A panoramic view of Madrid

There is a place in Madrid, where you can take pictures of the whole city and enjoy a spectacular panoramic view of the whole city. It is the Faro de Moncloa, this lighthouse is not actually a real light house, it is a massive tower built i n 1992, the same year of the Olympic Games in Barcelona. At the moment it is closed down because of health and safety issues, the only way up were the lifts and the stairs were too narrow.

The Madrid council has invested in the tower, it will reopen in September with plans to have a restaurant at the top and at the bottom. So, this is definitely something to look forward to.

The Faro is in the area of Moncloa, not far from the house of the Spanish President, the Palace of Moncloa, and the campus of one of the universities, Universidad Complutense.

During the day the area is full of students commuting to and from uni and other people going about their business. In the evening, the many pubs and bars in the area open and around 9 or 10 in the evening they will be flooding with people enjoying the music and the drink. This pub area is known as the Bajos de Moncloa, because many of the most popular pubs are below street level.

This area is easy to get to from the city centre, it’s on the yellow Metro line, that connects directly with Sol. Before leaving Moncloa it would be impossible not to see the huge monument just outside the Metro station. Built by Franco to celebrate his victorious entrance in Madrid, it was named Arc of Triumph, since his death it has had different names, Arc of Concord and Arc of Moncloa.

Categories: General