COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO MADRID

Madrid. Visit it once and the name will forever denote a mixture of tough winters and scorching heat in the summer; the gentle air of midnight cafes and the brutal roar of the crowd at the bullfight arenas. Madrid is the city of contrasts. Hemingway even wrote that it is hardly likeable during the first visit, because it has none of the look that you may expect of Spain ... Yet when you get to know it, it is the most Spanish of all cities. Compared to other Spanish cities, Madrid is not that rich in historic monuments, yet it prides excellent museum collections and top-notch cultural scene. Visitors to Madrid must not forget that the time schedules of the madrilenos, the Madrid inhabitants, are somewhat off the usual routine. Life starts rather late in the day, while dining at night is common.

Though it's been some time since Hemingway wrote his description, Madrid still combines being Spanish with being international. Cultures would mix at the very beginnings of the city's history. Madrid began as Magerit, an Islamic garrison town, in the 9th century. The city remained under the Muslim rule for another two centuries until King Alfonso VI became its ruler. It took another 500 years until Madrid became the regular site of the Spanish kings and queens, after king Felipe II moved the capital there from Toledo. The move gave Madrid a reviving boost and it quickly became Spain's biggest trade and economic centre. The 18th century was when the Bourbons erected many of the Baroque buildings, like the Royal Palace. The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries essentially gave the city its today's shape. Madrid was heavily tarnished also in the psychological sense - by the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. On the other hand, it was spared the destruction of the World War 2. In the 1980s, the poet-turned-mayor Tierno Galvano implemented his policy of movida madrilena, or the Madryt movement, which elevated the city to the position of a major European cultural centre. Speaking of elevation in the literal sense, Madrid is Europe's highest city, located at 650 metres above the sea level.