What you can see on the Madrid webcams
The Neptune camera looks down on the fountain on the Paseo del Prado, with the Palace hotel beside it and the Prado and Thyssen museums a few steps away. At Cibeles, one camera looks up the tree-lined Paseo de Recoletos from the roundabout, and another runs down the Calle de Alcalá past the Bank of Spain towards it. Plaza de Colón shows the Columbus monument with the National Library behind it, and down by the river the view from the Segovia Bridge takes in Madrid Río and the dome of the Almudena Cathedral. All are still images, not video: the reload button brings the latest one each camera has sent.
Madrid webcam: the Neptune fountain on the Paseo del Prado
From high on a building at the Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo, this council camera looks down on the Neptune fountain, with the god in his shell-shaped chariot in the middle of the pool and jets of water around him. The traffic circles the fountain; on the left stands the white façade of the Palace hotel, and the Paseo del Prado and the Carrera de San Jerónimo lead away between the trees.
The Prado and the Thyssen museums are just out of the picture, on either side of the square. Neptune is also where Atlético de Madrid fans gather to celebrate a big win. The image is a still renewed every few minutes, with the date and time.
Plaza de Cibeles webcam, Madrid
Plaza de Cibeles is the great roundabout where Calle de Alcalá crosses the Paseo del Prado and the Paseo de Recoletos, the spot where Real Madrid fans gather to celebrate. This traffic camera stands high above it, and the city's traffic centre turns it as it needs: at times it looks across the roundabout to the corner of the Bank of Spain and the trees of a palace garden, at others north up the Paseo de Recoletos, a wide, tree-lined boulevard with lanes of cars, red sightseeing buses and city buses heading out of the square.
It is a camera for the rhythm of the city, from the morning rush to the tour buses of the afternoon, and for the weather over central Madrid. The fountain itself is usually just out of the frame. Like the others, it sends a still image, not a video.
Calle de Alcalá webcam: the Bank of Spain and Cibeles
From the corner where the Gran Vía meets the Calle de Alcalá, this council camera looks down Alcalá towards Cibeles. The ornate stone bulk of the Bank of Spain fills the right of the picture, with its arched windows and corner pavilions; on the left, trees line the other side of the street, and at the end of the street rise the white pinnacles of the Palacio de Cibeles, the old main post office that is now Madrid's city hall.
It shows one of the city's main arteries at full flow, from buses and taxis to the morning rush, and the light on the façades through the day. In the evening the buildings are floodlit. It is a still image rather than a video, stamped with the date and time; reload the page for a newer one.
Plaza de Colón webcam: the Columbus monument, Madrid
This council camera looks straight at the monument to Christopher Columbus, a slender neo-Gothic column put up in the 1880s, which now stands in the middle of a round pool. Behind it stretches the long façade of the National Library, with a dome at each end, and to the right the traffic heads off between the trees.
This is one of the busiest junctions in the centre, where the Paseo de Recoletos becomes the Castellana, Madrid's long north-south avenue. The camera is useful for the sky over the north of the centre, the traffic and, after dark, the floodlit monument. It shows a still image stamped with the time; the reload button fetches the latest.
The Almudena Cathedral above Madrid Río, from the Segovia Bridge
This is the only Madrid camera with the old city's skyline in it. It stands above the Segovia Bridge, built by Juan de Herrera in the 1580s, and looks east up the Calle de Segovia. On the left, beyond the trees of Madrid Río, the dome and towers of the Almudena Cathedral rise on the ridge where the Royal Palace stands; on the right is the great dome of San Francisco el Grande. Below, the River Manzanares runs under a footbridge, and coaches and cars line the bridge.
Late afternoon is the time to look: the low sun from the west lights up the cathedral. The traffic centre sometimes turns the camera to the road deck, and then only the bridge is in view. It sends a still image, not a video.
The art walk and the river
The Paseo del Prado, from Cibeles past Neptune to Atocha, was laid out in the 18th century as a promenade and is now lined with the Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Reina Sofía, the three great art museums; the avenue and the Retiro park beside it have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021. Down by the Manzanares, the Segovia Bridge, built by Juan de Herrera for Philip II between 1582 and 1584, now crosses Madrid Río, a park laid out where the M-30 ring road used to run before it was buried in tunnels.
When to watch Madrid
Madrid is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. At about 660 m (2,170 ft) above sea level it has a climate of extremes: July afternoons are often over 35°C, while winter mornings bring frost and, now and then, snow. Evenings are when the city comes out, and the traffic round Cibeles and Neptune stays heavy until late. The river view is best late in the day, when the setting sun lights the cathedral on its ridge.
Around Madrid
Toledo, about 45 miles (70 km) south, and Segovia, about 55 miles (90 km) north-west, are the classic day trips, with El Escorial in the hills in between. In the city, the Puerta del Sol and the Plaza Mayor are a short walk from the Gran Vía, and the Royal Palace stands above the river near the Almudena Cathedral.
Visiting Madrid
Madrid-Barajas airport is about 8 miles (13 km) north-east of the Puerta del Sol, linked to the centre by metro and train.
