This is Spain's headiest city, where the revelling lasts long into the night as the locals indulge their passion for decadent nightlife. Strangers quickly become friends, passion blooms in an instant, and visitors are swiftly addicted to the city's charms.

By day, Madrid is a city of extravagant palaces, majestic plazas and stately parks; Madrid has enough excellent shopping, fabulous cuisine, glittering galleries and lively bars to keep you going well past bedtime.