the streets
Las Letras, Madrid de los Austrias and Plaza Mayor: the streets between the bars
The old centre the tapas walk crosses, who built it, and what the square at the end of the tour has seen.
Save your place at the bar ↗Places on or beside the walk
| Place | What to know |
|---|---|
| Plaza de Santa Ana | The meeting point, beside the bronze statue of Federico García Lorca |
| Las Letras | The Literary Quarter, where the first three bars sit |
| El Madrid de los Austrias | The old centre built under the Habsburgs, where the last bar sits |
| Plaza Mayor | Built 1617 to 1619, measuring 129 by 94 metres, 237 balconies |
A capital since 1561
Madrid became the seat of the Spanish court when Philip II moved it there in June 1561, with a short break from 1601 to 1606 when the court was in Valladolid. The city sits about 660 metres above sea level, and it has more than 3.4 million people in the city proper. The old centre the tapas walk crosses is the part that grew under the kings who made it a capital.
Las Letras
The tour starts in Plaza de Santa Ana and spends its first three bars in the Las Letras quarter, also known as the Literary Quarter. It is walked on seventeenth-century streets, and the guide connects the bars and the neighbourhood with stories and anecdotes of Madrid's past.
El Madrid de los Austrias
The last bar is in El Madrid de los Austrias, the old centre of Madrid built under the Habsburg dynasty, which ruled Spain from 1516 to 1700. The area lies south of Calle Mayor, between the Sol and Ópera metro stations, and its architecture runs from the late Renaissance to the early Baroque. It includes Plaza de la Villa, with the fifteenth-century Gothic Torre de los Lujanes.
Plaza Mayor
The tour finishes in the surroundings of Plaza Mayor. The square was built in 1617 to 1619 under Philip III, to the plans of Juan Gómez de Mora, and it measures 129 metres by 94. The bronze equestrian statue of Philip III at its centre was made by Giambologna and Pietro Tacca in 1616 and moved to the square in 1848. A total of 237 balconies look onto it.
Fire and rebuilding
The square suffered three major fires, in 1631, 1670 and 1790. The last destroyed nearly a third of it, and Juan de Villanueva directed the rebuilding, reducing the surrounding buildings from five stories to three. It has hosted markets, bullfights and football games, and today an annual Christmas market and, on Sunday and holiday mornings, a stamp and coin market.
After the last glass
Because the tour ends near the square, the guide's tip for the next stop is easy to follow on foot. The guide can suggest where to go next, and the square is a few steps away.