Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor de Madrid

A 400-year-old square boxed in by red-ochre buildings

Hours

Open 24 hours

Address

Heart of the old town, five minutes west of Sol along Calle Mayor, entered through nine archways

Squeeze through a narrow arched passage and the sky suddenly opens up, with identical red-ochre walls and iron balconies closing in on all four sides. Finished in 1619, the square hosted bullfights, Inquisition trials and royal pageants. The painted facade of the Casa de la Panadería on the north side is its signature, and Philip III sits on horseback in the middle. The arcade café terraces charge for the view; the Madrid move is to grab a fried-squid sandwich (bocadillo de calamares) from a bar in the side streets and eat it on the square. In December a Christmas market fills it.