A Dutchman in Madrid

If I tell people that I use my bike to get around in Madrid, and to get to and from work on a regular bases, they look at me like I am mad. And to be honest, sometimes I feel that I am when I am riding my bike. But it is not as dangerous as it sounds.

Although Madrid is not the safest city to bike around in, the city does have some bicyle lanes, but most of these just start somewhere, and also end on some streetcorner, leaving you to wonder how to continue. Therefore a lot of time bikers use the pavements, and as long as you are careful nobody will complain. In a lot of place the pavements are big enough, but on the smaller ones you need to be careful.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Madrid is hilly, and some climbs can be extremely steep. If you would go from Embajadores to Sol, you might want to think again if you want to make the climb through Lavapiés or if you would rather go around it. The climb from Atocha to the statue of the fallen angel, is also pretty steep, but doable.

There is one very large bicycle route, the Anillo Verde, that is almost complete (they are still working near the Olympic Stadium) and that is a route that circles the city for 64 kilometres, which makes it a nice way to spend a day, and see another side of the city. In the Casa de Campo there are also a couple of routes you can take. The local government is buidling more and more bike lanes in the city itself, but it will take a while before Madrid can be called a bicycle friendly city. There is a special map for bikers, which can be collected at the tourist office at Plaza Major, these maps are free of charge.

On Public Transport

You can take a bicylce with you on the Metro. On weekdays this is restricted from 10.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., and 21.00 p.m., until the end of service, but in the weekend and holidays there are no restrictions. If you want to bring your bike with you, you need to use the first or last wagon of the metro. On the cercanias you can take your bike with you whenever you want, unless there is no place. Busline 33 (from Principe Pio to Casa de Campo), is adapted so that also bikes can be taken onboard.

On my trip to Aranjuez I made more pictures than the ones I put into the piece of Aranjuez. So here are a couple of those:

A friend of mine suggested last week to go the Oktoberfest in Alcalá. And my first reaction was just like yours when you read Oktoberfest a few seconds ago. An Oktoberfest in Spain sounds weird, so a must-see for me. As I still hadn't seen the place it was good to also have the possibility to see the town, and than go to have a party. We decided to meet up at 13.00 at the station in Alcalá. To reach Alcalá you can take several trains (cercanias lines C-2 and C-7) and from Atocha it only takes 35 minutes to get there.

The girlfriend of my friend studied in Alcalá years ago, and she was the guide for the day. Showing up the beautiful Plaza de Cervantas, before heading to the famous University of Alcalá. One of the oldest in the country (although not strictly as the present one was founded in 1977, but the predecessor which moved to Madrid, was founded in 1496. The building is beautiful, and we could only have a short look inside, as the building was closed for a wedding.

After that we walked to other parts of the center, seeing some beautiful squares, houses and the church (were again a wedding was taking place.) On the roofs of the town, there were a lot of empty nest, which in a few months time will be housed by hundreds of storks. It seems the place is a bit famous for that as well. But you see the same in many towns in Spain.

One of the other things Alcalá is famous for are the huge tapas. Normally you have to do with a slice of bread with a slice of Chorizo, or something like that, but in Alcalá they are serving Hamburgers, Hot Dogs and complete Bocadillas as Tapas. So with two drinks, we also had out lunch. From the bar we walked through the Calle Major, which is special because of the arches of both sides of the street, and also because of the birthplace of Cervantas (the writer of Don Quichote.) On the street we also discovered a beautiful courtyard of an old hospital.

After a walk which almost took us back to the station, and beyond to the Plaza de Toros, we arrived at the scene of the Oktoberfest. It was held inside the bullfighting ring, making it already a pretty cross-over between Germany and Spain. There were not too many people, but we were arrive early I guess around 16.30, which is way too early for Spanish people. After a look at the menu, my friends went for the 1 litre jar of beer, and as a non-beer drinker I decided on the whisky-coke. But as you also get hungry, and the menu promised German sausages it was not long before we made the trip to the barbecue, for some genuine Thüringer weiss-wurst. a trip we would repeat once more, and declinded later in the evening, as it was too crowded by than.

The one thing I had feared most was the music. Let's put it this way: German folk music is not my cup of tea. But I was lucky, as the bands turned out to be 'normal rock (and roll) bands. At 22.30 we called it a day, as we needed to take the last train to get home.

Oktoberfest in Alcalá: two thumbs up.

There are many daytrips from Madrid that one can do. And yes in time I will mention most of them here. Most people will choose for Toledo as the one and only daytrip from Madrid, and it needs to be said that if you only have time for one trip this is the obvious choice. The second choice normally is Segovia, another good choice, and lovely town.

Yesterday (or much longer ago, depending on when you read this) I went to Aranjuez, a town 45 minutes by train away from the Atocha Station. I lies south on the river Tagus. Which in Aranjuez is not much more that a big stream. The mean sight in Aranjuez is the Royal Castle.

I made the same trip a couple of years ago on a visit to Madrid, but back than I went on a monday, meaning the Palace is closed. And one thing that annoyed me ever since is, that I found a way to delete most of my pictures from that trip. So all the reason to head back to the town. A colleague of mine tipped my on friday, that the entrance to the palace would free of charge this sunday, as it was a local holiday.

