Madrid

People in Madrid ride trains under the ground called the Metro.

Buses go all over the city. The main street is called the Gran Vía. Big airplanes land at the airport outside the city.

A subway called the Metro has lines that run all through the city, and many bus routes carry people around Madrid and in from the towns nearby. Madrid's international airport, Barajas, is about 13 kilometers east of the city.

The Gran Vía was built to be the city's main street, full of cinemas, cafés, shops and banks. The old center is a maze of small streets, and traffic jams are common. For centuries the city did not even spread across its little river; it first crossed the Manzanares in 1948.

A subway, the Metro, serves the city with lines extending throughout it, and numerous bus routes run by municipal and private operators serve both residents and commuters from the surrounding municipalities. Barajas Airport, the international airport, lies about 13 km east of the city.

The Gran Vía, cut through the center to be the city's main street, still has cinemas, coffeehouses, shops and banks. The old center is a maze of small streets around a few squares near the Plaza Mayor, and Britannica notes that pollution can be intense and severe traffic congestion is common. Despite several development plans, Madrid did not spread into the open land around it, or even across the Manzanares, until 1948.

Summers in Madrid are hot and dry.

Some summer days get very, very hot. Winters are cold and crisp, with sharp winds. Spring and fall are the nicest times of year.

Partly because Madrid is high up and close to the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains, its winters are cold and crisp, with sharp winds. Summers are dry and hot, and in July and August the temperature sometimes climbs above 38 °C.

Average temperatures range from about 5 °C to 24 °C. July is the driest month, with less than 11 millimeters of rain, and October is usually the rainiest, with about 50 millimeters. Spring and fall are the mildest seasons, and the most popular with visitors.

Madrid's height and the nearby Sierra de Guadarrama help explain its cold, crisp winters with sharp winds; sudden swings in temperature are possible. Summers are consistently dry and hot, oppressive in July and August, when temperatures sometimes exceed 38 °C. Average temperatures range from about 5 to 24 °C, and monthly precipitation from under 11 mm in July to about 50 mm in October, usually the rainiest month. Spring and fall are the temperate seasons.

Britannica links the heat to daily rhythms: keeping late hours is common in Madrid, as in other parts of Spain, especially in the heat of summer. Parks soften the city: there are more than 40 parks and public gardens, and the city as a whole has more open space than Paris.

Many people in Madrid eat dinner late in the evening.

Shows and movies start late too. Each neighborhood has its own style. A popular flea market, the Rastro, is near the old center.

Madrid is known for its late hours. Many people eat late, and theaters and cinemas start their shows late, though modern business habits have shortened the long midday break in many workplaces. Each barrio, or neighborhood, has developed its own style, so people speak of "los Madriles", "the Madrids".

People have come to Madrid from every part of Spain, especially to work in its factories in the 1950s and 1960s, and more recently from Latin America, Asia, other parts of Europe and North Africa. Just over the hill from the old center is the Rastro, a popular flea market, and the city has more than 40 parks.

Migration to Madrid's industrial belt in the 1950s and '60s created a population that represents the whole of Spain, and immigration since, particularly from Latin America but also from Asia, elsewhere in Europe and North Africa, has given it a cosmopolitan character. The traditional phrase "los Madriles" acknowledges that each barrio has its own style; historically the city distinguished upper, central and lower quarters, the last spilling downhill from the Plaza Mayor toward the river.

People eat late, theaters and cinemas start late, and the siesta is not dead, although modern business methods have cut the long midday break. Parks include the Retiro, Campo del Moro, Casa de Campo and Oeste Park; El Pardo and Casa de Campo survive from royal hunting grounds. Near Rosales stands the Temple of Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple that Spain acquired when the Aswan High Dam was built.