Madrid
Along the Paseo del Prado, Madrid gathers three UNESCO‑listed museums that together form the city’s Golden Triangle of Art. The capital of Spain sits in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, straddling the Manzanares River at roughly 660 metres above sea level. With more than 3.4 million residents in the municipal limits and a metropolitan population of about 6.8 million, it serves as the nation’s political, economic and cultural hub.
The urban landscape spreads over 605.77 square kilometres of gently rolling plateau, the second‑highest capital in Europe after Andorra la Vella. The river’s course has been renaturalised through the city centre, offering a green ribbon that contrasts with the historic core, a former walled military outpost dating to the late ninth century. The surrounding countryside lies 60 kilometres north of the Guadarrama range, while the Jarama and Manzanares sub‑drainage basins feed the wider Tagus catchment.
Visitors encounter the 17th‑century Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace with its expansive courtyards, and the Royal Theatre whose 1850 opera house has been restored. The Buen Retiro Park, founded in 1631, provides shaded avenues and a large lake, while the 19th‑century National Library building houses key historical archives. The Prado Museum, the Reina Sofía Museum of modern art, and the Thyssen‑Bornemisza Museum complete the Golden Triangle, allowing a walk through centuries of Spanish and European painting. Annual fairs such as FITUR, ARCO and Madrid Fashion Week, together with football matches at the homes of Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, add contemporary rhythm to the city’s historic streets.
The concentration of three world‑renowned art museums within a single boulevard remains Madrid’s most distinctive cultural concentration.
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