When do children receive Christmas presents in Spain?

In Spain, children traditionally receive their Christmas presents not on Christmas Day, December 25th, but rather on January 6th, which is known as Three Kings‘ Day or “Día de Reyes” in Spanish. This holiday is highly celebrated in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries.

On the night of January 5th, children leave their shoes out, often filling them with treats for the Three Wise Men or the “Reyes Magos”: Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar. It’s a custom that children believe the Three Kings will visit their homes during the night and leave gifts or presents in or near the shoes. It’s similar to the concept of Santa Claus or Father Christmas in other cultures.

January 6th, the Day of the Epiphany, is a public holiday in Spain and marks the culmination of the Christmas season. Families often gather, and children eagerly wake up to find their gifts, following the tradition of the Three Kings bringing them presents. It’s a joyous day filled with gift-giving, family meals, and various parades or processions in many towns and cities, with the Three Kings often riding through the streets to greet children and distribute sweets.

Is there a way in which I can watch Real Madrid – Juventus online?

On May 13th it is time for Read Madrid to play against Juventus in the second leg of the semifinal in the Champions League. In the first match played in Torino they lost 2-1, but now comes the home match and I would like to see Real Madrid beat the Italian team. But, where and how can I watch the match online?

Madrid Juventus

That is a great question, and luckily it is quite easy. This match will be shown on quite a lot of channels with online streams, but the problem is that these are channels you need to pay a lot of money to watch. That is why we recommend a different solution which we read about in the IP Address Guide.

Watch Real Madrid – Juventus online

To watch the match between Real Madrid and Juventus online we recommend that you get hold of a German IP address, something that can be done easily with a subscription to HideMyAss. We therefore recommend that you visit the HideMyAss website and sign up for one month or for twelve months. Then you should download the HideMyAss program, start it and connect to a server in Germany. You will then have a German IP address and then all you need to do is to visit ZDF.de (the website of the German TV channel ZDF), and they will have a live stream on their website which you can watch for free, which means that you can watch Real Madrid play against Juventus online on May 13th! Enjoy!

Read more about Real Madrid here in the Madrid Guide!

Is there a good gym near Puerta del Sol?

Question: I am ooking for a good gym near our apartment on calle cadiz near puerta del sol. Can you help me?

Gym in Madrid
Picture from the Gym mentioned in this article

Thank you for your question! There are not a lot of good gyms in the very heart of Madrid, but if you want to enjoy life and and do some sports in the heart of Madrid near Puerta del Sol and your apartment on Calle Cadiz, then our recommendation would be Palacio Santa Ana Sport & Spa. This is a brilliant complex with fitness opportunities, good machines for exercising and also group practices. If you want to relax as well they have a very nice SPA area.

Their website can be found at: http://www.clubmetropolitan.net/gimnasio/palaciosantaana (unfortunately only in Spanish at the moment).
The full address of the complex is: Plaza del Ángel, 6 – 28012 Madrid.

If anyone has further insight, comments or experience, please write a comment!

Where can I watch Spain – Netherlands in Madrid on June 13th?

I will be in Madrid on June 13th and I am desperately longing to see the match between Spain and Netherlands on June 13th. Can I watch this on a normal TV station in Spain? Can I watch it online? Will it be shown in pubs and restaurants in town?

The answer to your question is yes! What do we mean? You asked three questions, and the answer to all of them is simply yes. In Spain there will be a combination of pay TV channel and public TV channels that will broadcast from the World Cup, but luckily all matches with Spain playing will be available on normal free public TV, meaning that you can watch the match just about anywhere, in your hotel room, in your apartment, or where you are. This also means that you can watch the match between Spain and the Netherlands on June 13th in almost any restaurants, bar or pub around Madrid, so it will rather be impossible not to notice and to watch this match, which will be a “repeat” of the World Cup final in 2010.

If you are out running somewhere, or just sitting on the train or somewhere else and want to watch the World Cup match between Spain and the Netherlands on your Android device or maybe somewhere else, then you can watch it online. Read more about watching Spain – Netherlands online in this article.

We hope you have found this answer useful, but if you have further insight or maybe a question, just write a comment! And, may the best team win (Spain!).

