Puerta del Sol
Loud and proud heart of Madrid
The beating heart of modern Madrid, Puerta del Sol is loud, proud and invariably packed with people. Once the site of one of the main gates into the city it later became infamous for the slaughter of rioting locals by Napoleonic marshal Murat on May 2, 1808, a massacre that was immortalised by Goya in his masterpiece Dos de Mayo which hangs in the Prado.
On one side is the equestrian bronze of King Carlos III, while opposite is the Casa de Correos, once the city post office, later the headquarters of Franco's dreaded security police and now the home of the Madrid regional government.
Traditionally madrileños gather in the square to usher in the New Year by gulping down twelve grapes on each of the chimes of midnight.