50 Fun Facts About Madrid

Madrid lies on which river?

The city sits about 660 metres up on the central Meseta, one of Europe's highest capitals.

With an average altitude of about 650 metres, Madrid is the second-highest capital in Europe after which?

The altitude and dry climate keep humidity low; the city ranges from 700 metres at Plaza de Castilla down to 570 by the river.

Madrid is the second-largest city in the European Union after which?

Its metro area of about 6.8 million is the EU's second largest after Paris.

Madrid began in the 9th century as a fortress built by which Umayyad emir of Córdoba?

It guarded Toledo against Christian raids; Alfonso VI seized the town in 1083, two years before Toledo itself.

Which king made Madrid the permanent seat of his court in June 1561?

The population more than quadrupled by 1598, though the court briefly left the city from 1601 to 1606.

Between 1601 and 1606 the Spanish court left Madrid for which city?

Madrid's population temporarily plummeted before diplomats, nobles and writers returned.

Which king, nicknamed 'the best mayor of Madrid', gave the city sewers, street lighting and the future Prado?

His minister Esquilache's clothing decree sparked riots in 1766.

The 1766 Esquilache Riots in Madrid were provoked by a decree banning what?

The clothing law was meant to curb crime; the crowd forced its repeal.

Madrid's 2 May 1808 uprising against the French began with a crowd protesting the removal of whom?

A famous last stand was made at the Monteleón barracks; the brutal reprisals were painted by Goya.

Which Spanish constitution was the first to name Madrid explicitly as the national capital?

The Second Republic's charter did so during the 'Silver Age' of Spanish culture; the city fell to Franco's forces in March 1939.

After the Civil War, Franco's regime considered moving the capital from Madrid to which city?

The plan was dropped, and the regime instead played up Madrid's imperial past; ration coupons were a staple of the post-war city.

The countercultural movement centred on Madrid from the late 1970s through the 1980s is known as what?

It flourished after the 1981 coup attempt, 23-F, was met with mass demonstrations for democracy.

The heraldic symbol of Madrid, depicted in a statue on the Puerta del Sol, shows a bear and what?

El Oso y el Madroño stands on the east side of the square.

The Puerta del Sol marks what point of Spain's radial road system?

The Royal House of the Post Office on the square houses the regional government.

The Plaza Mayor was completed in 1619 under which king, whose equestrian statue stands at its centre?

Juan Gómez de Mora built it; the bronze statue is by Giambologna and Pietro Tacca.

How many balconies overlook the Plaza Mayor from the buildings that enclose it?

Construction began in 1617 under Philip III and finished two years later.

The Royal Palace of Madrid has roughly how many rooms, making it the largest royal palace in Europe?

It replaced the Alcázar, which burned down on Christmas Eve 1734, and covers more than 135,000 square metres.

The Royal Alcázar that preceded the Royal Palace burned down on what date in 1734?

Philip V then built the present palace on the site of the old Muslim fortress.

The Prado Museum first opened to the public in which year?

Its building was designed in 1785 as a natural history cabinet; the first catalogue listed 311 Spanish paintings.

Which architect designed the Prado's building in 1785, originally to house a natural history collection?

The king commissioned it; the museum holds the best collections of Goya, Velázquez, El Greco and Bosch.

The Reina Sofía Museum's most famous work is which 1937 Picasso painting?

The museum opened in 1992 in a former hospital and is named for Queen Sofía; Dalí, Miró and Juan Gris are also strongly represented.

The Prado, the Reina Sofía and which third museum make up Madrid's 'Golden Triangle of Art'?

All three line the Paseo del Prado, a UNESCO World Heritage landscape.

The Temple of Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple, was donated to Spain in 1968 in gratitude for what?

It came from near Aswan and now stands in the Parque del Oeste.

The Buen Retiro Park was founded in which year?

It is the city's most visited spot, with the Crystal Palace glass pavilion and a monument to Alfonso XII beside the pond.

The Retiro's Fountain of the Fallen Angel, erected in 1922, depicts which figure?

Ricardo Bellver's sculpture was inspired by a passage of Milton's Paradise Lost.

