Where to live in Madrid

Hey Yossarian,

I gone and done you the courtesy of adding a poll to your post here, along with the names of the top 12 districts (as informed by a friend). I haven't spent TOO much time in Madrid but am going to have to say Chueca is my favourite for the moment. It's also more reasonable price wise. Salamanca is supposed to be very nice but more pricey.

Hopefully someone else will chime in at this point...

Hmm, I just found this nice tidbit courtesty of Kelly Crull's blog (http://kellycrull.com), Best places to live in Madrid (http://kellycrull.com/madrid/best_places_to_1/)

Thanks for that Expatrioter, we leave it open to the floor...

I live in Arg?elles and I do like this district for being next to almost everything : Malasa?a, Gran V?a, Sol, Casa de Campo, and for the shops (traditionnal, fashion, etc) and there is tube stations and bus everywhere. BUT what I dislike it's its noisy nightlife. I'm quite tired of 18-20 years old ICADE students shouting and destroying everything they can at 5am. They drive me crazy! (I know, I'm getting old!!)

I believe that most of the places (Malasa?a, Lavapies, Chueca, Alonso Martinez, etc) do have the same problem (botell?n & co.) so I vote for the Barrio Salamanca because as a "posh" area it's quieter. And I do like the buildings and the streets with trees as Hermosilla.

I was just wondering the same thing Yossarian... by now you're probably already there. What did you decide? Do you like where you're at? I guess the answer about best neighborhood depends on what your lifestyle is like. Like the previous poster mentioned the neighborhood where she lives sounds great if you're a 20-something. Maybe not so great if you have small children.

I am thinking a two week trip to the country, spending the vast majority of the time in Madrid is just I need to do at this point. I want a quiet neighborhood that's also got everything I need nearby and is close to public transportation. Guess that's not too much of a tall order is it?

I chose Las Rozas de Madrid. About 25 km distance from downtown. Nice neighbourhood and got everything very close to my place.

Best place to live in Madrid is not in Madrid, is Valencia. I lived in Madrid for 2 years. I hated it. It is a wonderful place to visit. I moved to Valencia and it is great. All the cultural stuff, and they are finishing the fast train where you can get to Madrid in 90 minutes. The apartment cost in Valencia is droping drastically now with the America?s cup leaving.

Believe me you will regret Madrid. It is a fast city, you are all your time on public transport, you can?t turn around on the sidewalk with running into 3 people. It is hot as a furnace in the summer and cold as the artic in the winter.

Hey! Where is Vallecas in this poll??!!

> Hey! Where is Vallecas in this poll??!!

It would appear to be a little suburb (http://www.pueblos-espana.org/comunidad+de+madrid/madrid/vallecas/). Who wants to live in the suburbs? ;)

Sorry I did not mean to report your posting. I hit the wrong button. Not unusual for me.

Anyway, where is Las Rozas? Is that where most embassy families choose to live and is it near the American school? We may move to Madrid and I would greatly appreciate any advice about living in Madrid. I wrote a message in the Living in Spain section but I haven't received any replies yet so I thought I'd with this post.

thanks,

Ingy

Las Rozas is about 15/20 km to Madrid downtown. Most families choose to live there to get out of the noise and it is perfect for children. The American school is not in Las Rozas I think, but not that far from it either.
It is quite expensive but worth living there.
I am talking about the new districts of Las Rozas, not the old towncentre.

Do you any of you know Aravaca and La Moralejas. Those are the two choices I have due to the locations of the schools I'm interested in, American School of Madrid and International College of Spain.

thanks,

Ingy

International school of Spain is situated in La Moraleja. La Moraleja is considered as one of the best districts to live in(also one of the most expensive)

La moraleja is also the place where David Beckham used to live:-)

> Sorry I did not mean to report your posting. I hit the wrong button. Not unusual for me.

Anyway, where is Las Rozas? Is that where most embassy families choose to live and is it near the American school? We may move to Madrid and I would greatly appreciate any advice about living in Madrid. I wrote a message in the Living in Spain section but I haven't received any replies yet so I thought I'd with this post.

thanks,

Ingy


The American school is located in Aravaca, Madrid and is right next to the town of Pozuelo, which is quite nice. Where do you intend to live? I ask because traffic is A NIGHTMARE in Madrid, some kids spend the better part of a couple of hours getting to and from school on buses. It's best to choose a school as close to your home as possible or conversely choose a home close to your favorite school AND work. I'm American and my wife is Spanish and we wound up sending our children to a French school. Go figure. When we lived in Madrid Capital, My youngest went to school in LaMoraleja, Liceo Europeo...I cant say enough about that school...fantastic. We looked at TONS of schools so if you need any info, give a holler.

