We just finished season one of Reina Roja on Prime and loved it. It didn’t hurt that it is largely shot in Madrid, a city I had just visited a few months ago. I recognized several landmark locations throughout, and even what I thought was a lesser known mural in the final episode that happened to be near my hotel. It’s a fun watch and I recommend it.
It got me thinking about my two nights in Madrid on my trip to Spain last November. I’ve been to Madrid a number of times, but it’s almost always just a quick overnight on my way elsewhere in Spain. Only a couple of times have I actually had a full day to explore. And when I did, it was typically the day I had just landed and was sleep-deprived from the overnight flight.
I was remembering all of the times I’d just gotten a taste of Madrid. Usually a quick stroll past the main sites, often not in the best weather or light. Still, I try to make the most of any visit and to get photos of local landmarks to add to my stock library. In this post I’ll go through a couple of those landmarks and the success, or lack thereof, that I had on each visit.
2018: El Oso y el Madroño as briefly seen between the frequent selfies being taken with the sculpture.
El Oso y el Madroño
El Oso y el Madroño is a sculpture of a bear and a strawberry tree located in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol. The bear and tree are the symbol of Madrid, even appearing on the city flag. Obviously this felt like a good image to have on file. On my first visit in 2018 I learned what a challenge this might be, but I’d only scratched the surface. The trouble is the statue’s popularity as a background for selfies. On the 2018 trip, I was being led on a brisk walk to see Madrid’s highlights and didn’t have time to wait around for an opening between tourists, and I’m honestly not sure how long that would have taken anyway. I got what I could, and decided the tourists were part of the story of the photo.
My next time in Madrid, the entire plaza was under construction and the bear was fenced off with all the pavement around it removed. That was 2022 and I came back again in late 2023 hoping the construction had been completed.
2023: El Oso y el Madroño post-reconstruction of the Puerta del Sol and in a slightly new location.
Better luck this time, although the statue has been relocated a bit, closer to the center of the Puerta del Sol and further from the Apple Store at its corner. There were still lots of people around, but the stream of selfies was not quite as constant. I do think the new location is a bit better for photos as it gives you a few more options for backgrounds. These two shots are from two different, consecutive days. The first overcast, the second a bit sunnier, lending a lot more warmth to the color of the sculpture.
Madrid’s Plaza Mayor
The other Madrid landmark I want to talk about is the Plaza Mayor. It’s not far from the Puerta del Sol and on that 2018 trip it was the next stop on the walk after the bear. Unfortunately, my luck for finding landmarks under scaffolding held and I only grabbed a few shots as we quickly passed through.
2018: The Plaza Mayor in Madrid, unfortunately covered by scaffolding on this visit.
The scaffolding was only there for my first visit, thankfully, but the people in giant animal costumes appear to be a constant. I’ve seen them every time I’ve visited.
The following year (2019) I was briefly in Madrid on my way between Valencia and Extremadura. The scaffolding was gone and I was actually greeted with good weather and a great sky.
2019: The Plaza Mayor in Madrid, revealed from its scaffolding and on a beautiful day.
This brings me up to my 2023 trip with a luxurious two nights in Madrid. The first day — the day on which I had just arrived early that morning — turned out to largely be a scouting venture. The sky was grey and the light not great, but I did make the rounds of many of the places I wanted to revisit to get the lay of the land, and I was able to come back to several the next day when some nice light broke through after a rain shower.
2023: The Plaza Mayor on my first (overcast) day in Madrid. Good for scouting, and I returned the next day to better light.
2023: The Plaza Mayor on my second day in Madrid. Much nicer light.
When I stopped by the Plaza Mayor on this second day, I had one camera body with me (my Nikon D850), a 70-200mm zoom and my Irix 11mm super-wideangle. The photo above is actually a pano I made with a couple of vertical frames shot at 70mm. The next two are with the 11mm. I especially liked that it gave me the ability to shoot from underneath one of the arcades, framing the plaza through the arches. None of my other lenses were wide enough to accomplish that.
2023: The Plaza Mayor in Madrid with an extreme wide-angle lens — and nice light.
I still don’t know that I have a “definitive” image of Madrid’s Plaza Mayor, but I do like the raking shadow I got this time from the late afternoon sun popping through after the rain had moved out. I’ll gladly try my hand again on my next trip through Madrid. You never know what the next opportunity brings.
