MADRID ON THE SILVER SCREEN
Tourist Office of Spain, Miami, FL. USA / Photos Emilio J. Lezcano carsNtravel.com
As we eagerly await the moment when we can resume our travels and visit the city of Madrid to enjoy its vibrant streets, way of life and iconic sites, we’ve put together a marvelous cinema-inspired tour through the capital for you, because over the course of its history, our city has been –and continues to be– the perfect film location for numerous national and international productions.
Many of those films just wouldn’t make sense without some of Madrid’s greatest and most iconic cultural and tourist sites, from Gran Vía avenue and its centuries-old buildings to Plaza de Callao, Puerta del Sol, the historic Plaza Mayor and the busy Atocha Station. Unique cultural venues like the Prado Museum and one-of-a-kind natural settings like El Retiro Park are also much sought-after film locations. Discover the directors who have drawn inspiration from our city for their work -some of them even turning Madrid into a character in its own right- and the films that feature some of its top sites.
Madrid Destines Activities: Madrid assumes one of the vice-chairmanships of the AVE Cities Network. During the last Extraordinary Assembly of the AVE Cities Network (RCA) on 30 April, the city of Madrid was chosen as one of the five vice-chairs of the network, which is made up of 30 destinations in Spain. It is a great opportunity for the capital to spearhead the recovery of tourism in both Madrid and Spain.
The ICTE is developing a unique COVID Protocol for 21 tourism sub-sectors: The Institute for Spanish Tourism Quality (ICTE), in collaboration with the Secretary of State for Tourism, regional governments, city councils and tourism sector stakeholders and organizations, is developing a unique COVID-19 Health Protocol that sets out the hygiene and health safety criteria that must be met by 21 tourism sub-sectors, including travel agencies, restaurant and catering services, hotels and tourist apartments, tour guides, museums and heritage sites, tourist information offices, amusement parks, night-time entertainment venues and MICE tourism.
21 actions carried out under the Madrid MICE Tourism Support Plan: Madrid City Council’s Tourism Department, working through Madrid Convention Bureau (MCB), has carried out 21 actions in Phase 1 of its Madrid MICE Tourism Support Plan. The initiatives included online seminars, discussions and 14 meetings with 140 companies from all of the categories represented in the MCB network.
Street cleaning and disinfection measures: Madrid City Council has implemented a number of extraordinary measures to resume and increase the city’s cleaning and maintenance services, which were suspended when the state of emergency was declared. These include resuming street and street furniture cleaning services, washing down busy areas with sodium hypochlorite and procuring new nebulizer cannons to disinfect the streets. These essential measures have been put into place to ensure the city of Madrid is a safe place for everyone.
The City of Madrid Film Office continues to serve the audiovisual sector: The organization, devoted to promoting Madrid as a filming location, continues to work to offer professionals from Madrid’s audiovisual sector all of the information on COVID-19 that has been issued for the industry, as well as other relevant content, resources and tools.
Participation in the Hosteltur Seminar: Miguel Sanz, director of the City Council’s Tourism Department, took part in a Hosteltur webinar on managing the coronavirus crisis along with tourism authorities from Barcelona and Valencia. All of them agreed that safety and public-private collaboration are more important than ever.
Madrid in numbers: According to the Hotel Occupancy Survey (HOS) published by the National Statistics Institute (INE), in March 2020 the city of Madrid received 263,932 travelers, down 71% from March 2019 as a result of the health crisis caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In the first quarter of 2020 the number of travelers fell by 22.4%.
Monthly calendar of events: Madrid in the time of Galdós. Galdós captured the city of Madrid and its residents like no other writer in history. Discover the places that he frequented and that played a central role in his life and work on this virtual tour featuring everything from cultural venues like Teatro Real opera house and the Ateneo to the cafés of Puerta del Sol and Las Cortes (the Spanish parliament building), where Galdós served as an MP.
Enjoy Madrid as seen on TV: All sorts of genres set in every era. Madrid is the main setting of many of the TV series streamed over digital platforms, including acclaimed shows like Money Heist, Ministry of Time, Cable Girls and Burn Madrid Burn… to name just a few. Watching them is like going for a stroll through the city of Madrid, taking in its beauty without moving an inch from the sofa.
Online programmers offered by municipal cultural centers: The cultural venues run by Madrid City Council are making some key activities and initiatives available online, to allow us all to continue enjoying culture. Their entertaining offerings include major productions, radionovelas and concerts.
From the restaurant to your home: Don’t miss the chance to continue to savor Madrid’s finest culinary offerings. The city’s top restaurants and pubs, and even some Michelin-starred chefs, are making their best dishes available through home delivery services. Enjoy a Valencian paella from Berlanga, tripe and croquettes from Arzábal, sole ragout from Horcher or curried lentil stew from Dabiz Muñoz. You’ll be absolutely spoilt for choice.
ejlezcano@carsntravel.com
