This is not Spain's most impressive cathedral, and it's something of a miracle that it exists at all. For centuries, Church and State could not agree on whether Madrid should...

The city's most famous market dates back nearly five centuries. Stalls set up from 7am, with the hardcore bargain-hunters arriving soon afterwards. In truth, there are few real...

Friday night is Danzoo; Saturdays see Sunflowers for an Ibizan vibe and lots of go-go dancers; but the really crowd-puller is Space of Sound on Sundays. It's the city's biggest...

A behemoth of a venue, refurbished just a few years ago, and well laid out, with good facilities and great acoustics. There are plenty of macro-raves here too -- it's not all...

This undervisited museum is in fact one of Madrid's most important and oldest permanent artistic institutions (it was founded in 1794). The eclectic collection is partly made...

Housed in a gigantic neo-classical building begun by Juan de Villanueva for King Charles III in 1785, the Prado is Madrid's best-known attraction. Charles originally wanted to...

Occupying an immense, slab-sided building, the Reina Sofía boasts an impressive façade with glass and steel lift-shafts, designed by British architect Ian Ritchie. Now, though,...

When the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum opened in 1992, Madrid added the second point to its 'Golden Triangle'. The private collection of the late Baron Hans-Heinrich...

Commissioned by Philip V after the earlier Alcázar was lost to a fire in 1734, the Royal Palace is rarely used by the royal family, and many of its 3,000 rooms are open to...

More than 22,000 spectators can catch a bullfight in this, Spain's largest arena, completed in 1929. Like most early 20th-century bullrings, it is in neo-Mudéjar style, with...

The club has won no titles other than the Spanish equivalent of the Charity Shield in recent seasons. It has suffered all manner of behind-the-scenes shenanigans, including...

The convent of the Descalzas Reales ('Royal Barefoot Nuns') is the most complete 16th-century building in Madrid and still houses a cloistered community. It was originally...

In 1405 Henry III constructed a hunting lodge here, but the first monarch to take a really serious interest in El Pardo's excellent deer and game hunting estate was Charles I...

Shaped like a compressed oval, the interior of the city's opera house is breathtakingly ornate compared with its sombre façade, and one of the most technologically advanced in...