The day started with missing the train at Atocha. I saw it just move out of the station when I arrived. I blamed myself as I forgot some stuff at home, making me go back up from the lobby, losing just enough time to miss the train. But whatever. After half an hour an new chance, and this time I was on my way to Aranjuez.

I remembered the huge parks near to the palace very well, as I spend a lot of time there 3 years ago. But I was curious about seeing the inside of the palace. In my view a lot of the palaces in Europe look alike from the inside, so I never bothered much to go inside. But as it was for free, why not? I also decided on the audio tour this time, for the palace and the gardens (3,50 spend but in agood way.) The lady at the counter explained my in her best Spanish how to use the guide (what can go wrong with pushing numbers an pushing play, one might wonder), and what was the best way to get around the gardens and where everything was. I didn't understand a word of it, as it seems to that following the numbers would be a fairly obvious way to go. And that turned out to be true.

But first the palace, after the normal rooms, that every every palace needs to have the first room to make me say wow! was the Arabian Room. Which was decorated as was it a piece of the Alhambra in Granada. The Audioguide told me it was done by the architect who was in charge of the restauration of the Alhambra, on request of the King. Another very nice room was the porcelain room, and room decorated with what seems to be thousands of porcelain figures, all in a chinese theme. The rest of the Palace has the normal rooms you seen in every palace, (King's study, Queen's bedchamber etc etc. ) with the predictable pieces of art. To out you also need to pass the museum of how live was at the Palace. A nice touch was the collection of weddingdresses used by Princesses in recent weddings.

At around 15.30 it was time to go outside, into the heat and into the parks. As the audioguide suggested to do the Jardin de la Isla first, that's what I did. It has a number of very nice fountains, and it kept me busy for a while. (making pictures.) As this garden is not too huge, I could head over to the Parterre in front of the south end of the palace, and after that to the Jardin del Principe, which are a lot bigger. For me a tree is a tree, but it seems that there is a nice collection of trees in this park. For me they were all green, and grew towards the sky. In other words, biology was never my favourite subject in school. This park is more streched out, while there are still some things to see.

The biggest attraction is the casa de Labrador, which ever when it can only be visited with a reservation is a nice little palace to see. The little chinese pond is also very nice.

After seeing the gardens it was time for the walk back to the palace, to hand in my audioguide. It took nearly half an hour to get back to Palace. After that I decided to make a little walk into the nearby parts of the town, and stay for a while at a square not far from the palace, which was surrounded with interesting buildings. At the end of the square is the Royal Chappel, where I had a peak inside, and was a bit less royal than I had imagined. At least without the many decorations you often see.

I completed the round around the square, and decided to go back to the palace to enjoy being outside, and to do some people watching. At 19.00 I headed to the trainstation, where the train to me back to Madrid.

All in all Aranjuez can be a nice daytrip, but because of the walking also one that can make you a bit tired.

If you want to know more about the Palace and the gardens (like dates, costs etc, check this article on the TP wikiguide: Aranjuez Cultural Landscape.

The hottest part of the summer is over. It's September and that means perfect weather to go to the mountains. At the moment my favourite spot to go to is Cercedilla. From Madrid Atocha you can buy a cheap ticket to go to Cercedilla by Cercanias (the local Commuter trains.) For around 8 euros you have a return ticket. Trains go on a regular bases to this town that is quite popular. It takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes from Madrid-Atocha to arrive to Cercedilla.

There is one slight catch to going to Cercedilla, and that is that you have to walk a bit to get to the starting points of the routes leading in the the Fuenfria Valley. Halfway the town, and the entrance of the Valley, there is a good information kiosk, where you can get a map, with the routes in the area. There are a couple of routes, all signposted with different colours on the trees along the paths.

The most well-known route is the white route, which is the old Roman Road, which leads to Segovia. If you know Italian roads, just imagine them in 2000 years, and that is indeed the state the Roman Road is in. There are only a couple of pieces where the stones are still more or less on their spot, but on most spots it is just a collection of bigger and smaller stones going up the mountain for a distance of 4 kilometres. The start is steep, the middle is pretty ok, and the last kilometres is really steep again. To walk comfortable it's not the best route to take, but with some imagination you can imagine the old Romans heading from Toledo (Madrid was not founded yet in those days) and Segovia.

Another beautiful but also busy route takes you to the Miradores. From where you have a great view towards the town, and over the region surrounding it. For me hiking is a great way to get away from the city, and to get some fresh air. For travellers who like to deviate from the beaten track it can be a good daytrip, provided that you have some good shoes with you. (which I think that you need to have as a traveller anyhow.) The only thing for me is, that my right knee always start to give me pains, when going downhill. I guess that all these years of playing volleyball where not that good after all.

As Madrid can be so beautiful without words, just some pictures:

Atocha trainstation, from here to Sevilla in 2,5 hours, to Málaga or Barcelona in 3 hours.

In Madrid a cable car? Yes from the parque de la Montaña to the Casa de Campo


Atocha (again) a Gustav Eiffel design.

