Learn Spanish in Madrid
Madrid is located at the geographic center of the Iberian Peninsula. The political, economical and industrial capital of Spain is also one of the largest cities in Europe with a population of nearly 3.5 million people.
Compared with European standards, Madrid is a young capital. In fact, it's the capital of Spain "only" since 16th century. The origins of the modern city come from a Moorish fortress captured in the 10th century during Spanish Reconquest and until 16th century it remained as a small town. It's a curiosity that Madrid never got the "City" status. Officially it is only "town and royal court".
Madrid may not have a medieval heritage like other spanish cities but his splendour period from 17th to 19th made it a beautiful city of Baroque monuments and Neoclassical elegance.
Spanish capital is an international art capital, as well. Prado Museum, Thyssen Museum and Reina Sofia Museum (home of Picasso's Guernica) are known as the "Golden Triangle".
The three museums are only 10 minutes' walking distance, forming a triangular area of impressive artistic value.
Madrid is also a lively European metropolis with a busy and vibrant night-life. Many pubs, restaurants, cafes, discotheques and nightclubs open late into the night.
Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Madrid and knew and loved this city wrote in "Death in the Afternoon" :
"It has none of the look that you expect of Spain. It is modern rather than picturesque, no costumes [...]. There is not one local-colored place for tourists in the town. Yet when you get to know it, it is the most Spanish of all cities, the best to live in, the finest people, [...] and while the other big cities are all very representative of the province they are in, [...]. It is in Madrid only that you get the essence."