The Cibeles Palace, now Madrid's city hall, was built as the headquarters of what?

Two young architects won a competition to design it; it opened the same year as the Metro and also houses the CentroCentro cultural centre.

The Madrid Metro's first line, between Cuatro Caminos and Sol, opened in which year?

King Alfonso XIII invested in it; the ghost station of Chamberí survives from that first line.

The Madrid Metro is the third-longest in Europe behind which two systems?

Only the Paris Métro has more stations; the network has thirteen heavy-rail lines and three light-rail lines.

Madrid-Barajas Airport's award-winning Terminal 4 opened in which year?

The airport handles over 60 million passengers a year and specialises in routes to the Americas.

Real Madrid have played at the Santiago Bernabéu since its completion in which year?

Renovated in 2024 to seat 83,186, it hosted the Euro 1964 final and the 1982 World Cup final.

Which two finals did the Bernabéu host in 1964 and 1982?

Spain won the 1964 European Championship there; Madrid has staged five European Cup or Champions League finals in all.

Atlético Madrid, founded in 1903, play at which stadium?

The ground hosted the 2019 Champions League final.

Which nickname do Atlético Madrid supporters go by?

The club is thought to draw its support mainly from working-class Madrid and has Spain's third-largest fan base.

Las Ventas, established in 1929, is Spain's largest what?

It seats almost 25,000 and is regarded by many as the world centre of bullfighting; it also hosts concerts out of season.

The first edition of Don Quixote was printed in 1604 at Juan de la Cuesta's press on which Madrid street?

The homes of several Golden Age writers survive in the Barrio de las Letras nearby.

Which Golden Age dramatist, author of Fuenteovejuna, was born in Madrid?

Cervantes and Góngora lived in the city but were born elsewhere; Calderón continued Lope's reform of the theatre.

Which Madrid neighbourhood is the city's gay quarter, compared to San Francisco's Castro?

Madrid's Pride parade began there in 1977 and the city hosted WorldPride in 2017.

Which UN agency has its headquarters in Madrid?

The city also hosts the Ibero-American General Secretariat and the Instituto Cervantes.

The Complutense University of Madrid traces its origin to schools founded in 1293 in which nearby town?

The university moved to Madrid in 1836 as the Central University and took its present name in 1970.

Madrid's four tallest skyscrapers, built in the 2000s, form which business district?

Earlier towers include Torre Picasso and the leaning Gate of Europe.

Which nickname for Madrid means 'the town and court'?

The plural Los Madriles is another; the city was granted the titles Coronada and Imperial after the Comuneros revolt.

The Casa de Campo, west of the city centre, holds the zoo and amusement park and covers roughly how much land?

Like the Retiro and El Pardo it was once a royal possession, lying across the river to the west.

Madrid's failed bids for the Summer Olympics targeted which three Games?

They were launched by the conservative administrations of Ruiz-Gallardón and Ana Botella.

Which architect built Madrid's Palace of Communication and the Círculo de Bellas Artes in a Secession-inspired style?

Arturo Soria, another Madrid planner, invented the 'linear city' along the road that bears his name.

The 'Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis' invaded Madrid in 1823 to restore whose absolute rule?

It ended the three-year liberal interlude known as the trienio liberal.

Madrid's population grew from about 18,000 in 1561 to roughly how many by 1598?

Becoming capital transformed the town, though extreme poverty stayed rampant into the 17th century.

Which mayor, in office 2015–19, oversaw the renaturalisation of the river as it runs through the city?

The current mayor is Martínez-Almeida of the People's Party.

Madrid's alternative scene is still associated with which neighbourhood?

Lavapiés is known for its 'hidden houses' of concerts and poetry, and La Latina for tapas around the Cava Baja.

Which two Spanish companies based near Madrid are named alongside BBVA and FCC as major firms?

The metro area produces the EU's second-largest urban GDP.

On which date do Madrileños celebrate the feast of their patron saint, Isidore the Laborer?

Crowds in chulapo caps and kerchiefs dance the chotis on the Prairie of San Isidro and eat rosquillas, while bullfights run daily into June.