At the Rastro (every Sunday morning at la Latina):

The cathedral de la Almudena

If you want to be able to work in Spain (as a foreigner) you need to have a couple of things: A N.I.E (Número de Identidad de Extranjero), a social security number and a bankaccount. As there are a milion stories about how to get your N.I.E. I will give you my story.

About getting you N.I.E. a lot of ghost stories are doing the rounds. The are all about long lines, needing to queue up early in the morning before the police office, and the endless bureaucracy. My advice: Don't believe these stories, as most of them are based on the old system, and simply not true. You will also hear stories about people who were told to go one place, and ended up in an other place. These stories are true, but also a result of their own stupidity.

When I arrived in Spain, the first thing to do is to try to get a job. As my arrival was planned at the height of our self inflicted crisis, it was not the easiest thing, but I found one at IBM. Then the paperwork needed to be fixed.

You need to phone first to make an appointment by telephone (902565701) between 9.00 and 14.00. You will be told that you have an appointment a couple of months later (3 to 5 months is normal). But it is likely that they call you before this date, to ask you if you can come in earlier. In my case I got a date almost five months in advance, but was called within a month. This has to do with administation bureaus that make appointments for people that need a N.I.E. fast, and are willing to pay big money for that. But as a result also cancel a lot of meetings.

When you have made the appointment you can make a print at the website called: cita previa. This print is something you need if you want to go ahead with the bureaucracy. With the print out you need go to a Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social, there are several over the whole of Madrid. Just go to the one closest to your home. In my case it was just around the corner. Here you have to fill in some forms, and wait for your turn. This sometimes can take long, and sometimes not. You just need to be a bit lucky. At the Tesoria you will get your social security number, which needs to be on the contract with your employer, and it's a paper you need for you medical card as well. (if you are working in Spain, you are insured!)

With your contract and the print out for your meeting to obtain your N.I.E. you have to go to a bank. As your employer needs to pay your salary on a Spanish account, you need to open a bank account. There seem to be a million of banks in Madrid, so ask around and take you pick. I decided to go for Banco Santander. If you go to travel around a lot, take bank that has offices all over the country, and don't get stuck with a local of regional bank. If you go to a bank before you have signed the contact, it is good to take with you a print of an email stating that the employer has the intention to offer you a job, once you provided a bank account. (it's a bit bureacratic, but sometimes you need it.)

Now you can wait a while before you receive your text message, to ring the Police to change your date for the appointment of your N.I.E., be aware that you need to answer them within 24 hours of receiving your message. When your date is set, don't wait until this day, and show up at the chosen time. This is what a lot of people do, and from them you will hear stories that it takes a long time to obtain you N.I.E. Why? because they forgot some things.

A day, or maybe 2 or 3 days before your meeting go to the policestation at the Plaza del Campillo Mundo Nuevo 3, which is near the Puerta de Toledo. Ask for two papers a EX-16 or EX-14 (that depends a bit on where you are from), and a so called 790 form. In 2 minutes you are outside again.

You can fill in the EX14 or EX16 at home, and you do the same with the 790. With the 790, you need to go a bank (any bank). Give them the form, and pay 10 euros. This is the standard fee for a N.I.E., but it needs to be transfered by bank, you can't pay it to the civil servant at you appointment. He or she will turn you away and tells you to fill in your papers, go to a bank, and come back later. When there is no more room for you in the shedule, they will tell you to go to another place. As most banks in Madrid are closed after lunch you will also have a hard time in finding a bank that is open. So save yourself some time, and go to a bank a day before, or if you have your appointment in the evening, during you lunchbreak. At the bank you will get a receipt that you paid the 10 euros.

With the filled in form, the receipt of the payment, and a copy of your passport (of course you need to present the original as well.) you can go to your appointment, were you will be issued your N.I.E. Also take along with you a new printout for the appointment, as the times will have changed from your original printout. I don't think they check it, as mine said 31-12-1969 because of a system failure. But in case they do it's better to have it with you. You will get a number, just wait until it is called (in my case it was 5 minutes), go to the desk of the civil servant, who will do his or her magic, and a mere 5 minutes later you are outside again, with a green A-4 piece of paper, which is your N.I.E.

This piece of paper used to be a card as big as a credit card, which is what still most people have in mind when you are talking about a N.I.E. As you have to show it sometimes in stores, along with your bankcard/creditcard when you don't want to pay in cash, it can lead to some argueing. If you want to avoid that show you passport, and in most cases a drivers license or something else that looks official enough will work. For some reason pushing in you P.I.N. is not something that is used a lot.

some extra remarks:
Citizens of the European Union, can work in Spain, without the N.I.E. but the taxrate than is 25%, which is higher than the normal rate (between 10-12%). Most companies want to have a proof that you have applied for the N.I.E. and will change the taxrate they withdraw from your salary at the day you receive your N.I.E.

For workers from outside the EU, it is also necesary to obtain a visum. For people with relatives in Spain there is another procedure.

When you have opened a bank account, based on your passport number, you need to go to bank with your N.I.E. form, to have it changed to your N.I.E. number