Worldcity.....

Madrid, central Spain, according to the famous film director Pedro Almodóvar the most exciting city in the world!

Location
Madrid is geographically exactly the center of the country. 70 km northeast of Toledo, 100 miles south of Segovia, 110 km south of Ávila. The city is the center of the "Iberian Peninsula": it lies between the two regions: Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León. Madrid (667 meters above sea level) has a true continental climate: the summer is very hot and winters can reach temperatures around zero.
The Manzanares River flows into the city through the forests of the district "Casa del Campo", and runs through the districts Latina Carabanchel and the center of Madrid.

Flamenco
In terms of Flamenco, the city has much to offer. There are a number of schools available, including Amor De Dios. This school is on the top floor of a market hall: to get there you need to go along the vegetable, fruit and fish market. But also if you prefer to enjoy passively Flamenco, Madrid has one of the best tablaos of Spain.

Culinary
Madrid has its own traditional Spanish cuisine, which is quite different from the Mediterranean cuisines in Barcelona or Valencia. Since many people eat fish and shellfish, pasta, rice and Mediterranean vegetables. The traditional cuisine of Madrid consists of both meat and fish, and many legumes, eggs, hundreds of kinds of sausages, and stews. The 'cocido madrileño' is the most traditional example of a typical Madrid stew. Madrid is in Spain known as the city where the food in the restaurants very 'casera' is, or domestic. This means that the food is freshly prepared, in many cases with Spanish products. In the city in some places the typical Spanish tapas are traditionally eaten, namely free with a drink. But of course as befits a cosmopolitan city, here are the latest trends available in terms of dining, there is a whole new generation of design restaurants. See the headline entertainment for the addresses in Madrid.

Going out
The city is famous for its nightlife and is even in the rest of Spain known for the huge number of bars, clubs and discos. The typical young Madrilenian dances and drinks late into the night, eat some sweet fried "churros", showering himself and then goes to / from work. The term "youth" is not always correct in this city when it comes to partying. Seven days a week the streets of downtown Madrid are filled with people, young and old, locals and tourists. This is due to the strong Spanish culture of "street life" that exists and also because Madrilenans, young and old, go out for dinner around 22:00 or 23:00 p.m. Even in other cities of Spain, who are not known for their tranquility, Madrid is known as the city that never sleeps. The restaurants are open until around 9:00 p.m., and at 1:00 the nightclubs are almost empty. The highest concentrations of bars and nightclubs can be found in Chueca and Malasaña. A number of busy streets in the entertainment center Calle Bilbao, Tribunal and Alonso Martinez, but also the Moncloa district to the west, and the districts of Sol and Las Huertas around the center are often at night as crowded during the day.
Gay Area:
Barrio de Chueca is the neighborhood where many gay's can be found, well known in this scene! It is located in the center along the Calle de Grand Villa.

Culture
It is a cosmopolitan city with an intense cultural and artistic life with a variety of museums, cultural centers, exhibitions, shows and an attractive nightlife. The city certainly has a number of attractions that you must have seen: the Palacio Real (Royal Palace), the archaeological museum, and three internationally famous art museums: the Museo del Prado, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and Thyssen -Bornemisza, El Retiro, a park where on Sunday are all kind of activities, Casa de Campo, the largest park in the city. La Puerta del Sol, the main point of the city and la Plaza Mayor. Madrid has the largest bullring in Spain, called "Las Ventas". The arena was opened in 1931 and there may be 25.000 spectators to attend a bullfight. The bullfighting season begins in March and ends in October. From March to June, the "San Isidro" period of Madrid, there are bullfights every day and the rest of the season only on Sunday. The appreciation that a toreador in Madrid gets, are the most important of the world. Today, the arena is also used for other events such as music concerts. Despite protests from other parts of Spain, particularly Barcelona, ​​and from abroad, there are no plans to stop the bullfighting.

Outside the Spanish national holiday calendar, which by European standards already quite extensive, Madrid has a number of local holidays:

* May 15: San Isidro Labrador
* June 13: San Antonio de la Florida
* July 16 to 25: Virgen del Carmen celebrations
* 6 to 15 August: Virgen de la Paloma
* August 7: San Cayetano
* August 10: San Lorenzo
* November 9: Virgen de la Almudena

Madrid has two major football clubs: Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Both clubs have their own stadium, respectively Santiago Bernabeu and Vicente Calderon.
The city also has two well-known basketball teams, a motor circuit and a Formula 1 circuit. One can also ski near Madrid, in the mountains of the "Sierra de Guadarrama", to the well known ski areas Valdesqui and Navacerrada.
Diario Marca, a sports daily, El País, a newspaper, both published in Madrid.

Mentality
Enjoying the moment
OK, the average Madrilenian may perhaps lead at least an even stressful work life than for example a typical inhabitant of Amsterdam or Londen, yet the Spaniard seems to have a better capacity to enjoy the moment of free time. Rather, they don't plan and organize every free second completely. They let go and give spontaneity a chance, so unexpectedly nice things occur. Ya veremos ("wait and see") or hablamos luego ("we talk about it") are powerful statements that matter, not to mention the complete lack or need of some notion of punctuality!