Nightfall is the most beautiful time in Madrid. The sky takes on a colour and tone which have fascinated artists and writers of all eras. Before the sun sets, head for Las Vistillas, close to the Palacio Real and the Almudena Cathedral. This is where the city’s first inhabitants settled. Under Arab rule, the citizens of Madrid were known for their cat-like ability to climb the town walls. For this reason, according to some historians, they were also known as gatos (cats).The panoramic view from this vantage point is magnificent. It is not surprising that Velázquez, Sorolla or Victorio Macho installed their studios in this neighbourhood. If it is a festival season (San Isidro, Veranos de la Villa), it is here that the most picturesque elements of the city come, complete with chotis and barrel organ.Twilight is a good time to enter the Retiro or the Casa de Campo, two not-to-be-missed parks which used to be leisure grounds for the Kings and the nobility. Today they they are the two green spaces most favoured by young and old alike: an oasis. The Retiro is populated with botanic specimens of considerable value and hundreds of variegated statues, such as the one of the Fallen Angel, which is to say, the Devil.

No other city in the world has erected a statue to this personage. Syncretism means also having to deal with the damned.If your visit takes place at the time of the Autumn Fes- tival, there is a select and diverse range of cultural events to choose from each afternoon from around the Comunidad, events including major international figures from the world of music, dance and theatre.

Take a break before supper so you can drop in at the legendary Chicote bar, where the Gran Vía meets up with Al- calá: in the 40s, 50s and 60s, this was where art, dissipation, romance, intellectual life, politics and a certain amount of clowning around all came together. Today it is a quiet and melancholy relic. A whiff of the scandals caused by Heming- way, Orson Welles, Ava Gardner, Lola Flores or the Beatles is still perceptible. At one of its tables, the brilliant composer Agustín Lara wrote the chotis called ‘Madrid’. It happened all at once. The musician, forever listened to by thoroughbred fe- males, suddenly felt a rush of inspiration and asked the waiter for writing materials. He took seven minutes to finish the song. And then the carousing went on into the small hours. A few regular customers went out that night humming the first verses: ‘Cuando vayas a Madrid, chulona mía, voy a hacerte emperatriz de Lavapiés.