Which is the best hotel with five stars in Madrid?

If you are going to Madrid and want to live in luxury, then you should book a five star hotel. But, which is the best hotel in Madrid, in other words, the best five star hotel in Madrid.

There are quite a lot of five star hotels in Madrid, so it is not easy to pick the best one of all of these. However, there are some hotels in Madrid which are better than others, also among the five star hotels, so here we will focus on two such hotels which we believe to be the very best five star hotels, thus the best hotels of all hotels, in Madrid.

Best five star hotel in Madrid

Hotel Villa Magna

This is a beautiful five star hotel, with lots of splendid user reviews spread around on the Internet. They have free wireless Internet, a nice SPA area with fitness room and massage treatments available, and if you are hungry they have two nice restaurants inside its doors. It is located a bit outside the inner center of Madrid, not far from the Prado Museum and the El Retiro Park, and if you want to watch Real Madrid, it is easy to get to Santiago Bernabeu from Hotel Villa Magna.

Hotel Villa Magna
Hotel Villa Magna

Westin Palace Hotel

Would you like to eat your breakfast with beautiful live music in the background? Then visit the Westin Palace Hotel located in the museum area of Madrid, near Prado, Thyssen Bornemisza and Reina Sofia. The interior of the hotel is really beautiful, and especially the dome is something that will take your breath away. The location of the hotel is better than Hotel Villa Magnas, but unfortunately the wireless Internet is a service that you need to pay extra for.

Hotel Westin Palace

Where should I live in Madrid?

If you want to live in the nicest five star hotels, choose one of the mentioned hotels. If you prefer one of these based on the descriptions given by us, go for that. If you are still insecure, check the prices of both and book a room in the one that has the best prices.

If you have any further insight on the subject, or maybe you have experience from one of these, or some other hotel in Madrid, write a comment!

Where can I watch Real Madrid matches online?

I am a big fan of Real Madrid and I would love to watch some Real Madrid matches online? Can you please tell me how and where I can do that?

Real Madrid onlineFirst of all thank you for your question! The question is not really the kind of questions we normally answer about Madrid and Real Madrid, but we will simply answer shortly and refer you to a website where you can find a much more thorough instruction on how to watch Real Madrid online.

Since most TV channels pay a lot to get broadcasting rights to Spanish football, it is not really possible to watch them just for free online. That is why you need to pay special and quite expensive fees normally to watch La Liga matches or Copy del Rey matches online. There are some exceptions, and the best option is to watch it on the Austrian TV channel Laola1. You do need to change your IP address, but if you do so you can easily watch Real Madrid play online, all their La Liga matches and quite a lot of their Copa del Rey matches.

To find out exactly how this is working and some easy instructions on what to do, visit WatchWorldCup.net and read how to watch La Liga online.

If you should later come to Madrid, read more about Real Madrid here and at that site you can also find information on buying Real Madrid tickets online.

Where can I book a good flamenco show in Madrid?

Flamenco madrid

I am coming to Madrid soon and would like to check out a cool flamenco show. Do you know somewhere where I can enjoy such a program and book it online?

Thank you for your question! Recently some new flamenco shows have been made available in Madrid, so we recommend that you use the link further down for more information and booking of such a program. These programs normally last for some hours with a 60-90 minute flamenco show presented by some really amazing dancers. Some shows include a three course dinner, while other shows only include a glass of wine, a sangria or some other snack.

Do not forget to read more about the different attractions in Madrid and other cool activities in the Madrid Guide 🙂

Link: Flamenco shows in Madrid

Ps: Since originally answering the question we have written an article on a program where you will both learn some Flamenco and afterward you can enjoy a Flamenco show. Full article here.

Ask your Madrid question!

Discounted entrance fee to El Escorial

My wife and I are 66 and 71 years old. Is there a discount for entry into El Escorial?

El Escorial MadridFirst of all, thank you for your question. There are quite a lot of discounts available if you plan on visiting El Escorial, and one of those discounts are for seniors. The official El Escorial entrance fee information site tell us that:

  • Seniors above 65 years from Latin America or from Europe can enter El Escorial at a reduced rate (5 Euro instead of 10 Euro).
  • Children between 5 and 16 years can also enter at the reduced rate.
  • Students with student card at age 25 or less.

