| Population:
3 million
Location: Central Spain (Comunidad de Madrid)
 Madrid
is one of Europe's most vibrant cities. Madrileños are
a vigorous, joyful lot, famous for their apparent ability to defy
the need for sleep; they embrace their city's cultural offerings
and make enthusiastic use of its cafés and bars. If you
can match this energy, you'll take in Madrid's museum mile, with
more masterpieces per square foot than anywhere else in the world;
the palaces and boutiques of regal Madrid; the dark, narrow lanes
of medieval Madrid; and Madrid post-midnight, where today's action
is.
Life in Madrid is lived in
the crowded streets and in the noisy cafés, where talking,
toasting, and tapa-tasting last long into the night. Many find
the city's endless energy hard to resist, and its social lifestyle
makes it especially easy for travelers to get involved.
 Madrid's
other chief attraction is its unsurpassed collection of paintings
bysome of the world's great artists, among them Goya, El Greco,
Velázquez, Picasso, and Dalí. Nowhere else will
you find such a concentration of masterpieces as in the three
museums—the Prado, the Reina Sofía, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza—that
make up Madrid's so-called Golden Triangle of Art.
The bright blue sky, as immortalized
in Velázquez's paintings, is probably the first thing you'll
notice about Madrid. Despite 20th-century pollution, that sky
is still much in evidence thanks to breezes that sweep down from
the Guadarrama mountains, blowing away the urban smog.
 The
skyline has its share of skyscrapers, but these are far outnumbered
by the more typical Madrid towers of red brick crowned by gray
slate roofs and spires. Built in the 16th and 17th centuries by
the occupying Habsburgs, who made Madrid the capital of the Iberian
realm, this architecture gives parts of Madrid a timeless, Old
World feel. Monumental neoclassical structures, like the Prado
Museum, the Royal Palace, and the Puerta de Alcalá arch—the
sights most visited by travelers—make up Madrid's other historic
face. Most of these were built in the 18th century, during the
reign of Bourbon monarch Charles III; inspired by the enlightened
ideas of the age, Charles also created Retiro Park and the broad
boulevard known as the Paseo del Prado.
Madrid's sophistication stands
in vivid contrast to the ancient ways of the historic villages
nearby. Less than an hour away from the downtown skyscrapers are
villages where farm fields are still plowed by mules. Like urbanites
the world over, Madrileños like to escape to the countryside.
Getaways to the dozens of Castilian hamlets nearby and to Toledo,
El Escorial, and Segovia are cherished by both locals and travelers.
 Castilla
(Castile), the area surrounding Madrid, is a vast, windswept plateau
with clear skies and endless vistas. An outstanding Roman aqueduct
and a fairy-tale castle and cathedral make Segovia one of the
most popular excursions from Madrid. The walled city of Ávila
was the home of St. Teresa, Spain's female patron saint, and the
university town of Salamanca is a flourish of golden sandstone.
Aranjuez tempts with the French-style elegance of a Bourbon palace,
while enigmatic Toledo is dramatic and austere, with rich legacies
from three religions.
We are confident that
you will find Madrid a wonderful place to learn Spanish and a
great jumping off point for trips around Spain! |
