Spain Guide
Madrid
Ópera
Opening time: Tours Mon & Wed– Fri 10.30am–1pm, Sat & Sun 11am–1.30pm
Price: €4
Telephone: 915 160 696
Website: www.teatro-real.com
Built in the mid-nineteenth century, the Teatro Real, or Ópera, almost sank a few decades later as a result of subsidence caused by underground canals and was forced to close in 1925; it finally reopened in 1997 after an epic ten-year refurbishment that ended up costing a mind-boggling €150 million. The interior is suitably lavish and merits a visit in its own right, and it makes a truly magnificent setting for opera, ballet and classical concerts (for details of tickets for performances,
Around the back, the opera house is separated from the Palacio Real by the Plaza Oriente, one of the most elegant and agreeable open spaces in Madrid and used in the bad old days by Franco as the venue for his public addresses; small groups of neo-Fascists still gather here on the anniversary of his death on November 21. One of the square's main attractions – and the focus of its life – is the elegant Café del Oriente, whose summer terraza is one of the stations of Madrid nightlife. The café (which is also a prestigious restaurant) looks as traditional as any in the city but was in fact opened in the 1980s by a priest, Padre Lezama, who ploughs his profits into various charitable schemes.