Madrid is Spain's largest city by far, with three and a half million people in the city and another two million in the surrounding urban area . This center of art, culture, nightlife, government and commerce is home to a remarkable variety of people and institutions.


Due to Madrid's size and political clout, the region's language (Castilian) is the one known outside of Spain simply as Spanish. As a result, Madrid and the surrounding smaller towns of central Spain are the best places to learn Spanish. There are no competing languages like in Barcelona or Valencia, nor the troubling accent of Andalucía. Simply put, Madrid will improve your Spanish both in and out of the classroom.

It's impossible to do justice to the greatness of Madrid in three bullet points. That said, these highlights have won the hearts of many in the past.

1. The music scene in Madrid is unmatched in variety and quality, with outdoor performances by day and nightclubs catering to a massive population of music aficionados by night.
2. Madrid's collection of art and architecture is fully world-class, with remarkable paintings, fine royal palaces, and one of the best public gardens (Parque del Buen Retiro) found anywhere in Europe.
3. The spontaneous communities that form each night just before dawn as exhausted partiers gather in the city's many plazas before retreating home to hide from the daylight.