Madrid is a big city, with one of the largest nightlife’s in Spain. Many people call it the city that doesn’t sleep. Madrid is one of the few places in Europe where you can still find such a big crowd after 4 am every night of the week. In Spain, the people who live in Madrid, ‘the Madrileños’, are also known as ‘gatos’ (cats), which isn’t very strange when you look at the times they go out. Just like in the rest of Spain, the nightlife in Madrid starts at midnight or 1:00 am. The main cause is that the people in Spain have their dinners very late. It isn’t very strange to go straight to work or school after going out. In fact, traffic jams are the order of the day (night). Madrid is full of places to go out at night. You’ll find all kinds of bars and disco’s. In Madrid there is always somewhere you can go. Doesn’t matter what your age or nationality is.

Students always gather together to have a good time. And because of the fact that Madrid has a couple of Universities, it’s obvious that Madrid contains a lot of students. Also al lot of foreign students which are involved in exchange programs or just doing an intern. This makes clear that English is a well spoken language at night in Madrid. Arguelles and Moncloa are the places you need to be if you are a student in Madrid.

In the summer, the city of Madrid sponsors a series of plays, concerts, films and festivals. This makes the city a free festival in the summer months. One of the main activities of the ‘Madrileños’ in the summer is terrace-hopping. This can only be done on a place where are lots of open-air terraces can be found. In Madrid, the main streets where loads of open-air terraces can be found are the Paseo de La Castellana and the Parque del Oeste.

As you know, in Spain the dinner is served very late, and in most times just a leisurely meal before going out. It is normal to go for a dinner and immediately after your meal go out in Madrid. One of the best places you can do this is probably Malasaña, in the vicinity of the Plaza de Dos de Mayo, in this part of town there are a lot of cafés and bars with live music, in addition to moderately-priced restaurants.

Besides festivals and live music Madrid has a lot of discotheques in which you can have a really good time. The discotheques are spread all over the city but in Madrid you don’t need to walk from one to another. Most of the discotheques are just big enough to spend a whole evening in them without getting bored. In most of the discotheques they will ask entrance money but you can have a free first drink when you get in. They play many different kinds of music so everybody can be kept satisfied during the night.