JOIN the AFICIONADOS
Get the insider news and lowdown on what we've been up to, where we've been, and who we've met along the way. Be the first to discover new places and get the scoop on our favourites.
Madrid reveals itself through participation. It is a city that expects you to sit down, stay a while and engage, shaped by conversation, routine and the steady overlap of work and social life. As Spain’s political centre, it carries institutional weight with an easy informality, favouring proximity over ceremony and neighbourhood rhythm over spectacle. Its designation as capital in the sixteenth century was grounded in strategy and geography, a pragmatic beginning that still underpins the city’s character. Madrid was designed to function first, then gradually evolved a culture that values pleasure, sociability and time.
The historic centre reads as a living archive. In the Austrias quarter, streets compress and expand with a domestic logic, opening into plazas that operate as shared social interiors. Monumental architecture appears almost incidentally, then gives way to everyday use. The Royal Palace establishes authority, Gran Vía signals modern ambition, and repurposed industrial sites reveal a city comfortable carrying its past forward.
Contemporary Madrid thrives on overlap. Corporate towers shape parts of the northern skyline, while neighbourhoods such as Chamberí, Lavapiés and Malasaña sustain much of the city’s creative energy. Studios, galleries, cafés and civic spaces sit close together, producing an urban rhythm where making, showing and socialising happen in parallel.
Design culture is present without announcement, food culture extends conversations naturally, and ideas develop through repetition and use. Madrid remains adaptive and unfinished, offering artists, architects and culturally curious readers a city that rewards patience and the pleasure of staying longer than planned.
Madrid is built on routine, conversation and urban life, shaped by historic quarters, modern ambition, design culture and food, revealing itself through daily use to artists, architects and curious minds.
read more
Madrid’s architecture reflects governance, density and adaptation, from modernist icons and Brutalist infrastructure to contemporary reuse, favouring endurance, urban life and continuity, rewarding close reading and repeat visits.
read more
Madrid’s culture and art scene is shaped by galleries, artist-led spaces and institutions, from Lavapiés and Matadero to the Prado and Reina Sofía, unfolding through conversation, continuity and everyday use.
read more
Madrid’s food scene is defined by Michelin stars, chef-led neighbourhood kitchens and daily dining culture, from Dabiz Muñoz to a new generation cooking with depth, continuity and social intelligence today.
read more
Madrid’s design culture is shaped by a new generation working close to materials and making, spanning furniture, fashion, sustainability-led studios and major annual design events in a production-led contemporary city.
read more
A former monastery reimagined. Son Brull is Mallorca’s cult boutique escape – heritage, design, slow food, and holistic luxury wrapped in Tramuntana’s wild beauty. A soulful retreat where past and present collide.
read more
A rebel’s retreat where mountains meet the Med. Stone-clad streets, boutique boltholes, and a creative pulse—this is island life with character, culture, and a raw, untamed edge.
read more
Barcelona—where design rebels, tapas tempt, and history breathes in every street. Dive into a city pulsing with bold artistry, culinary genius, and electric Mediterranean energy.
read more
Southern Europe is full of destinations that promise beautiful stretches of sand and bright turquoise waters, but few can compare to the laid-back bohemian charms of Mallorca.
read more
Centuries-old culture set by the Romans, the best gourmet chefs in the world, conserved heritage, long sun-blessed days, beautiful Mediterranean beaches and nature's wilderness awaits in Ampurdán, Spain's beautiful secret just an hour from Barcelona.
read more
A sneak-peek into Spain's legendary surrealist artist, Joan Miró, and his hidden Mallorcan studio, watercolours, paintbrushes, et al.
read more
A think tank for the bold, the curious, the creators of tomorrow. Where minds collide, conversations spark, and urban life gets redefined. If you shape the future, you belong here.
read more
Gorgeously flamboyant, Casa Vicens is a riot of colour and fantastical architectural detailing - bearing the hallmarks of Barcelona hero, Antoni Gaudi.
read more
French designer Philippe Starck, himself an avid fan of sail and designer of super yachts, turned his hand to creating a new Port Adriano Marina in Mallorca – an architectural masterstroke and ‘Starck’ beautiful with not a parking lot in sight.
read more
Palma de Mallorca's Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Es Baluard hosts a collection taken from the Serra Art Foundation, the museum’s permanent collection boasts works from Joan Miró, Picasso, Magritte and local contemporary artists like Miquel Barceló.
read more
A light-struck citadel of a cathedral, Santa Maria of Palma - also known as Le Seu - is one of Mallorca’s architectural icons. A hilltop palace of devotion reflected in the azure Mediterranean shoreline, it simply demands your attention, believer or not. Built by the Crown of Aragon in 1229.
read more
Summer in Mallorca is seeing the Balearic isle at its best. A blazing sun hangs in a deep blue, cloudless sky, people throng the cobbled streets of Palma’s old town and restaurants spill over into the streets.
read more
Get the insider news and lowdown on what we've been up to, where we've been, and who we've met along the way. Be the first to discover new places and get the scoop on our favourites.