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Shopping. Endless possibilities for everyone |
From antique shops to the latest fashion designs: furniture, the most prestigious fashion houses, gifts, souvenirs or specialist foodstuffs can be found in the shop windows of the city. Shops, shopping centres and street markets mean Madrid offers almost infinite shopping possibilities.
It is a great temptation for people of all ages to go shopping in Madrid with its numerous shops and shopping centres, many of which are open all day both in the centre and on the outskirts of the city. There are five main shopping areas in Madrid: Salamanca, Chueca, Centro, Princesa and Cuatro Caminos.
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Salamanca: The "golden mile" for fashion
The best and most exclusive national and international fashion firms together with antique shops, bookshops, jewellers, galleries and other prestigious establishments can be found in the streets of Serrano, Velázquez, Castelló, Goya, Jorge Juan and Lagasca and the other streets which go to make up the Salamanca quarter. Each square metre of the specialist shops along the so called "golden mile" offer a world of luxury, distinction and elegance.
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Avant-garde in Chueca
If you are looking for the very latest, alternative fashions and designs you must visit Chueca, which consists of the streets Fuencarral, Hortaleza, Barquillo and Almirante. The most daring hairstyles, tattoos and the latest CDs and books, shoes or cosmetics are all available in these narrow streets with their lively bohemian atmosphere.
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Crafts in the Centre
The Plaza Mayor, the Gran Via, the Puerta del Sol and adjacent streets make up the oldest shopping area in Madrid where there are myriad small shops specialising in all kinds of traditional, typical and craft products. In this, the neuralgic centre of the city, you can buy craft work, ceramics, pottery, leather products, fans, guitars and other musical instruments, flamenco dresses, accessories and foodstuffs, together with all kinds of clothes, CDs and books.
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Fashion for the young in Princesa
In the streets of Princesa and Alberto Aguilera, in the quarter known as Argüelles, close to the University campus, you will find the large franchises favoured by the young where you will be able to find the latest clothes at very reasonable prices.
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Popular prices in Cuatro Caminos
Another neuralgic centre, this time in the north of Madrid, can be found between the streets of Bravo Murillo and Orense, leading to the Plaza de Castilla. Alongside shopping centres with the latest trends you will find clothes and shoe shops together with small businesses and markets selling things at popular prices.
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The Rastro, an open air flea market
The Rastro is one of the symbols of the city. Every Sunday and bank holiday, from 9.00 to 14.00 hours, the streets around the Ribera de Curtidores and leading to the Ronda de Toledo receive hundreds of visitors all looking through stalls of second-hand records and CDs, books and clothes, antiques, coins, furniture and craft work. There are other specialist street markets in the capital, such as the market in the Plaza Mayor, which specialises in stamps, or the crafts market in the Plaza de las Comendadoras.
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Other information of interest
Opening times: most of the shops and shopping centres are open from 10.00 to 20.30 or 21.30 hours. Traditional shops open from 10.00 to 14.00 hours and from 16.30 to 20.30 hours.
Sales: the winter sales generally begin in the second week of January and last until the end of February and the summer sales begin on 1st July and last until the end of August.
How to pay: most people pay in cash or with a credit card, when you must show your passport or identity card.
Tax Free: residents from outside the European Union may have their Value Added Tax (VAT) returned for purchases of more than €90.15.
Madrid Shopping Tour: this is tour in a minibus where a guide will tell you about the main shopping areas in Madrid and which will give you discounts in various different stores.
Las Rozas Village Shopping Tour: just 30 minutes from Madrid, this outing offers a day of fashion with more than 95 cut-price outlet shops from Spanish and international firms, with exclusive savings. More information on tel: +34 916404900.
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