Madrid

thumb|right|Palacio de Cibeles, Madrid's city hall, Cibeles Square Madrid has over 3.4 million residents within the city limits and 7 million people live in the autonomous Community of Madrid region (as of 2025). thumb|right|Puerta de Alcalá Madrid is just northeast of the geographical centre of the Iberian Peninsula, in the middle of the Spanish central Castillian plateau (Meseta central), at an average altitude of . Nearly all of the most famous tourist areas are in the centre of the city including Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real, and Plaza de Colón.

The major streets in Madrid include the Gran Via, Alcalá Street, and Paseo de la Castellana. The climate of Madrid is continental, mainly dry and quite extreme at times.

thumb|right|Madrid-Barajas airport Terminal 4 : Main article: Madrid–Barajas Airport | url = http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/madrid-barajas/en | email = | address = | lat = 40.472222 | long = -3.560833 | directions = | phone = | tollfree = | fax = | hours = | price = | wikipedia= Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport | wikidata = Q166276 | image = Barajas overview1.jpg | lastedit = 2018-05-04 | content = All commercial flights into Madrid use this airport, which is 13 km north-east of the city. There are direct flights from most major cities in Spain and across Europe, several from the Americas as well as a few African and Asian connections.

There are two terminal complexes, widely separated: Terminals 1, 2 & 3, and Terminals T4 & T4S. To transfer between them land-side use the free shuttle bus.

thumb|277px|Map of the Madrid Metro Madrid proudly sports one of the best public transportation networks in the world and the second largest metro network in Europe after London's. Buses and subways work with the same tickets, and operate within the integrated transit network of (Plaza del Descubridor Diego de Ordás 3, M-F 08:00-20:00).

With that said, be aware that Madrid's transportation infrastructure can appear complicated and daunting at first, so take extra time to know where to go and how to get there because it will not be as simple as in other European cities or what your map app is telling you. A single ticket for Zone A costs €1.50 (max.

Madrid is a very safe city, with some of the lowest crime rates among Europe's largest cities. The police is highly visible, and the city is equipped with cameras.

There are always people in the streets, even at night time, so you can walk across the city generally without fear. Travellers who remain aware of their surroundings, and keep an eye on their belongings, should have little to worry about.