Barrio Salamanca, Madrid: the expensive grid
Barrio Salamanca, Madrid: Serrano, Velázquez, embassies and El Retiro next door. Who lives here and what three scored addresses show.
Contents 10 sections
What the district is like
Barrio Salamanca is a grid of streets east of the Castellana. It was laid out in the nineteenth century for the well-off, and it still plays that part.
Serrano and Ortega y Gasset hold the luxury shops, Jorge Juan the restaurants, and embassies work from the old mansions. Further east, past Príncipe de Vergara, the district gets plainer and more residential.
On foot
Everything in Salamanca is close and well kept. Supermarkets, a market, pharmacies, private clinics and schools are spread evenly over the grid. Pavements are wide and streets are straight.
Four metro lines pass through. There is no big green space of its own, but the southern edge touches El Retiro, and people in those blocks use the park daily.
What we measured
We chose three streets in the western, most expensive part: Serrano, Velázquez and Jorge Juan.
| Address | Score | Groceries | Station or stop | School | Park | Noise and air |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calle de Serrano, 47, Madrid | 87.9 | 4 min | 7 minRubén Darío | 3 min | 6 min | −1.6 |
| Calle de Velázquez, 60, Madrid | 85.3 | 3 min | 5 minVelázquez | 4 min | 6 min | −7.0 |
| Calle de Jorge Juan, 30, Madrid | 88.4 | 4 min | 3 minVelázquez | 3 min | 5 min | −4.0 |
Map numbers match the table rows. Use the plus button to zoom in.
With good figures for shops and metro, look at the noise row: the main streets carry heavy traffic. The rules behind the noise row are on How the score works.
Who it suits
- High-income families.
- Professionals and diplomats arriving from abroad.
- Latin American buyers investing in Madrid real estate.
- People who value order and a safe street.
The trade-offs
It is one of the most expensive districts in Madrid. Serrano, Velázquez and Goya carry a river of cars. There is less neighbourhood life than in Chamberí, and many streets empty at night.
The housing
Large flats in bourgeois buildings with high ceilings, a doorman and a service staircase. Many have been refurbished for foreign buyers and tenants. Small flats are rare and go fast.
What to check
Ask the floor and the orientation: first floors on the main streets are loud. Ask about the community charges, which are high here. Measure the walk to El Retiro.
Summer and winter
In August the district empties: residents leave and part of the trade closes for the holidays.
Without a car
Metro, buses and flat streets make it easy. Not every building has a garage, and a space costs extra.
Cycling is easy on the flat grid, and the city's rental bikes have docks on most blocks.
Neighbours
Chamberí is across the Castellana, with Chamartín to the north and Retiro to the south.