Although the attractions of the city are legion, time permitting it is well worth exploring some of the sights close to the city.

• Just beyond the city boundaries lies the royal palace of El Pardo, the former residence of dictator Francisco Franco.

• Further afield lie the brutalist monument of Valle de Cuelgamuros, constructed with the use of slave labour under Franco's orders to commemorate the Nationalist victory in the Civil War.

• Phillip II's enormous palace-monastery complex of El Escorial lies close by on he slopes of the sierra