Madrid, Spain’s largest city, is a beautiful, vibrant and thriving capital city packed with life and energy. A relatively small city, Madrid has a population of 5m, but it has so much to offer – museums such as El Prado and the Thiessen, wonderful restaurants and tapas bars, great shopping, a cutting-edge music scene, energetic night life, and a very Spanish way of life. It’s cosmopolitan in the extreme, yet it has a fascinating history and architecture.

The city offers the best national and international schools in Spain, and internationally renowned Universities. Sporting facilities have been heavily invested in and there are also wonderful excursions and walks to enjoy all around Madrid in places such as La Pedriza, Gredos and Guadarrama to name but a few.

Whether you want to be in the centre, on the outskirts, or a short distance from the City, Madrid has a host of wonderful options. Residential areas in the city centre include the historical areas of Sol or the Plaza Mayor; the select and fashionable area of Serrano-Velázquez, or the younger and more trend-driven area of Alonso Martinez. The outskirts offer a number of exclusive residential areas such as La Moraleja, Puerta de Hierro and La Florida. Further afield, the area around Madrid becomes quickly rural, so it’s possible to live a quiet village life yet be just over half an hour from the city centre.

Location

Madrid is located at almost the exact geographical centre of the Iberian Peninsula and is the most developed area in Spain. It’s surrounded by some of the most important cities in Spain including Toledo, Segovia and Avila. The city offers excellent communications either by air or fast train with a travel time to Seville, Málaga and Barcelona of approximately two and a half hours by train.

Climate

Madrid's climate is said to be one of the healthiest in Europe because of its privileged situation. Thanks to the mountains of Somosierra (to the north and north-east), Guadarrama (north-east) and Toledo (south and east) which surround this community, Madrid enjoys the pure mountain air from these Sierras, some of which, like Guadarrama, offer almost year-round winter sports centres.

The average annual temperature in the shade is 13ºC (55ºF). In the colder seasons, the minimum temperatures often fall below freezing point, although in the city itself it rarely snows. In the summer months the average temperature is 30ºC (86ºF) although this is made more bearable thanks to the relatively low humidity.

Languages

The people in Madrid speak only Castellano which is the Spanish we all recognise and learn, and the accent is easy to understand.

Airports

Madrid-Barajas Airport is the main international airport serving the Spanish capital. Located 12 km from the centre of the city and with the Metro subway service that links the city with the airport in approximately 15 minutes, Barajas serves as the gateway to the Iberian peninsula from the rest of Europe and the world and is a particularly key link between Europe and Latin America.

In 2007, more than 52 million passengers used Barajas; it ranks as the world's 10th—and Europe's fourth—busiest airport and the largest one by terminal area in the world.

Schooling

Madrid has a good mix of State and Private schools. For example the Jesuits School, Nuestra Señora del Recuerdo, nearly bilingual, Britanico, Saint Patricks School, Colegio Aleman, Liceo Frances, just girls school like Mater Salvatoris or just boys school like Retamar.

Hospitals

As the capital of Spain some of the best hospitals and specialists are to be found in Madrid. Amongst the most important, Ruber  International, La Luz (private), La Concepción, La Paz, Hospital Cemtro and San Rafael which is a specialist children’s hospital.

Property Prices

From the centre to the outskirts, property styles and prices vary considerably, starting from as little as 250,000Euro for a one bedroom apartment in In the Barrio de Salamanca, to well over 750,000Euro for a house in the Soto de la Moralega.

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