Legends and Mysteries with a Date in Madrid: audio walks

Madrid has tales that attach themselves to a house, a square or a name. These walks ask what is told about the city and how long it has been told, without confusing a legend's origins with a building's. They let you hear the mystery while recognising what belongs to tradition and what is supported by records.

In “The Rastro and Lavapiés”: You head down the Ribera de Curtidores, where the "rastro" was literal; ask why a street is called Embajadores, "Ambassadors"; follow the trail of the Inclusa and its wet nurses; and reach Calle de la Cabeza, with a legend from 1863 and a crime from 1821.

In “Malasaña and the Dos de Mayo, 1808”: You start on Calle del Desengaño, with its legend of the mummy and a resident who died that day, and at San Plácido, the convent founded by an engaged couple who never married.

In “Crimes and Legends of Habsburg Madrid”: And at the far end of the Calle Mayor, where in 1906 a bouquet of flowers fell with a bomb inside, and where, three centuries earlier, the murder began that brought Pérez down.

Choose from 5 independent walks in Madrid. Open the one that interests you to see its map, stops and approximate duration before deciding. You don't need to do them all or follow this selection's order; each walk has its own starting and finishing points.