central Madrid is really
divided into pueblos, each
with their own identity, and
the contrasts you will
encounter in each proud
barrio are fascinating. Each
area has its own markets,
bars, restaurants, banks and
little shops – these days,
many run by Chinese – plus
perhaps a major plaza or
even a park to take the
evening air.
In some barrios vehicular
access is finally being
restricted to the benefit of the neighbours. With cheap and ample public
transport, it’s easy to get around Madrid if you have to but the barrio system
ensures most necessities are within walking distance.
Here we take a rapid, clockwise tour of the pueblos that make up Madrid’s
centre.
Near the Golden Triangle of Art, which includes the Prado, Thyssen,
CaixaForum and Reina Sofia museums is El Barrio de Las Letras, so-called
because Cervantes, Lope de Vega and the other giants of the 16-17th
centuries of the golden age of Spanish literature lived here, close to the
theatres, bars and cafés. The hub is the tapas Mecca of Plaza Santa Ana
dominated by the 1745 Teatro Español. Hemingway held forth in the plaza’s
Cervecería Alemana, hardly changed in over centur