Free entrance to El Escorial

If you want to enter El Escorial for free, that can also be arranged, quite easily. Children under 5 years will always enter for free. On May 18th El Escorial has free entrance for everyone throughout the entire day.

The best option is still that every Wednesday and Thursday from 15.00-18.00 (between October and March) and between 17.00 and 20.00 from April and September there is free entrance for members of the European Union and for Latin Americans.

Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Madrid and El Escorial.

Ask your Madrid question in Madrid questions and answers!

Where can I watch Real Madrid – Ajax live on the web tonight?

Real Madrid vs Ajax live tonightThank you for the question… If you want to see Real Madrid play against Ajax live on the web tonight there are probably several options. Here we will only describe one which is quite easy, not expensive and which can be useful for lots of other stuff as well.

The dutch channel NOS will broadcast this match live tonight and thus you can watch the Real Madrid – Ajax match live on the web through their webpage. But, the problem is only that the broadcast can only be seen live on the net for people with a Dutch IP address. This might sound technical, but this simply means that in a way you need to be located in Holland somewhere to see their live broadcast online.

But this is very simple to arrange by the help of a software provided by HideMyAss. If you visit their webpage you can subscribe to their service (which at the moment is discounted because of a large Christmas sale) and once this is done you can download their software and connect to one of their servers in Holland. Once this is done you can take a look at the NOS Sport webpage again and you will be able to see their live stream featuring the match between Real Madrid and Ajax tonight live from all over the world.

For more information you can read the following article (which is not up to date), but it still contains all the information and links you need to fix this thing and to watch the match later tonight.

The principle is very much the same for other live broadcasts in other nations and so. This means that if you for example would want to see ITV live tonight as they show the match between Arsenal and Olimpiakos this can be arranged in the same way with the same software. This again means that you can in this way pretend to be everywhere in the world almost and thus watch lots of content online which would normally be available only to people inside that given nation.

We could go on and on and mention other examples, but these are at least some ways in which you can watch the Real Madrid – Ajax match tonight, and if you are interested also watch the Arsenal – Olimpiakos match.

 

How to watch Spanish web-tv from abroad?

Since Spanish television was launched in 1956 lots of stuff has happened, and nowadays it is very normal to watch Spanish television online. During larger sports events, olympic games and of course when breaking news take place, even more people gather together in front of the computer screen to watch such events online. But, when you go abroad and would like to stay up to date on what is happening in Spain, and maybe watch a soccer match or some other program online, you will often find that the broadcast is only available to those located in Spain, and that the broadcast is not available from abroad, or from outside Spain. What is the solution, how to watch Spanish web-tv from abroad?

The solution is to get a VPN connection to a server in Spain, thus creating a virtual tunnel between your current location and a server located in Spain. When the connection is made, it will seem to all internet servers as if you are located in Spain, and not outside Spain somwhere in the world. It might sound difficult, but it is really easy, thanks to HideMyAss. They are a company providing such VPN connections for a very little fee, and they also offer a software making it all very easy. You simply visit their webpage, subcribe for one month, six months or for a year. Once this is done you download the program, enter your username and password – and after that you connect to a server located in Spain (you will see a long list of servers in Spain and in lots of other nations in the world in the program). Once the connection is made you should restart your webbrowser, and once that is done you will be able to watch Spanish web-tv, just like you would do at home in Spain. If you want to learn Spanish this is also a great way to learn the language, listening and watching tv broadcasts!

There are lots of Spanish television stations, not all of them have live feeds, so check out their webpages first, but later if you find out that they only allow people with IP address in Spain to watch, grab hold of HideMyAss, and in minutes you can be enjoying the broadcast on your laptop, tablet or even on most mobilephones, wherever you are in the world. The connection is also encrypted, making it safe and untracable if you use an open WiFi for example.

Good luck and enjoy watching La 1, La 2, 24h, Teledeporte, Telecinco, Antena 3 and all the other Spanish tv channels online.

Also worth reading is how to watch NRK online from abroad?