Football in Madrid: Real Madrid Barcelona, the Classic match

Every season, the calendar of football in Madrid set here the best match of the world: Real Madrid Barcelona, the richest and most successful club of the 20th century against the best team of the past years. Spanish football fans have the privilege of watching it on TV, but only some fortunate ones can presence it in Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

This season, the Real Madrid Barcelona match, also known in Spain as ‘the Classic’, will be held on March 3rd. Last season, the team of the capital won La Liga, but FC Barcelona is decided to win back the title this year. Fans of football in Madrid wait for that date, hoping that the 22 players will feature the most amazing sportive spectacle of the globe. Among them, the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and the Argentinean Leo Messi, the stars of both teams, considered to be the two best players of the world and symbols of two different styles in this sport.

The ticket prices for Real Madrid Barcelona match are always expensive, often more than 100 euro. That price doesn’t avoid many people to come from abroad to see the match in the stadium, as football in Madrid is also a touristic attraction of the city.

Plaza de Cibeles

The Plaza de Cibeles is one of the greatest squares in Madrid. From a touristic point of view, the buildings and monuments are interesting, and from a political and economic point of view, they are important for Madrid and Spain: the City Hall and the National Bank are two examples of this. The best way to get to Plaza de Cibeles is going in public transport: Banco de España Metro Station leaves you right there and many buses, including the night buses, depart from and arrive to the square.

A beautiful marble fountain dominates the Plaza de Cibeles. The sculpture represents Cybele, the Anatolian and Greek goddess associated with nature and fertility, carried by cart by two lions: Hippomenes and Atalanta. This monument of Plaza de Cibeles was made by Ventura Rodríguez, an important sculptor and architect from Madrid.

Origins of the Plaza de Cibeles

The Plaza de Cibeles was originally part of the Salón del Prado, a green boulevard that Bourbon King Charles III ordered to construct in the late 18th century. This boulevard started at Atocha and finished right here, at the Plaza de Cibeles.

At that time, the Plaza de Cibeles and the Salón del Prado were quiet places and Madrilenians used to have a walk by here: the fountains, the gardens, the flowers… It was a relaxing place. Now, the Plaza de Cibeles has a very different look: it is a square with a lot of traffic, full of cars everyday and everytime. 

The buildings in the Plaza de Cibeles

The buildings you find in the Plaza de Cibeles are magnificent and very important. The biggest one is the Palacio de Comunicaciones, projected in a personal style by the architect Antonio Palacios in the 30s. Now it acts as the seat of the City Hall and has served for many years as the headquarters of the Post Service. Recently, the Palacio de Comunicaciones of the Plaza de Cibeles has been rebuilt inside, in order to adapt it to the new function. It is worth noting the glass roof of the hall, which resembles the one of the British Museum’s Great Court in London, and the café at the attic floor, where you can enjoy a very nice view of the Plaza de Cibeles.

The seat of the National Bank is also located in Plaza de Cibeles. Its building was built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in an European style. When you walk down that sidewalk of the Plaza de Cibeles, you should know that 35 meters below your feet lies the greatest gold reserve of Spain.

At the other side of the Plaza de Cibeles, it’s the Palacio de Linares, the most important place for the Latin American culture in Madrid. It houses exhibitions, conferences, concerts and many other events, always related to that continent. The Palacio de Linares is also well known in the ‘black history’ of Madrid: they say that the spirit of a young girl, who was buried in the garden, shows herself along the corridors of this palace of the Plaza de Cibeles.

Just in front of the Palacio de Linares, you will find the Palacio de Buenavista. Rather, you will intuit it because several big trees don’t make visible this building of the Plaza de Cibeles. The Palacio de Buenavista was built in the 18th century in the tradicional style of Madrid: it is made of brick, which gives it a red tone.

 Attractions close to the Plaza de Cibeles

The Plaza de Cibeles is located in a privilegedplace of Madrid, close to many tourist attractions. The Retiro Park is only a hundred meters eastward from the Plaza de Cibeles, the Golden Triangle of Art is reacheble in five minutes walking southward down the Paseo del Prado and other important cultural institutions are in the surroundings of the square, like Círculo de Bellas Artes westward and the National Library northward.

