Madrid  is the capital and most-populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), surpassed only by Berlin in its administrative limits, and its monocentric metropolitan area is the second-largest in the EU, surpassed only by Paris. The municipality covers 604.3 km² (233.3 sq mi) geographical area. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the center of both the country and the Community of Madrid region, of which it is also the capital.

The flow of migration to Madrid, attracted chiefly by the city’s expanding industrial belt in the 1950s and ’60s, has created a modern population representative of the entire Spanish country. A traditional nickname for the Madrileños is gatos (“cats”), originally coined in the Middle Ages as a reference to the ability of local troops to scale castle walls. It would be no less apt as a reference to the local lifestyle and the late hours kept by the city’s inhabitants, although keeping late hours is also common in other parts of Spain.

City attractions:

The Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine

1. Puerta del Sol ·

2. Plaza Mayor ·

3. Plaza de la Villa ·

4. Palacio Real ·

5. Catedral de la Almudena 

Museums:

 Prado Museum 

 Reina  Sofía Museum

 Bornemisza Museum