Navigating Madrid’s public restrooms can be a challenging adventure for tourists and locals alike. From historic streets to modern museums, finding a clean and accessible bathroom requires insider knowledge and a bit of strategic planning. Public bathrooms: the awful reality Finding a public bathroom in Madrid can feel like a quixotic quest. Thwarted at every […]
You’re coming to Madrid in August for your summer holidays, hombre, are you crazy? – would be the typical response a Madrileño would give you if they heard your travel plans. They know from bitter experience that this delightful city turns into a furnace during summer. Anyone in their right mind ought to head to
What are typical mealtimes in Madrid? Mealtimes in Spain can drive you crazy, especially if you arrive at a restaurant ravenous, only to find the kitchen won’t be open for an hour yet. As Madrid is always full of tourists, there will be places willing to serve you lunch at 12pm. Unfortunately, these are often
What is a gato? Gato means cat in Spanish but in Madrid, it also refers to someone who can count their ancestry back two generations within the city. This means that both their parents and grandparents were born and raised here. While there’s a little bit of debate on whether this should be on both
Part of the city’s aesthetic heritage One of the first things that caught my eye about Madrid was its beautiful wooden doors. Studded with ornate brass or iron fittings, the varnished panels engraved with florid designs, often with the words “asegurada de incendios” mounted on a plaque above, these historic doors form an important part
Spain’s first pornos As with the internet, it didn’t take long for pioneers to see the pornographic possibilities of film with early pornos appearing pretty quickly after the Lumiere brothers first displayed their invention in Paris in 1895. However, unlike the internet, this was no democratic tool, the first silent pornos were mainly made to
Maybe you’ve seen the signature pouty lips and jutting Habsburg chin caught on canvas in Velázquez’s paintings of Felipe IV or perhaps you’ve seen it grow to even more ridiculous proportions in portraits of his son Carlos II (pic above). But just how did this jawline get so out of control? Interbreeding for power The
Photo from Guide to Madrid’s Literary District by John Dapolito Last year my book A Guide to Madrid’s Literary District was published by Secret Kingdoms and this year, I’ve got not one but four new titles out! Okay, admittedly three of these are Lonely Planet guides (the big Madrid guide, the pocket guide and the
Artists Minty Donald and Nick Millar of Erratic Drift answer the question, “What is Madrid made of?” in this special guest post written ahead of their exhibition opening. A close look at the city When we visit a city as tourists, we’re often urged to stand back and look up to appreciate the architecture, or
The ultimate late bloomer World Book Day on April 23 marks the date of Miguel de Cervantes’ death. The celebrated Spanish writer was the ultimate late bloomer. Even though he scribbled away for years, he didn’t find success until he was pretty long in the tooth. When I was writing my new book, a Guide
