Madrid

What is Madrid? The capital of Spain? A world city populated by countryfolk? A thriving metropolis built on real estate speculation? One of the worlds best collections of art galleries?

Madrid is on the world map more than ever. Real Madrid football team is news every day in every national newspaper in the UK and beyond. The city is strengthening its profile as the gateway to Europe from Latin America, aided by last years completion of the architecturally mind blowing new terminal at Barajas airport. Endless urban development projects change the shape of the city before its residencts even have a chance to notice the previous transformations. The cities main ring road has been buried underground in a series of tunnels to allow for the creation of massive urban parkland and to reconnect the city with its river. Politicians debate the possibility of creating a series of pools along the river alongside an urban beach. Madrid's metro system continues to expand in every direction and currently has more kilometres to it than either Paris or London. Only Moscow and New York overtake it.

The suburbs grow and grow as more and more people move higher into the surrounding mountains in order to escape the urban stress, with little concern about the daily traffic jams from home to their city centre offices. The historic centre is regenerated while Spain's leading companies move their headquarters to smart campus sites outside the confines of the city centre. Two lifestyles compete: the bohemian, European lifestyle in the city centre, with American style suburbia, more in line with Los Angeles or Detroit.

Madrid is discretely transforming itself into a global city, yet in the rest of the world in spite of the appearances, little is known about the extent of this transformation. Visitors go to the Prado, the Thyssen, the Reina Sofia museums, the Retiro Park, the Royal Palace, the smart Salamanca district, much as they would have decades ago, yet they know little of what Madrid is becoming for the majority of its residents.

Not all is rosy as the city becomes more chaotic and important urban decisions are taking by politicians with a personal vision, and little concern for public consultation. Suburban dormitory towns spring up on the backs of a building boom, with scant regard for aesthetics. Miles and miles of identical brick residential blocks. You can almost imagine walking down the street with a huge IKEA trolley to load it up with flat packed, bar coded, appartments. The metro system grows but maintenance is more thinly spread with frequent delays in rush hour as more trains are squeezed onto the same lines in order to keep up with rising demand. Building projects are inaugurated in a hurry to be on time for local elections, only for us to find out later that they are still incomplete. Tunnels flood with the first sign of rain fall. Water supplies are cut accidentally leaving residents unwashed for as long as 24 hours. The dust from building work makes life unbearable, in spite of the promises of a brighter future.

I could go on, but there is time for that. Read on and discover Madrid through the eyes of a local in the skin of an Englishman.