Tourists have started showing up again in Madrid, although the COVID epidemic is far from over. Luckily Madrid is a city where life is spent outdoor and there are many options of activities that allow experiencing the city in a safe way. What are the best outdoor activities you can do in Madrid these days? Visit a Park Credit: Álvaro López del Cerro-Madrid Destino Visiting a park is the obvious number 1 option for open-air activities in Madrid. I have already written about Madrid’s parks, from the most famous and central Retiro to the wilder Casa de Campo to the less-known Quinta de Los Moli ..read more

After publishing my list of the best Italian TV series a few months ago, I have now finally compiled my list of favourite Spanish TV shows. Watching these series not only can help you to brush your language skills but also to gain an insight on the culture of Spain. Paquita Salas This is one my favourite series ever and I have already written about it here. This comedy shows a struggling TV celebrity agent in her quest to regain the popularity she used to enjoy in the ’90s. The series has plenty of references to Spanish culture and TV personalities, which may be a bit difficult to get a time ..read more

A few months ago I wrote an article comparing feminism in Spain vs Italy that got a lot of interest. Last week something quite important happened in my very neighbourhood that at first made me question what I had believed to be true in relation to the state of feminism in Spain. Not far from my house, a mural painting stands on the wall of the local sports centre. The artwork was painted in 2018 by a group of artists under the commission of the previous council administration. It portrays a group of 15 women that have been a pioneer in their field: from the painter Frida Kahlo to the activist ..read more

It has been a while since my last post. Christmas has passed, we said goodbye to 2020 and then just ten days ago we experienced the worst snowfall in the century: 65 cm (25 inches) of snow fell on the city. At first walking around in the streets totally transformed was a nice and surreal experience, snowmen appeared in every corner and some people even took out their ski gear and started to ski around the city! However, it quickly became clear that it was a dangerous activity due to the number of trees damaged and the snow falling from the roofs. People were trapped in the motorway and many ..read more

Madrid is again in a state of emergency. What does it mean? Well, life continues almost as usual in the capital, but we cannot exit its borders. We got to this situation after weeks of tension between the central government and the regional one (that is in charge of the public health system). As cases have dramatically increased (Madrid is currently one of the most affected cities in Europe), the central government has been pushing for more restrictive measures, but the regional one has been refusing on the basis of not wanting to hurt the fragile economy further. So, we went from a phase wher ..read more

Empty Spain: This is the nickname given to the interior of mainland Spain, an area that concentrates 60% of the territory, but where only 10% of population lives. The reason for this depopulation is the dynamic of the economic development of Spain. In recent years job opportunities have concentrated more and more around the two main cities: Barcelona and Madrid, leaving the rural areas with poor infrastructures and an ageing population. The tourism boom that has interested Spain during the last decades did not benefit Empty Spain either, as visitors concentrate in the islands and the coast. Em ..read more

For the first time in months today, I visited the very heart of Madrid. So far I had avoided it, as I preferred not to take the metro and the memories I had of the city center‘s crowded streets were putting me off. At the same time, I was curious to see what the vibe was, so I planned a family visit to the Botanic Garden and, from there, a walk to the historic Barrio de las Letras to have lunch in one of my favorite restaurants. On 1st July Spain has opened its borders to foreign tourists but with some restrictions. This means that while the citizens of most European countries are free to en ..read more

Three weeks have passed since my last gloomy post. Since then, things have changed in Madrid, luckily for the better. We are now in phase 2 of the return to normality process. People are now going out more, bars and restaurants are open (with limited capacity) and the streets are lively again. Political tensions and street protests seem to have faded. Everybody still wears masks, but I get the impression that there is less fear of walking past someone in the street. Since last Monday there are fewer restrictions for families as well so today, for the first time in more than three months, I w ..read more

What’s like living in Italy for an American? Our guest writer Molly reveals the most surprising dining habits. My first experience of living in Italy was when I studied abroad as a college student in Rome. Since then, my love for Italy and its language, culture, and food has never stopped growing.  I’ve lived in Italy for nearly nine years now, first in Rome, then in Padua, then in Bologna, and now in Rome again. I like to talk to tourists and travelers to find out what their impressions are on their first visit to Italy, or if there were any particular cultural differences between the US ..read more

May is normally the best month in Madrid: it is warm and sunny without the excess of the summer heat. An ideal time to spend time outdoors walking in the city’s many parks or being captured by the light of the beautiful buildings of the centre while having an aperitive with friends on a terrace. This year the mood is different. We are still in a state of emergency in Spain due to COVID-19 and while restrictions are slowly being lifted, the streets are still a dangerous place. Every day, during my morning walk, I observe my neighbourhood, which, with many shops and bars still closed, has los ..read more