Medieval Madrid a must

Jonathan deBurca Butler gets a whistle-stop taste of a confident, vibrant, lived-in city with the ‘swagger of a matador ‘, before moving on to devour delightful Toledo, Seville and Cordoba

IT IS early morning in Madrid and I wearily check into the 3 star Hotel Rafael. Having been on the go since 4am I am, to say the least, a smidgen tired. But as soon as I realise that tonight I won’t have to struggle through Winning Streak, a little ‘Viva Espana!’ cries out inside me.

So with bags checked I say ‘see ya later siesta’ and vamos straight for town. Madrid is a confident city and there seems to be no shortage of money, even though unemployment in Spain is at a whopping 20.6%.