Spain and Portugal for Visitors

Young Alex is an old friend to these pages.

Tourism, entertainment, culture and much more. A fine municipal tourist board website, with an immense amount of information, from Madrid's sights and events to Madrid for business. Much of the practical information is under "Services" - Where to Stay, Where to Eat, an up-to-the-minute Traffic report (which is quite useful for residents as well as visitors), but take the trouble to explore this site for its entertainment value.

A HotelsCentral.com site.

New, currently sparse guide to Madrid, "the captial city of Spain. Offers all kind of information about Madrid, hotels, museums, transport, landmarks, people, events, and other things". Well, it may do in the future.

Information on Madrid hotels, hostels, rental apartments, museums, flamenco, monuments, bullfights and more.

The most important trade fair and exhibition centre in Madrid, or Spain, come to that.

Web version of a free classified ads mag.

Madrid's racecourse, the only one of any importance in Spain, and even this has been closed for years. Now reopened under new management, and for the first time in decades looking likely to be a success, for the simple reason that instead of trying to be fashionable, it is concentrating on its raison d'être: horse races.

The Spanish Tourist Board's Madrid pages come in pairs, such as Congresses and Business, Food and Wine, Sport and Nature, Art and Culture, even Spare Time and Shopping. For some reason, Children and Youth are considered separately.

Sightseeing, excursions, a photo tour, gastronomy, fiestas and, of course, Madrid's nightlife.

Worth buying just for the entrance to more than forty of Madrid's museums.

Madrid's central barrios: Alonso Martínez, Lavapiés, Atocha, Malasaña, Chueca, Moncloa / Argüelles, Las Cortes, Opera, Gran Vía, Paseo del Prado, Huertas, El Rastro, La Latina, Salamanca and Sol - where they are and what they are like.

Site with an enormous amount of content, including tourist information.

The main purpose of this site is to offer accommodation for people staying in Madrid to study Spanish, but it also includes some background information on the city.

Guided tours of Madrid's finest museums, including the little known Real Academia San Fernando.

Website about the beauty of Spain's capital, Madrid. There are a lot of photos and travel reports.

Guide to Madrid, with an interesting message board.

Madrid images and information.

Site built around a links directory.

Mediaeval Madrid, Hapsburg Madrid, Bourbon Madrid...

From an American private university. I cannot speak for their academic worth - this page is OK.

The Spanish are like that - they call a convent a monasterio and a monastery a convent, and this is Madrid's Royal Theatre. Why they couldn't just call it an opera house I don't know, but that is what it is, one of the most important in the country. The link goes to its modern, efficient official website, with the programme, practical information, details about guided tours, and online ticket sale (with a brilliant "qualities map," so you can see exactly where your seat will be). Under "Virtual Visit," "The building," the page on the Teatro Real's accident-prone history is very entertaining.

Accommodation, bars, restaurants, shopping...

Lovely panoramic photographs of historic Madrid taken at nightfall, in a QTVR (that's Quick Time Virtual Reality) tour.