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Madrid is a city in which history is found at every step. The spirit of centuries when Spain was an empire "in which the Sun never sets", as the greatest Spanish king Philip II said, is felt everywhere. Plentiful monuments and statues of rulers are everywhere, from those on the square in front of the Royal Palace presenting the kings of Castilla, Aragon, León and Asturias, rendering visitors speechless, to the Statue of the Fallen Devil in Retiro Park. The Monument to the Fallen Devil was dedicated to all Spanish mother-in-laws as an expression of untamable machismo among the male half of the population.
Although the riverbanks of the Manzanares were inhabited in the Neolith, the old name of Madrid – Mayerit – is mentioned for the first time when the city fell into Moorish hands. When King Alfonso VI finally expelled the conquerors from the heart of Castilla in 1083, he couldn’t dream that another ruler, the already mentioned Phillip II, would in 1561 declare this well-defended citadel and town the capital of Spain. He did it as a grudge totally astonishing the Royal Council members with whom he had had a heated row, and by this had condemned the hitherto capital Toledo to everlasting oblivion.
Madrid still astonishes. It is a European metropolis, but it is absolutely different. Atypical. Just as Spain is. The imposing Pyrenees have always been a sort of barrier towards Europe, while the seas and 14-kilometre wide Strait of Gibraltar opened the door to influences from other worlds and cultures.
Aiming to become familiar with the city, foreigners usually start from the "zero" point, a zero kilometer. On Puerta del Sol, the most vivacious square in central Madrid, a stone marks "km 0", denoting the centre of Spain. The first surprise begins right here. Madrid smells of sea! You expect to see the sea behind every old stone house in the narrow streets. Soon you realise where this smell originates. From numerous cafes and bars that prepare the most attractive delicacies from what fishing nets hauled in to ports on the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Biscay, all of which is delivered daily to the capital. That is why gourmands in Spain say that Madrid is the biggest Spanish port.
 And not only the biggest but the liveliest as well! Madrid at midnight looks like other cities at nine o’clock in the evening, because Spanish social life takes place exclusively outside, whether on squares, streets or in café shops. Café shops and restaurants are full and street traffic is as lively as at rush hour until late into the night. Avenue Grand Via, or Santa Ana Square, are as lighted as at mid-day.
The Renaissance Plaza Mayor, the main square with 114 colonnades and 377 balconies, is a popular destination owing to street performances. To the visiting foreigner, it seems as though all of Madrid had decided to have fun just that night. The next day, however, it becomes clear that all nights are like that, especially in summer, with its hellish heat. Returning home in the wee hours, of course, a Spaniard will not miss the chance to buy a lottery ticket from a blind vendor around whose neck hangs a chain with tickets. As authorities only permit the blind to sell lottery tickets, that being their only income, there is no square or crossroads without these live statues who incessantly shout in Spanish "The latest numbers for today!"
A night walk through a city so abundant with squares, lavish fountains, palaces, Jesuit monasteries and royal palaces, all magnificently illuminated, conjure fairylike, romantic faces of almost unreal beauty, even mystical at moments.
And then, in the morning, when the city bathes in a special sunlight, it suffices to visit one of numerous museums and galleries. The Queen Sofia Art Center, the Museum of Archeology, the Naval Museum, the Museum of the Americans, the Museum of Romanticism … An absolute must is to The Prado, Spain’s glory that holds 10,000 artworks in its depot, of which just about one thousand works are on display, including some of the best canvases from the Renaissance by Flemish, German and, naturally, Spanish painters. Or to walk in the Retiro Park, a green oasis that spreads over 110 hectares in the very heart of the city.
It is a pleasure to walk through tree-lined alleys that bear some of the most famous names in Spanish literature and art. In the middle of the park is an artificial lake where kayak competitions are organised, while on the shore stands the famous Crystal Palace. This beautiful building, almost entirely in glass, was built in 1887 when a major exhibition dedicated to the Philippines was held in Madrid. The Palace was used like a greenhouse to display exotic tropical plants from the Pacific region. Today, it is the site of diverse cultural events. If you want to feel the Bohemian, artistic and rebellious spirit of Spaniards, you have to imbibe a glass of good wine or at least "take" a coffee in Café Gihón, the meeting place of the 20th century Bohemians in Madrid.
And the corrida? No, it is not dead. Bitter polemics still roil the country, but never coming closer to answering the endless dichotomy; is the bullfight a demonstration of barbarity or of the highest art? Today, animal protection societies, especially those outside Spain, take part in this discussion in an attempt to "tame" the country. But the country is elusive, defending its culture, and rivers of people continue to flow in the direction of the famous arena Plaza de Toros, on whose benches have sat many a famous artist and writer, among them Ernest Hemingway, who as we all know loved Spain as much as his other homeland, and Madrid even more than his native town. Like many, he was fascinated with the "eye to eye" encounter of the torero and the bull, man and beast, and the moment in which one of the two would stain the dry sand of bull ring with blood.
On the Square Spain, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, sitting on a horse and donkey respectively, ride off towards new adventures. Above them Cervantes, and higher up in the clouds, the "Giraffe", once the highest building in Europe. Thousands of such contradictions can be found in Madrid. Thousands of the most spectacular sights, thousands of details that will intoxicate you with their enthralling play, the art of living, vivir la vida, live the life, which is the sense of life as Spaniards understand it. And, finally, one oddity: when director David Lean, was shooting his famous movie Doctor Zhivago in Madrid, the only thing he needed to conjure up Moscow at the beginning of the 20th century was artificial snow. | 
