Madrid: Oct. 18-21, 2019

I visited Madrid in Spain.　It was my first visit in more than 20 years.

The basic structure of the city remained unchanged in my impression, but there have been many changes in the towns.

Many peoples gathered in the Puerta del Sol, a plaza in the center of the city. There were street performers, musicians as well as tourists and local people there. All of them were enjoying their times. (See also the top photo)

The place is kilometer zero of Span. It is also known as a place where fierce resistance battle against Napoleon’s French army took place in 1808.

Grand Via is the main shopping street of the city. People enjoyed café at the side of the sidewalks.

There are lots of masterpieces of Goya, El Greco, Velázquez and many other painters in the Prado Museum. Taking photo is prohibited inside the museum.

The museum opened in 1819. The statue of Goya was looking the sign to celebrate the 200^th anniversary. (See the 3rd photo)

The Queen Sofia Museum exhibits Picasso’s Guernica and many other masterpieces of the 20^th century. Famous pictures of Dali and Miro are in the museum.

Current works ware also displayed. I found that some of them focused on the issues such as poverty, inequality and environment problems.

Foods and drinks are excellent here in Spain. At the San Miguel market in the downtown, I found many people enjoying the tapas with wines and beers. (See also the 2nd photo)

Other must-visit places in the city include:

The royal Palace

The Plaza Mayor

They had large scale demonstrations in Barcelona when I stayed in Spain. It was organized to oppose to the decisions made by the supreme court, which sentenced years of imprisonment for the political leaders of Catalunya. They lead the independence movement of the region in 2017.

TV and newspapers reported the incident largely. People’s reactions in Madrid, however, looked to be limited.

I visited the supreme court, the congress and other places related to the politics. No movements were found around there.

I found several homeless people and beggars in the streets.

It is not sure whether it was the aftermath of the financial crisis in the early 2010s.

The country will have a re-general election in November as the formation of the new government has been unsuccessful after the latest election in April this year. I visited the headquarters of the People’s Party, the largest opposite party. No campaign posters were displayed yet.