I also suggest "colegio europeo de Madrid" in Las Rozas de Madrid. I went to one of the european schools in belgium(private schools of the european goverment" and they are great for education.

I would definitely live near the school in Aravaca, an american style school or La Moraleja, an IB school. My kids go to an IB school here in Beijing, but the International School of Spain is quite small compared to their school here, 268 vs 1500. Also, I need to ask them if they do a half IB and half certificate diploma, which would be best for my son. How close are these two towns to the US Embassy?

Do these areas consist primarily of single homes or apartments?

What other schools would you recommend?

thanks so much,

Ingy

> I would definitely live near the school in Aravaca, an american style school or La Moraleja, an IB school. My kids go to an IB school here in Beijing, but the International School of Spain is quite small compared to their school here, 268 vs 1500. Also, I need to ask them if they do a half IB and half certificate diploma, which would be best for my son. How close are these two towns to the US Embassy?

Do these areas consist primarily of single homes or apartments?

What other schools would you recommend?

thanks so much,

Ingy


A few things to consider. The tuition for the American School is pretty high compared to other schools here, about $21,000 per year per student, depending on the level. Also an enrollment fee of about $4500. Pozuelo and Aravaca are nice, Pozuelo a bit nicer in my opinion. Mostly apartments and row houses. Prices are between 3500 and 4500? per meter. You could buy a detached home but that will run you anywhere between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000? and up. You dont get a lot of bang for your buck in Madrid. If you are here for a short time (a few years) you may consider renting. 2500 to 3000? per month will get you a nice big place 250 m2 for example. You will absolutely need a car, if not two cars.

The US embassy is located in Madrid. There is a brand new train that connects Pozuelo to Moncloa in Madrid, which is a major bus, metro hub. Driving into Madrid is INSANITY. The "international schools" here are in reality, full of Spaniards and Spanish is what is spoken, so ask about this up front if your kids are not fluent in Spanish. As far as I know, the American School is the only one that is accredited in the US. There are a lot of British schools here as well where English is the primary language.

Good Luck

Im quite sure all INternational Schools are credited for US Colleges (I went to the INternational School Manila and it was filled with US students).

What is very sad (and a waste to say the least) is that if you have kids that live for a few years in a country and leave without learning the local language. If my kids spoke english and would move to spain I would defenitly want them to learn the local language, and mingle with the local kids and absorb its culture. If an american family moves to spain and sends the kids to the american (or english) schools, and leave without learning spanish, this is really a pitty IMO. Send them to local schools, have them grow up bilingual, and for sure they will be one step ahead of their peers when they get back home. As far as school curriculae, I cannot immagine pubblic spanish schools being underated compared to pubblic US or UK schools.

My 2 pence worth

> Im quite sure all INternational Schools are credited for US Colleges (I went to the INternational School Manila and it was filled with US students).

What is very sad (and a waste to say the least) is that if you have kids that live for a few years in a country and leave without learning the local language. If my kids spoke english and would move to spain I would defenitly want them to learn the local language, and mingle with the local kids and absorb its culture. If an american family moves to spain and sends the kids to the american (or english) schools, and leave without learning spanish, this is really a pitty IMO. Send them to local schools, have them grow up bilingual, and for sure they will be one step ahead of their peers when they get back home. As far as school curriculae, I cannot immagine pubblic spanish schools being underated compared to pubblic US or UK schools.

My 2 pence worth


I agree in principal but if the kids are older it would be really tough to start learning Spanish and keep up. My kids go to a French school starting last year, my 4 year old was at the limit for being accepted and they monitered him pretty closely to see how he was doing with the language...he's only just turning 6 now and they are moving pretty quickly with the curriculum.

I thought i would add my views considering i live in Madrid and work for a British School there. The school i work for teaches the British curriculum whilst also teaching Spanish as a language and Spanish studies (history etc). We have kids here from all over the world but the majority here are Spanish (about 80%) and therefore, although lessons are in English, the language outside of the classroom is Spanish. British education tends to be favoured over Spanish education in the U.S and the UK in particular - and you wll find that universities in the US and UK will ask for proof of English language proficiency if taught primarily in a language other than English. This is even true to people speaking English as their first language as their written English is likely to be sub-standard in comparison to someone who studied at a school in English.

