May 2nd is one of Madrid's public holidays, commemorating the Dos de Mayo Uprising against the French of 1808 and the beginning of the Spanish War of Independence. It's always a good time to visit Madrid, as hundreds of thousands of Madrileños take advantage of the long weekend and head for the costas or sierras (May 1st is a national holiday as well, so in Madrid this break is almost as important as Easter), leaving the city relatively uncrowded (but not as closed up as in August), at a time of year when Madrid's weather is usually at its best. This year is the bicentenary of the uprising, and looks like being a celebration to remember. Special attention is being paid to the field of art, and an exhibition programmed in the Prado Museum of Goya in Times of War looks likely to attract attention. His two masterpieces related with the event are being especially restored, these being the Dos de Mayo, 1808, and the even more famous Tres de Mayo, 1808, otherwise known as The Charge of the Marmelukes and the Executions on Principe Pío Mountain, respectively. If you are not a Goya fan, there will be other events and, more importantly, I think there should be a general festive feel to the city that weekend. Read more.

Posted by : John Ross on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 - 09:44 AM 1558 reads

The new extension to the Prado Museum in Madrid was inaugurated on October 31st, 2007, and the big question was, was it worth all the fuss? Like tens of thousands of other Madrid residents and visitors, driven more by curiosity than love of art, I went to the Prado last weekend to see the extension and form an opinion for myself, and I have to answer yes, with certain reservations. The new "space," designed by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, is entirely appropriate, does not spoil the oriiginal Villanueva building in any way, and clearly fulfils its role of providing extra room for the ever more important temporary exhibitions as well as for work like restoration, research or even administration. And there is a touch of genius in the theme chosen for the inaugural exhibition: The 19th Century in the Prado, which will remain on show until April 20, 2008 and which I heartily recommend. Read more, or visit the new Prado Museum website.

Posted by : John Ross on Monday, November 05, 2007 - 10:08 AM 1132 reads

Bing Xing ("Ice Star") and Hua Zui Ba ("Coloured Mouth"), the pair of giant pandas being lent to Spain by China, have arrived. They are expected to go on display to the public in Madrid Zoo from October onwards. Spain has a historical link with these endangered animals as the home of Chulin, the first giant panda born in captivity in Europe. Read more.

Posted by : John Ross on Saturday, September 08, 2007 - 09:18 AM 677 reads

Or, if not Spain's most haunted house, its most famous haunted house. The Palacio de Linares, these days home to the Casa de America, can now be visited on Sunday morning and Mondays (good idea, almost everywhere else visitable in Madrid is closed on Monday). Pin your ears back for a gripping tale of the rich and powerful, souls doomed to walk the Earth (albeit inside a luxurious mansion), incest, and murder most foul, with a colourful lady fraudster for light relief. Get your spine chilled here.

Posted by : John Ross on Friday, June 15, 2007 - 11:40 AM 1076 reads

Inspired, they say, by the similarity of the landscapes of Madrid's Sierra Norte to the spots in New Zealand used to represent Tolkien's imaginary world in the Lord of the Rings films, over half of the area's mayors have agreed to launch a project called, appropriately, Little Middle Earth. The idea is that each of the villages in the sierra will take the role of one of the places in the films or books, all together making a kind of huge, ride-less theme park. Read more.

Posted by : John Ross on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - 02:35 PM 1885 reads