DK Travel : Madrid

Madrid’s three world-class art museums and two royal palaces alone would set the pulses racing, but there is more to this exciting and diverse capital than its tourist sights. The fashion boutiques of the Salamanca district showcase Europe’s top designers and are just the tip of a shopping iceberg, perfectly complementing the informality of the fascinating El Rastro market, while Madrid’s world-famous tapas bars vie for attention with gourmet restaurants and humble tabernas in a city which never sleeps. To simply watch the world go by, head for the supremely elegant Plaza Mayor.

Festival de Otoño

This major cultural festival promotes the arts with an ambitious programme of dance music, drama and film. Events are held in venues across the city.
FNAC

This useful store, just a few minutes’ walk from Puerta del Sol, sells everything from CDs and sound systems to cameras, videos, books and mobile phones. Helpful floor staff, some of whom speak a little English.
Fonda Genara

Reasonably priced restaurant also in an 18th-century building near El Escorial’s Teatro Coliseo, hence the theatre memorabilia. Castilian cooking, featuring dishes such as rabo de toro (bull’s tail). Set-price menu.
Football

Club Atlético de Madrid (often mispelled Athletico Madrid) is a Spanish football club based in Madrid who play in the Primera División of La Liga. Their home stadium is the Vicente Calderón Stadium, which currently holds up to 55,000 spectators. The club is one of the most successful in Spanish League history, having won both La Liga and the Copa del Rey on nine occasions, including a double in 1996. They also won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1962 and were European Cup runners-up and Intercontinental Cup winners in 1974. Atlético play in red and white striped shirts and blue shorts. During their history, the club have been known by a number of nicknames including los colchoneros or the mattresses due to their first team stripes being the same colours as old-fashioned mattresses. During the 1970s they became known as los indios. This was allegedly due to the club signing several South American players after the restrictions on signing foreign players was lifted. However there are a number of counter theories which claim they were so named because their stadium is camped on the river bank or because los indios were the traditional enemy of los blancos —the whites. The latter nickname refers to the club's city rival Real Madrid.

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (English: Madrid Royal Football Club, also known as Real Madrid, Los Blancos, Los Merengues) is a professional Spanish football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902, it plays in La Liga and is one of the most successful football clubs of the 20th century, having won thirty-one La Liga titles, seventeen Copa del Rey and a record nine UEFA Champions League titles. The team was a founding member of the now defunct G-14 group of leading European football clubs. The club plays its home games in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Real Madrid is unusual in that, unlike most football clubs, it has been owned and operated only by its members (socios) since 1902. On December 23, 2000, FIFA awarded the Spanish team the title of the "Best Club of the 20th Century". Los Blancos is the most successful club in UEFA club football competitions history with nine European Cups and two UEFA Cups; more than any other European club. Real Madrid is the biggest and most extensive football club in the world according to the case studies at Harvard University in 2007. It is also the richest one in terms of revenue.
Fotocasión

Stocks just about everything the photographer might need – cameras, new and second-hand, film, camera cases, tripods and other specialist equipment. Also sells binoculars.
Francisco Franco

Statues around the city that once honoured the former dictator have all been removed.
Fundación Juan March

One of Spain’s most vital cultural institutions was founded in 1955 by the banker Juan March Ordinas, to promote contemporary Spanish art. Madrid shares the permanent collection, especially strong on abstract artists of the 1950s such as Tàpies, Sempere, Saura, and Millares, with other branches of the foundation in Cuenca and Palma de Mallorca, but the foundation’s main attraction is its outstanding temporary exhibitions (see Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando).
Fundación Juan March

Fans of modern art will enjoy the temporary exhibitions here, which are world-class. The foundation also sponsors lunch-time chamber concerts and recitals on weekdays, usually starting around noon (monthly programme available from the centre). While you’re here, take a look at some of the modern sculptures in the forecourt such as Meeting place (1975) by Eduardo Chillida (see Fundación Juan March).
Galería ABC Serrano

Salamanca’s other main shopping centre also has a good selection of boutiques (including a branch of the Spanish chain, Zara).
Galerías Piquer

Enter through the arch of this attractively restored courtyard to explore the shops – on two levels – specializing in antique furniture and objets d’art .

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Restaurant price categories

For a three-course meal for one with half a bottle of wine (or equivalent meal), taxes and extra charges.
- under €25
- €25-€35
- €35-€55
- €55-€70
- €over €70