Madrid is the proud capital of a modern country that is keenly aware of both present trends and past traditions. And one of the city’s greatest attractions is its people themselves: open, tolerant, and lovers of the night like nowhere else in Spain.
The former Spanish Empire continues to make its presence felt, too, in the lanes of the Barrio de los Austrias, where every step is a walk into history, and in the majestic buildings of the city centre. Not that Madrid lives solely on its past: it pulsates with the present as well.
Author: Merten Worthmann; photographer: Reto Guntli, Adeilson Simoes
Out and about in Madrid
City guide
The Madrileños, as the city’s inhabitants are called, love life on the street, at the bar and in the city squares. Their sheer sociability is a delight to experience. And it’s highly contagious, too!
City portrait
Every district or barrio in Madrid has its own particular flair, from the elegant Salamanca shopping quarter to the immigrant melting pot of Lavapiés and the fashionable Malasaña.
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