Concert in Madrid: Mark Knopfler in Las Ventas

Mark Knopfler has a new appointment with Spanish fans on July 26^th. The British guitarist and singer will give a concert in Madrid inside Las Ventas bullring, a spectacular scenery that only makes space to the greatest musicians of Spain and the rest of the globe. 

This concert in Madrid is one of the five dates that Mark Knopfler will spend in Spain during his tour Privateering. The other four cities that the former leader of Dire Straits will visit are Barcelona, Gijón, Málaga and San Sebastian.

MarkKnopfler released his new album Privateering on September 23 and it is his eighth solo album. This work gathers 20 tracks in a double CD and mixes folk, blues and rock&roll, four genres that the British artist always performs with his peculiar fingerstyle, without using guitar pick.

The tickets can already be bought through many online websites, such as Ticket Master, Viagogo, Ticketbis or Seatwave. The cheapest price is 55 euros and the most expensive one costs 510 euros. Las Ventas bullring is located in 237 Alcalá Street and the best way to get there is by Metro, getting off at Las Ventas Station (Lines 2 and 5).

Madrid’s Plaza Mayor: the heart of Habsburg borough

Madrid’s Plaza Mayor is the quintessential heart of Madrid de los Austrias, the most castizo (traditional) part of the city, built up during the Habsburg Dynasty. Walking here and around the adjacent streets, you might think you were in some anonymous Spanish village rather than a city with over three million inhabitants.

Habsburg borough, where Madrid’s Plaza Mayor is located, represents the historic center of the city which is closely linked to the cultural identity of the Spanish capital. It is far removed from the image of traffic jams, bustle and honking horns many people have of Madrid.

The best way to get to Madrid’s Plaza Mayor is getting off at Opera Metro Station (Lines 2 and 5), Sol Metro Station (Lines 1, 2 and 3) and Sol train Station.

The origins of Madrid’s Plaza Mayor

In the Middle Ages, what is now Madrid’s Plaza Mayor was the Plaza del Arrabal, a large asymmetrical space outside the city walls where all types of products were traded. As the little town grew increasingly urban, Philip II ordered construction of Madrid’s Plaza Mayor, a new square fit for the capital of an empire. The project was later set in motion by Philip III.

Madrid’s Plaza Mayor is inspired by the Monastery of El Escorial. Juan Gómez de Mora drew up plans for the area around the Casa de la Panadería, the initial heart of the square designed by Diego Sillero. The Casa de la Panadería is in traditional Madrid style: slate roof tiles and a façade with two towers topped by pinnacles.

Anyway, walls of the Casa de la Panadería don’t feature that typical mix of red and gray that we see all along Madrid’s Plaza Mayor and Habsburg borough. This is because last century the building was decorated with murals at the request of the City Council. The building of Madrid’s Plaza Mayor has served various functions, acting as the city bakery, the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Academy of History. It now houses the Madrid Tourist Board.

The other buildings of Madrid’s Plaza Mayor each had five floors, the porticos were made of wood and the square was not completely closed. The square suffered several fires, the worst of which occurred in 1790. The only building of Madrid’s Plaza Mayor salvaged was the Casa de la Panadería, which served as a model for the rebuilding carried out by Juan de Villanueva, another of Madrid’s great architects. 

Madrid’s Plaza Mayor: today and tomorrow

Madrid’s Plaza Mayor as it appears today differs from the appearance it had in the old days, and the current look is the result of this rebuilding. It is now closed, its buildings have three floors, the porticos are made of granite and the walls are plastered red. The roofs of Madrid’s Plaza Mayor are slate covered and the entrances are topped with big archs.

Throughout history, Madrid’s Plaza Mayor has hosted a variety of events: bullfights, crowded auto-da-fés during the Inquisition, the canonization of San Isidro and royal coronations, such as that of Philip III. Madrid’s Plaza Mayor currently hosts concerts, fairs and markets, such as the one held every Christmas.

In the center of Madrid’s Plaza Mayor stands a statue of Philip III on horseback. The political skills of this king were indifferent but he is remembered as the first king born in Madrid and a driving force behind the construction of Madrid’s Plaza Mayor. 

In the future, there will be some changes in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor. The Casa de la Carnicería, which is located right in front of the Casa de la Panadería, will host a luxury hotel. Many of the houses and apartments, which interiors are too old, will be rebuilt. The real-estate market will develop and prices will increase. Now, the average in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor is 3.000 euros per square meter.