PROS
Finest work alternatives and highest salaries
As is commonly the case, the nation’s capital gives the widest vary of job alternatives for locals and foreigners. Barcelona’s job market could also be barely extra worldwide and subsequently have extra English-speaking jobs, however Madrid accounts for twenty-four p.c of all job vacancies in Spain.
Gross month-to-month earnings in Madrid in 2024 are €2,885 a month, the best within the nation, greater than €300 above Catalonia and virtually €400 greater than within the Basque Nation.
MAP: The place are salaries highest and lowest in Spain in 2024?
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Madrid doesn’t have Barcelona’s mass tourism issues
Madrid is castiza, a phrase which sums up that genuine Spanish feeling. We’re not referring to the truth that Barcelona has its personal Catalan id reasonably than a Spanish one, however reasonably that Madrid doesn’t really feel like a theme park for vacationers, though it has a giant worldwide inhabitants.
Though gentrification is taking its toll on the town, if you stroll across the Spanish capital it nonetheless has these distinctive outlets which were round for a century and that make it so particular, locals go about their enterprise reasonably than holidaymakers taking crowding the streets, and in lots of neighbourhoods Madrid offers off that ‘city really feel’ reasonably than a giant metropolis one.
READ ALSO: ‘Gentrified out of existence’ – Madrid protest provides weight to Spain’s anti-tourism wave
Bearable winters and great springs and autumns
The suffocating summer time months are a detrimental we’ll speak about additional down, but it surely’s price noting that the winter months, though they are often chilly, are crisp and nice as a result of clear skies and sunshine.
In actual fact, Madrid is the European capital with essentially the most days of sunshine a 12 months – 300 – which means that wet days are few and much between, permitting you to make loads of out of doors plans all year long.
READ ALSO: Why do individuals in Madrid stay longer than wherever else within the EU?
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Implausible journey and nationwide transport hyperlinks
Madrid’s Barajas airport is the busiest in Spain and sixth most used on the earth, with direct flights to 192 nationwide and worldwide locations.
It’s the same story in terms of prepare journey, as there are direct rail hyperlinks to most mid-size and enormous cities on the mainland, and new low-cost operators equivalent to Ouigo and Iryo are connecting Madrid to different components of Spain.
Its positioning within the centre of Spain additionally implies that by automobile you may attain just about each nook of the mainland in beneath six hours.
Then there’s native transport – the metro, the buses, the Cercanías trains – all of them run like clockwork, which explains why Madrid’s transport community is ranked because the third greatest on the earth.
Town that by no means sleeps
Madrid is named la ciudad que nunca duerme, and with good cause. The nightlife is second to none and there may be all the time one thing occurring that’ll maintain you entertained, no matter your preferences are.
Massive-name live shows, two of the very best soccer groups on the earth, world-class museums, the best bar per capita price on the planet, loads of parks and hundreds extra, Madrid has nothing to envy different capital cities in terms of leisure and leisure.
Lowest taxes in Spain
Madrid is proud to have the bottom tax charges of all areas in Spain, from revenue tax to inheritance/present tax, and property tax and wealth tax.
Despite the fact that such taxes can differ 12 months to 12 months and a few of these are regional levies that solely account for 50 p.c of the overall tax burden (the opposite half being selected a nationwide stage), the Spanish capital persistently ensures that it retains the tax burden low for its residents.
That is one thing that may be significantly helpful for top earners.
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CONS
Unbearable summers
Stepping out into the road in Madrid in July and August feels very very like placing your head inside an oven. It’s a dry warmth, which many individuals desire, however when the mercury marks 40C frequently, you’ll really feel simply as energyless both method.
Sadly, heatwaves in Madrid and Spain as an entire have gotten extra frequent and last more, and Madrid being a giant metropolis with numerous cement has led it to be described because the largest city warmth island on the earth.
READ ALSO: ’63C in Plaza Mayor’ – Greenpeace requires return of Madrid’s timber
Not on the coast
There’s a well-known music in Spain which works ¡Vaya, Vaya! ¡Aquí no hay playa! (Nicely, effectively! There’s no seashore right here!) in reference to the truth that Madrid is about so far as potential from the coast as potential.
Its place slap bang in the course of the Iberian Peninsula implies that you gained’t even get a whiff of a sea breeze, a drawback in the course of the scorching summer time months.
Imagine or not, there are some seashores within the metropolis, they’re simply not on the coast.
READ ALSO: Seven Madrid seashores to take pleasure in this summer time (sure, they exist)
Greater value of residing
Imagine it or not, San Sebastián within the Basque Nation is the town with the best value of residing in Spain, however that doesn’t imply that life in Madrid is reasonable.
Lease is on common €1,494 a month, making Madrid the fifth capital metropolis within the EU with the best rents. Nonetheless, as salaries are significantly decrease than in cities equivalent to Amsterdam or Paris, extra of your wages go in direction of paying the lease. Very similar to in the remainder of the nation, discovering an honest place to lease can also be turning into tougher, and also you get much less bang on your buck.
Different larger residing prices make Madrid on common 12.5 p.c costlier than the nationwide common, as may be anticipated for a capital metropolis
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The standard drawbacks of metropolis residing
As you may count on from a metropolis of over 3 million inhabitants (6.6 million in the entire Madrid area), there are the same old setbacks that include metropolis residing.
The air high quality is usually acceptable for most individuals however there are intervals when visitors and air pollution make it price for its inhabitants’ well being.
The crime price is not as excessive as in Barcelona, however there are 7,980 crimes a 12 months per 100,000 inhabitants, principally burglaries and felonies involving violence. It’s nonetheless a a lot safer metropolis than Paris or London, for instance.
Throughout vacation intervals, Madrid metropolis may be extremely busy, making it virtually unimaginable to maneuver across the metropolis centre.