Madrid · Spain
Plaza Mayor of Madrid
A practical guide to Madrid's Plaza Mayor: what to look at in 20 minutes, its history of fires and autos-da-fé, where to enter and exit, and how to dodge the pricey terraces and the scams.
Worth it as a 20- to 30-minute architecture stop on your way somewhere else. Not for sitting down to eat on its terraces.
Plaza Mayor is Madrid’s grand Habsburg square: a closed rectangle of 129 by 94 meters, with three-story ocher buildings around a granite floor and nine entrance arches. It has been a market, a bullring, a stage for coronations and for autos-da-fé. Today it’s the most touristy square in the city, with the good and the bad that brings.
Our experience
We got there around noon on Friday, May 22, walking from Plaza de Oriente after breakfast. The original plan was to eat a calamari sandwich from La Campana here, standing under the arcades. That same morning we changed it: we wanted to try the suckling pig at Botín, which sits at the foot of the Arco de Cuchilleros. We walked the square, the statue and the Casa de la Panadería, and went out through the arch straight to the line at Botín, which opens at 13:00. It’s all in our day 13.
A bit of history
In the 15th century there was an open-air market here, outside the city wall, called the Plaza del Arrabal. When Philip II moved the court to Madrid in 1561, the new capital needed a square to match, but work didn’t start until 1617, under Philip III, and the square opened in 1619.
It burned three times. After the last fire, in 1790, Juan de Villanueva, the architect of the Prado building, rebuilt it with three stories instead of five and slate roofs. There were bullfights from 1619 to 1846 and Inquisition autos-da-fé; the best remembered, on June 30, 1680, ended with 117 people sentenced in front of Charles II.
In 400 years it had five names, one for each change of regime, before settling on Plaza Mayor. If you head north, Chocolatería San Ginés is a few minutes away.
What to see, in order
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The 237 balconies
Three ocher stories, slate roofs and 237 identical iron balconies. Everything you see dates from Juan de Villanueva's rebuilding after the 1790 fire.
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The statue of Philip III
In the center. Giambologna started it in Florence and his pupil Pietro Tacca finished it. It reached Madrid in 1616 as a gift from the Medici, stood in the Casa de Campo, and in 1848 Isabella II brought it to the square.
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The Casa de la Panadería
The only painted side, on the north, where the bakers' guild was based. The frescoes of Cybele, Bacchus and Cupid are by Carlos Franco, from 1992. The ground floor houses the tourist office, with free maps.
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The Arco de Cuchilleros
The southwest exit, a stone staircase down to the street of the knife makers who supplied the square's butchers. Halfway down the steps, turn around: the square is framed in the arch.
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Botín
At the foot of the arch, at Calle Cuchilleros 17. Open since 1725, it's considered the oldest restaurant in the world. Its dish is roast suckling pig.
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The Mercado de San Miguel
An iron-and-glass market from 1916, two minutes away. Go in to see the structure, but don't eat there: the prices are for tourists.
Tips we wish we’d known
Tips
- Walk through without stopping for anyone offering you anything. This is where the rosemary sprig, friendship bracelet and "deaf children" petition scams concentrate.
- The Calle de Toledo and Calle Postas arches create bottlenecks, and that's where pickpockets work most.
- The costumed characters ask for a tip after the photo, even if they don't say so beforehand.
- If you pass through on a Sunday morning, give the coin and stamp market ten minutes: it's a tradition dating to the 1930s, not a show for tourists.
Do
- Keep your phone in your front pocket and your bag worn crossbody.
- After leaving by the Arco de Cuchilleros, continue along Cava de San Miguel, a curving street that follows the line of the old city wall.
- Come back at night if you can: lit up, it's clear the square was designed as a stage.
Don’t
- Don't sit at the terraces inside: they charge two or three times as much for the same thing.
- Don't order paella under the arcades: it's almost always precooked and costs €15–25 a portion.
- Don't buy the cigars sold on the sidewalk: they're fake or stolen.
Frequently asked questions
How much time do you need for Plaza Mayor?
Between 20 and 30 minutes. With Calle Cuchilleros and a look at the Mercado de San Miguel, about 40.
Is it worth eating in Plaza Mayor?
Not at the terraces inside. Eat on the surrounding streets, where a beer or a coffee costs half as much or less.
Is Plaza Mayor safe?
Yes, but it's the area of central Madrid with the most scams and pickpockets. Don't stop for strangers and watch your phone in the entrance arches.
When was Plaza Mayor built?
Work began in 1617 under Philip III, with architect Juan Gómez de Mora, and the square opened in 1619. It burned three times; its current form is Juan de Villanueva's, after the 1790 fire.