A SPANISH ESCAPADE
Words Marwan Naaman
264
THREE IBERIAN CITIES TO MAKE YOU SWOON There’s something special about Spain. I had the privilege of growing up in the south of the country, in Malaga, and got to know Andalusia and its treasures quite well. But the rest of Spain remained mostly unknown to me, and it wasn’t until a recent return trip to the country, to the cities of Madrid, Zaragoza and Valencia, that I got to know – and fall in love – with a place where I grew up but that I perhaps didn’t fully appreciate as a young boy. MADRID Madrid, while a European capital, often had to take a backseat to other, more high-profile European capitals, like Paris, London and Rome. Even within Spain, vacationers opted for Barcelona and its Mediterranean coastline, or the sun-drenched Costa del Sol in the country’s south. There was a feeling that Madrid was more insular, less international and perhaps less dynamic that other parts of Europe and Spain. That may have been the case a decade or two ago, but things have certainly changed for the city.
Seemingly overnight, Madrid has taken on an unabashedly cosmopolitan sheen, offerings attractions to rival any metropolis. First you’ve got incredible museums: the illustrious Prado, with its unparalleled collection of European art; the Thyssen, holding one of the world’s most important collections of 20th-century art; and the Reina Sofia museum, which has a spectacular modern addition by architect Jean Nouvel and is home to Picasso’s breathtaking “Guernica.” The CaixaForum Madrid, a visual feast courtesy of architects Herzog & de Meuron, hosts ancient and contemporary art exhibits as well as various cultural festivals. In terms of monuments, there’s the spectacular Royal Palace of Madrid, where every picture you snap is Instagram-worthy, and the gorgeous Almudena Cathedral across the way, with its striking chapels and
