As noted in previous Madrid coverage, nightlife in Madrid is mostly clustered around a large central square called Puerta del Sol ("Gate of the Sun"). The name comes from a gate in the city wall that stood in this spot in the 15th Century (this was the eastern gate – the one facing the sunrise). The square remains central, not just to the city, but also to the country. There is a plaque in the square which reads "Km 0", marking the spot from which six major Spanish highways radiate. During the summer months, Puerta del Sol and the connecting pedestrianized thoroughfares regularly swarm with people late at night and into the wee hours. Whenever there is an epic-scale celebration to be had in Madrid (like when Spain wins the World Cup), chances are it's had in Puerta del Sol. Every New Year's Eve the famous tradition of the Twelve Grapes is held here. In this tradition, many gathered people brave the winter cold and each eat one grape per strike from the bell tower as the New Year is ushered in. For luck. As one might suspect, this tradition was established and encouraged by local grape growers, around 1895.

But this page isn't about the Puerta del Sol. It’s about a slightly smaller square and its surrounding area, located not far to the southwest of Puerta del Sol, a square called Plaza Mayor ("Main Square").

After a suitable interval of lying around our Hotel Regina room, drifting in and out of consciousness with the TV tuned to some not-very-interesting English-language programming, we found ourselves becoming hungry. Our memories (and guidebooks) told us that there were places to eat in the vicinity of Plaza Mayor, so we stirred ourselves into action and headed in that direction. This took us through the heart of Puerta del Sol. There were a lot of people in the square, but nothing like the crowd that would be there later – it was not late enough yet, and many were still resting up for the upcoming night of tapas-bar hopping. We took a quick look around at the familiar sights, and discovered, to our distress, that there was no Tio Pepe sign!

Tio Pepe is a brand of Spanish sherry which dates back to 1888. In 1936, Tio Pepe's producer put up a large neon sign on top of a building at the east end of Puerta del Sol, and the rest has been history. In 1958, a sherry bottle, wearing a jacket and sombrero and holding a guitar, was added to the sign. In 2009 a law was passed banning advertising displays on building exteriors, but the Tio Pepe sign was given an exemption "in perpetuity". Throughout the years, almost any tourist taking photos in Puerta del Sol takes at least one featuring the sign. So imagine our shock when we looked toward the building and saw a lot of scaffolding but no sign! There had to be some mistake.


Some investigation revealed the following: in 2011, the zoning of the building at number 1, Puerta del Sol, previously zoned as a hotel property, was changed to allow Apple Computer to open a store at that location. Renovation began immediately. It was felt that the renovation work might weaken the structure of the building, and the weight of the sign (made largely of iron and weighing 70 tons) might present a safety risk. The sign was removed for what was supposed to be a short time and put into storage. But while it was down, Apple decided that iconic landmark or not, they didn't really want a gigantic neon sherry ad on top of their store. At the time of our visit, it had been announced that the sign would not be returning to its old location. Right-minded people immediately protested, demanding the return of the Tio Pepe sign in some form. After some negotiating, a new home for the sign was announced, at number 11, on the north side of Puerta del Sol. After some red tape, reconfiguring of the sign (somehow reduced to 30 tons, with some chronic flakiness remedied) and some construction work, the sign was relit at number 11 in May of 2014. From looking at it on Google Earth, it appears as though it might be bigger than the old sign, but this could be a perspective or Google Earth distortion thing.

Back in 2012, not knowing all of this was going on, we swallowed our disappointment and continued on through the square, eventually finding dinner at a Thai restaurant near Plaza Mayor.

The Plaza Mayor is a large (423 ft. x 308 ft.), rectangular enclosed area, completely surrounded by (and thus basically a courtyard of) a three-story structure which serves a variety of residential, governmental and retail functions. It was originally planned in the 16th Century, during the reign of Philip II, to replace the disorderly Plaza del Arrabal which had occupied the spot for at least a century. Actual construction didn't begin until 1617, during the reign of Philip III (there's a bronze statue of him in the square).

The square took on a variety of names through the centuries, being called Plaza del Arrabal, Plaza de la Constitución and Plaza de la República at various times. It has been called Plaza Mayor since the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939. Many functions have taken place in the square, starting with the beatification ceremony of San Isidro Labrador, patron saint of Madrid. During the time of the Spanish Inquisition, autos-da-fé were conducted in the square. These were the public trials of accused heretics (often show trials, as defendants were sometimes tortured into signing confessions prior to the trials), immediately followed by executions of the condemned (by hanging, burning or garrotte). Other functions using the square as a venue have been less intense, such as markets, bullfights, football games and musical performances.

The present-day appearance of the Plaza Mayor does not match the original. The first incarnations of the surrounding buildings had the unfortunate habit of catching on fire, resulting in a series of memorable conflagrations. The buildings were always eventually rebuilt, with the latest reconstruction happening in 1790. At that time, a section of the northern building which had survived the fire was used as a reference (by architect Juan de Villanueva) for rebuilding everything else. This section is called the Casa de la Panadería, or Bakery House. It has been used for a bakery (duh), a variety of cultural and government offices, and currently the Madrid Tourism Center. It's easy to find because it has colorful paintings all over it. These were done in 1992 by an artist named Carlos Franco to replace some 1914 paintings which had gotten pretty nasty looking.


On emerging from the west end of the Plaza Mayor, we discovered the iron-and-glass enclosed Mercado de San Miguel (San Miguel Market).

The Mercado was originally built in 1916. It served the local population for decades, but appeared to have run its course by the beginning of the 21st Century, the building by then having become largely abandoned. But in 2003, private investors who sensed potential in the derelict building purchased it and began renovating. They took their time, but eventually reopened the building in 2009 as part grocery store and part gourmet tapas market. The experiment appears to have been a success, as we had difficulty making our way through the throngs to check the place out.

The market has more than 30 vendors, specializing in things like produce, ham, pastries, beer and wine. And seafood.


We didn't buy anything in the market – we weren't really hungry, and the crowd was somewhat oppressive. But things were no better when we emerged from the market - the sleeping masses had crawled from their hiding places and were now out in force.

We made our way back toward Puerta del Sol and toward a more traditional supermarket, located in the basement of the El Corte Inglés department store on the north side of the square (food stores are commonly embedded in European department stores). We needed to get some drinking water and some snack food (it's always interesting to see the kinds of snacks sold in foreign grocery stores). We found what we were looking for, but while searching we also happened upon a familiar face, living in Spain under an assumed name.

We returned to the hotel with our provisions and prepared for bed. We were planning to start early the next day to kick off a day trip, to the monastery at El Escorial.