Puerta del Sol

Centrally located, the bustling Puerta del Sol is one of Madrid’s landmarks. A number of the city’s busiest and most historic streets, including Calle Mayor, Calle Arenal, Calle Alcalá and Calle Preciados, converge in this semi-circular plaza. It also boasts several of the city’s most emblematic elements.

One is the famous clock of Casa de Correos, now the Community of Madrid’s offices, which, every 31 December, rings in the New Year before the thousands who gather beneath it to eat the traditional 12 grapes, one on each chime, in a ceremony that is broadcast to millions of Spanish people on television.

In the same spot, in front of the Casa de Correos door, is the Kilometre Zero plaque, marking the origin of the national roads that start in Madrid, next to which Spanish tourists have their photographs taken every day. Puerta del Sol is also home to the Bear and the Strawberry Tree statue, dearly loved by the people of Madrid and a popular meeting point, which represents the elements on the city’s coat of arms.

On the opposite side, at the start of Calle Arenal, is the Mariblanca statue, a replica of the 17th-century original that once crowned a fountain on the same spot and that can be found today in the Casa de la Villa building. Nearby, in the centre of the plaza, is the equestrian statue of Charles III, the king who modernised Madrid in the 18th century, through a series of improvements to the city’s infrastructures.

Updated: 21/07/2025