6 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT MADRID BUT MUST
by Jack Wright
1. WIZINK LOVES FANS & VICE VERSA
WiZink Center
The WiZink Center in Avenida Felipe II s/n., 28009 MADRID, is the world’s third venue with the greatest number of activities. The “Top 200 World Arenas” in Pollstar, the only trade publication dedicated exclusively to covering live events worldwide, puts WiZink’s total worldwide ticket sales at 1,118,706 between 23 November 2017 and 21 November 2018. The arena trails only two venues: Madison Square Garden Arena in New York (1,155,480 tickets sold) and Forum in Inglewood, California (1,119,313).
Though officially named Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid (Community of Madrid Sports Center), and described as an indoor sporting arena, WiZink is in fact multipurpose and is a popular venue for concerts.
Depending on the events, the following is WiZink’s capacity:
U2 live in WiZink, September 2018
Athletics: 10,000 people
Handball: 14,000
Basketball: 15,000
Concerts: 15,500
The Garden, on the other hand, has a total capacity of 20,789; 19,812 for basketball.
Forum’s capacity is 17,505.
Not your run-of-the-mill architecture
2. IRRESISTIBLE!
Madrid is one of the cities in the world with the greatest magnetism and power to attract people, investments and companies, according to the Global Power City Index 2018 of The Mori Memorial Foundation. It’s the 22nd best city on the planet in this regard.
To compare: The three cities that topped Madrid in 2018 were Chicago which ranked 19th; Boston, 20th, and Vancouver, 21st.
Immediately trailing Madrid were Beijing (23rd), Barcelona (24th) and Brussels (25th).
3. MADRID IS WHERE TOURISTS SPLURGE
More than in any other city in Spain, Madrid is where tourists spend their money. On average, foreigners who visit the city and/or the Comunidad allocate €188 euros daily against the €116 of the national average, according to the Survey of Tourist Expenditure (Egatur).
Moreover, Madrid has become the destination where the average expenditure per tourist has increased the most. This is a reflection of the increase in high-end tourism. Sports tourism, which has the greatest impact in the Spanish capital, also spiked in 2018.
2018 was a bumper year for the Spanish tourist industry. Foreign visitors exceeded 78.4 million until November, making Spain the third greatest tourism country in the world, next only to the United States and France.
4. “GREEN” MADRID GOES FOR CAR-SHARING
The carsharing companies in Madrid are planning to increase their fleet by more than 30% in 2019, according to El Español
. Car2go will add 450 new Smart EQ vehicles to its current fleet and Zity will reach 650 this year. Emov and Wible will keep their fleet at 600 and 500 vehicles respectively.
The Madrid Central program is the trigger of this “green” phenomenon.
5. GREENER STILL: “GREEN” EMPLOYERS WILL GET THEIR JUST REWARDS!
If you’re an employer in the city of Madrid, and give your employees abono transporte (public transport season ticket), you get a 10% discount on your Impuesto Sobre Actividades Economicas (Tax on Economic Activities).
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6. CULTURE-IN-CHOW FESTIVAL
Every year for the past ten years Madrid celebrates Gastrofestival. This year it will last till 10 February.
Gastrofestival is the best way to enjoy the Madrileña gastronomy via its connection with different artistic disciplines. You can enjoy “Gastronomia en el arte” which lets you enjoy gastronomy in several museums and art galeries”, “Gastronomia en el cine” and “en el teatro”, etc.
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Images
Featured image/SofiaMarvison, Unsplash. Partial face blot-out supplied.
WiZink/Luis Garcia, CC BY-SA3.0
U2 at WiZink/Matthias Muehlbradt, CC BY-SA2.0
Unique architecture/Joel Filipe, Unsplash
Shopper/freestock.org, Unsplash
Smart EQ/Fair use
Madrid Central markings/Diario de Madrid, CC BY4.0
Abono Transporte, Fair use
GastroFestival logo, Fair use
