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Secretos de Madrid
Secretos de Madrid es un libro que recorre Madrid, ese Madrid secreto y particular que Manuel García del Moral ha ido descubriendo a través de su blog de Secretos de Madrid. Es éste un recopilatorio de aquellos escenarios e historias que han marcado al autor durante los años que lleva viviendo en Madrid. Desde el pintoresco Malasaña al castizo Chamberí, pasando por los contrastes de Lavapiés o el cautivador encanto de la zona de los Austrias.
228 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 31, 2024
This book was actually given to be as a thoughtful going-away gift at my previous job. Ingrate that I am, it took me nearly a year to open it.
The book began its life as a blog, in which the author—who hails from Pamplona—expounded upon his love for the nation’s capital. This origin helps to explain the book’s somewhat odd format. Rather than being structured as a guide, it is divided into about 100 different chapters, each one focusing on a different spot in the city. Somewhat inconveniently, these chapters are not arranged in any kind of discernable order. Thus, attractions which are right next to one another may be separated by several chapters. It would thus be very difficult to use this book as a pocket guide.
Where Manuel shines is in his enthusiasm. The Pamplonés is a kind of Madrid fanatic, and goes into raptures at the beauty of buildings, streets, and plazas. I found this somewhat strange. While I have a great deal of affection for my adoptive home, I think the city of Madrid—evaluated solely for its views, its cityscape, its visual charm—is surpassed by many other Spanish cities. This is not to say that Madrid is ugly (though parts of it certainly are), only that its charm largely consists of the seemingly endless things to see and do.
Manuel’s choices for attractions also struck me as rather idiosyncratic. A large bulk of the book is given over to specific streets and plazas in the city center—in Malasaña, La Latina, el Barrio de las Letras… These attractive urban spaces are fleshed out with stories from Madrid’s past, though sometimes these stories are legends or tall tales. Even so, I learned quite a few interesting tidbits, such as that the water for the iconic statue in the Plaza de Cibeles can, as a security measure, be redirected to flood a chamber containing the country’s gold supply.
Though Manuel includes many wonderful spots in the city, there were also some surprising omissions. He does not, for example, mention any of the city’s excellent cultural centers, such as the Matadero, Conde Duque, La Tabacalera… But the charm of this book is, after all, the personal taste of the author, whose love for the city is infectious. Certainly, after reading it, I feel newly motivated to keep exploring my city.
The book began its life as a blog, in which the author—who hails from Pamplona—expounded upon his love for the nation’s capital. This origin helps to explain the book’s somewhat odd format. Rather than being structured as a guide, it is divided into about 100 different chapters, each one focusing on a different spot in the city. Somewhat inconveniently, these chapters are not arranged in any kind of discernable order. Thus, attractions which are right next to one another may be separated by several chapters. It would thus be very difficult to use this book as a pocket guide.
Where Manuel shines is in his enthusiasm. The Pamplonés is a kind of Madrid fanatic, and goes into raptures at the beauty of buildings, streets, and plazas. I found this somewhat strange. While I have a great deal of affection for my adoptive home, I think the city of Madrid—evaluated solely for its views, its cityscape, its visual charm—is surpassed by many other Spanish cities. This is not to say that Madrid is ugly (though parts of it certainly are), only that its charm largely consists of the seemingly endless things to see and do.
Manuel’s choices for attractions also struck me as rather idiosyncratic. A large bulk of the book is given over to specific streets and plazas in the city center—in Malasaña, La Latina, el Barrio de las Letras… These attractive urban spaces are fleshed out with stories from Madrid’s past, though sometimes these stories are legends or tall tales. Even so, I learned quite a few interesting tidbits, such as that the water for the iconic statue in the Plaza de Cibeles can, as a security measure, be redirected to flood a chamber containing the country’s gold supply.
Though Manuel includes many wonderful spots in the city, there were also some surprising omissions. He does not, for example, mention any of the city’s excellent cultural centers, such as the Matadero, Conde Duque, La Tabacalera… But the charm of this book is, after all, the personal taste of the author, whose love for the city is infectious. Certainly, after reading it, I feel newly motivated to keep exploring my city.
February 6, 2021
Al igual que el autor, me considero un "disfrutón" de Madrid, de sus calles, edificios, contrastes, ambientes, historias y leyendas. Debido a este sentimiento decidí mudarme al céntrico y castizo barrio de La Latina, el cual encierra gran parte de los secretos del libro y de los cuales afortunadamente ya era consciente de su existencia. Un libro genial para despertar la curiosidad, no solo del turista, sino de las personas que habitamos en la capital y que muchas veces pasamos por alto las pequeñas maravillas que alberga. Quizá el único punto de mejora que tendría el libro sería la partición en diferentes volúmenes, reduciendo el número de sitios a cambio de detallar mejor la parte histórica o de leyendas e incluyendo más fotografías. No obstante, el concepto original, que imagino que es el de despertar curiosidades, está más que conseguido con este compendio de lugares. Genial.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews