Pijo Madrid Tour - Art Scenes

MADRID

Pijo

In 1860 the old walls of Madrid were destroyed and the Castro plan to expand the city took place creating the neighborhood of Salamanca (named after one of the wealthiest men of the time) and today is one of the most expensive area of the city where the Spanish elite lives — so get ready to experience the posh side of Madrid for a day

Time period: 1850s - now

Movie/book: Elite drama series/Hola Magazine

Soundtrack: Pablo Alborán/La Oreja de Van Gogh

Fashion: neutral colors, bomber jacket plus a tote bag and cool sunglasses

Budget:

Carlos María de Castro.: Ensanche de Madrid (Plan Castro); 1857

This tour would take you through Salamanca: the aristocratic neighborhood created for the Spanish industrialist and entrepreneurs during the Ensanche of Madrid; and where you can find hidden cultural institutions in historical mansions. The area is characterized by: beaux arts/modern architecture, tree lined streets and luxury shops along fancy restaurants. Isabella II of Spain named José de Salamanca y Mayol (the wealthiest men in the world at the time thanks to real estate, banking, and the railway industry) the 1st Marquess of Salamanca and Spain’s Minister of Finance. During his lifetime Madrid grew to 300,000 inhabitants contained in the Walls of Philip IV, so he promoted the expansion of the city; and in 1860 the city walls got destroyed after the approval of the Plan Castro with the neighborhood of Salamanca named after him. The Paseo Recoletos and Paseo de la Castellana became the millionaires row of Madrid full of beaux arts mansions with grand gardens around them. Sadly due to the political instability thanks to the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) the growing city got into a halt; many of the mansions got sold and destroyed to build hotels, and the gardens got filled with mid modern apartments. The demand for luxury residential units increased during the “Spanish Miracle” (1959-1974): the industrial economic boom of Spain under the fascist rule of Francisco Franco which made the military-Spanish-fascist-elite rich. After the dictatorship the elite moved from Salamanca to the west of the river Manzanares; leaving the neighborhood to Russian oligarchs, the old Venezuelan elite and whitexicans (most of them descendents of Spanish refugees). But despite the immigration, the prestige and elegance of Salamanca have remained if not exalted (just as the value of real state in the zone). Today it is a cosmopolitan shopping, cultural and gastronomical destination: El Corte Inglés evolved from a tailor shop in 1890 to a luxurious department store; the streets Calle Serrano and C. de José Ortega y Gasset became the epicenter of luxury shopping in the city (with international brands like Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton next to Spanish brands like Loewe, Balenciaga, Tous, Adolfo Domínguez or Manolo Blahnik). The area has many art institutions like: the art foundations of the financial entities BBVA and Mapfre; the private art collections of the Spanish aristocrats Lazaro Galdiano and Juan March (which was the wealthiest Spanish at the turn of the XX century), and the museums Casa Árabe, Casa de la Moneda (mint museum) or the National Museum of Archeology, plus the National Library. Salamanca has an abundance of gourmet restaurants of all types of cuisines with 3 being michelin starred restaurants Saddle, Ricardo Sanz Wellington and the iconic DiverXO (with 3 stars); but there are other 28 “michelin restaurants” in the city. The tour suggests visiting a historical mansions plus 2 art institutions in the morning; window shopping and dining around Calle Serrano during the afternoon and an art foundation plus dinner in a private club at night.