I agree with learning the language of wherever you go but firmly do not believe in sending children to local schools to do this. Why not get the best of both worlds and get them studying the curriculum widely regarded as the best in the business whilst also allowing them to learn Spanish outside of the classroom. We have a girl here who is British but lived in S.Africa for 7 years before Spain and spoke Africaans and English before starting here at 16. Now 18 and off to University, she has a British education, A level Spanish to which she speaks Spanish with relative fluency and is off to a top UK university.

Hope this helps...

just something else to consider if you plan on moving to Madrid, besides the other topics herein, is the absolutely hideous air quality throughout most of the city. i think most ex-pats, well most earthlings probably, come from places with far better air quality than madrid, and if you plan on staying for any significant amount of time, i think this is something you should think about when choosing a place to live. i have been in madrid for years now, and despite doing huge more-than-average amounts of exercise, i think my lung capacity has actually decreased significantly over the years, due to the dangerous pollution levels, which on many, many days of the year are up to 6 times the recommended amount. bear in mind that the madrid municipal government shamelessly manipulates the pollution data by only including average figures for all of the pollution meters in the city, including the ones way out in the boondocks and in the middle of humongous parks. oddly, some of the ones in the big traffic-filled plazas have been "out of order" for years and never repaired, and are simply not included in this randomly created "city-wide average." if these park-located meters were not included, rest assured that madrid's pollution levels would horrifically surpass the permitted amounts and the city would be forced to put out health hazard warnings almost daily for months on end, especially in the winter.

anyway, just a consideration to keep in mind, especially if you have any health issues like asthma, allergies or lung disease, or if you want to avoid having them in the future.

just my two cents on schools after living here for a looong time: the german, swiss or french schools are WAY better than the rich-brat-filled american school, and your kids will learn a third language to boot! they are extremely hard to get into, however...

Nacozari -- How far from the city center do you need to be to escape the smog? What neighborhoods do you recommend?

> hi whats latest inputs regarding stay in madrid..
my friend is moving there for 2 months...
I would like to give him some suggestions so pls help...


If you gave some more info I could help a bit more.

Is he going to be working? If so, in what area.
If it's tourist stuff, what does he like, partying, museums, sightseeing.

Is he going alone or with a family.

What is his budget.

Actually I heard only the best things about Madrid - people tend to be in general more friendly/open minded etc than the rest of spain????

I am moving to Madrid in April. Im kinda nervous to be a total stranger but I want to know which areas to search, those that wont give me nostalgia ^__^ teehee

The warm welcome given by the staff at this lovely Catalonia Las Cortes hotel, was in perfect counterpoint to the chilliness of the weather outside, after all it was February! Rooms are both stylish and comfortable with all the amenities one would expect in a 4 star hotel. The only downside was that the air conditioning was a little loud, however we did have this turned on to full during the night. The location is perfect for visiting the museums and art galleries and it was apparent that the area will become lively and buzzing come the onset of Spring. Even in snowy February it has a good vibe.

> International school of Spain is situated in La Moraleja. La Moraleja is considered as one of the best districts to live in(also one of the most expensive)

La moraleja is also the place where David Beckham used to live:-)


I was saw that La Morakeja is the best place to live in Madrid. It was so expensive but more cool atmosphere than other place. So I would to decide that If I will afford money for it differently I will be there. I like so much....

I'm moving to Madrid in August. I've been there on a (very busy) familiarisation trip for three days a few weeks ago. This brief visit is the only experience I've had of Madrid or of Spain in general.

Now I need to decide where to live. I'm not setting up permanent residence, this will be for one or two years.

Salamanca is the best of all

trisswines....


> Lovely neighbourhood & got everything very close to my place.


Very close eh?

Your IP address geo-locates to the DELHI area of INDIA.

Last time I checked, Madrid was nowhere near DELHI... it's about 4575 miles away in fact.

It is a pre-requisite of membership of this form that subscribers do not SPAM the forum with totally irrelevant garbage...

I have deleted some of your posts and reported the others for deletion.

If you have something useful to contribute please feel free to do so, but please remove the Spam link from your signature.

fb

Moderator

For 750? you can find something interesting in Madrid, but it can be a bit difficult to deal with agencies if you can not speak Spanish....

I recomend you to have a look to Enalquiler.com. It is the largest spanish rental portal

http://www.enalquiler.com/alquiler-pisos-madrid-30-2-0-27745.html

May be you will find some answers in this website http://www.thenotebookmadrid.com/moving_to_madrid/housing/estate_agencies.html