Madrid North: Castellana-Chamartin, business and residencial - Madrid City Guide-Madrid Apartments for Rent

La Castellana - Madrid´s Grand Avenue

The Paseo de la Castellana starts in Plaza de Colón. It is an extention of the Prado-Recoletos axis. It was created in the mid 19th century, following the Castro Plan guidelines. In those years, it was an avenue of luxurious palaces and residences accommodating the bourgeois elites and aristocracy. It extended to practically Nuevos Ministerios, where the old Hippodrome was located.

The city was reinvented during the second half of the 20th century. Many new constructions were erected, coexisting alongside old mansions in the Paseo de la Castellana. Tall skyscrapers towered above palaces, and tall new buildings -many designed by architects as illustrious as Rafael Moneo or Antonio Lamela-, Colón towers, la Caixa offices, Hespería hotel or Bankinter building, change the aesthetics of the avenue, dominated now by new materials that combine reinforced concrete with steel, glass and brick.

Castellana is the name given to the area round the avenue between Nuevos Ministerios and Plaza de Colón, on either side of the Paseo de la Castellana. This area is one of the main financial centers of the Spanish capital. Most important banks have their headquarters there. The offices of the European Union in Madrid and many important companies are located there too. In the area there are also some of the most prestigious hotels in town, embassies, big stores, luxurious appartment houses, boutiques...it is also walking distance from calle Serrano in Salamanca area.

AZCA

The Castellana was aimed to be the avenue opening Madrid up to the world and presenting it as a new, cosmopolitan and contemporary capital. AZCA was conceived in the 1950s, with a revolutionary urban model. It was planned as a small modern city inside the city itself, accommodating shops, companies, housing and all types of leisure services, but it has currently become one of the capital's financial centers.

In the area there are lots of bars and businessmen-oriented clubs, but it is not a popular area for nightlife.

Nuevos Ministerios

Nuevos Ministerios is the area round the nuevos Ministerios building and the metro staton with the same name. It is primarily a residential area but it includes the Santiago Bernabéu soccer stadium where Real Madrid play their home matches. There are many shops in the area and you can find some tapas bars, though it's not a typical neighbourhood for tourists to go. It has some recommended restaurants.

Cuatro Caminos

This area, probably one of the most active and popular ones outside Madrid's center, is just what its name describes, a junction of four big streets. Its influence goes from Plaza de Castilla down to calle Cea Bermúdez and from Nuevos Ministerios to Calle Reina Victoria. There are lots of shops and commercial establishments basically oriented towards supplying the needs of the residents. But there are also cinemas and some places of particular interest.
The Mercado Maravillas, at Bravo Murillo 122 (Metro Cuatro Caminos) is the biggest market in Madrid, and the most multicultural.

Plaza de Castilla

Plaza de Castilla can be considered the main entrance to Madrid from the north. The square is dominated by the imposing, leaning Torres KIO on both sides of the avenue forming a sort of "door". That's why the square is called "Puerta de Europa", though for many Spaniards, the KIO towers are the synister setting for the "Day of the Devil" scary-freakish movie.

It is a major hub of transports, the bus station just below the Torres Kio is terminal to many lines which go to towns north of Madrid. Plaza de Castilla area reaches to calle General Perón (Plaza de Lima) and to the west up to Calle Bravo Murillo. It is a residential area where blocks of flats mix with high-standard hotels, hospitals and other resources. The most important commercial street is Calle Orense, though Calle Capitán Haya also has a good number of establishments.

Chamartín

Its difficult to make exact delineations, we could say that this area runs from North of the Bernabéu soccer stadium to the Chamartín train station. Again a residential area with blocks of flats and commerce to serve the residents. No real tourist interest, apart from the railway station of course.

Avda de America

This large district covers the area around Avenida de América, that is, an area between Nuevos Ministerios and Arturo Soria, and bounded by the Airport/Campo de las Naciones on the north side. It is a middle class residential area.
Important sites in this area include the Auditorio de Música (Madrid's main classical music concert hall) and the Museo de la Ciudad (Museum of the City). There are plenty of shops and many important business (IBM, Telefonica I+D) located in this area.


Arturo Soria

The Arturo Soria street extends throughout 5.8 km in a residential area of the East of Madrid, with a direction almost the North-South. From particular form the section between the street of Alcala and the Pine of Chamartín benefits from a careful and harmonic city-planning exposition: Small blocks of buildings opened with buildings of only three or four plants, opened spaces, green zones, communal zones with gardens and swimming pools... Its elevation, is one of the highest zones of Madrid, the abundant vegetation and their leafy and old one hoisted guarantees low levels of contamination.