Bourbons

Caught on Canvas: a Rogues’ Gallery of Spanish Rulers

Caught on canvas or let off the hook? Portraiture is a tricky business. An artist has to balance capturing the true likeness of the subject with flattering their ego. If said subject is a nasty piece of work, the job just gets even trickier. This post features three portraits of Spain’s most notoriously nefarious rogues, …

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A Peek Inside Banco de España

Dominating Cibeles, the Banco de España, with its imposing wrought iron doorways and gorgeous masonry, is one of Madrid’s most impressive buildings. But, being home to the country’s huge gold reserves, visits inside are strictly supervised and incredibly scarce. For most of us mere mortals, the only opportunity to penetrate this behemoth comes once a …

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Shaping the skyline¨: Madrid’s most notable architects

While Madrid lacks the architectural flamboyancy of Barcelona, or the long history of cities like Cordoba or Granada, the capital does have its own distinctive style. A certain something that suddenly strikes you when you turn a corner on a street lit up by the setting sun. While it’s impossible to sum up exactly what …

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Dos de Mayo: an Uprising Fought by Ordinary Madrileños

Not rolling over without a protest On May 2 1808 the last remaining members of Spain’s royal family were getting ready to be shipped off to France. Fearing perhaps that if they didn’t keep on Napoleon’s good side they’d wind up (just as their French cousins had) with their severed heads rolling around an executioner’s …

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Tabacalera then and now

Community collective Anyone wandering through the chilly graffiti-splattered corridors of Tabacalera would be forgiven for thinking that the former tobacco factory has been abandoned by the powers that be. Rundown, raucous, and rough around the edges, the space feels more like a Berlin squat than a state-owned community centre. This is mostly down to bad management …

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