 Visits to the top museums housing masterpieces of world famous art (Velázquez, Goya, El Greco…), sightseeing tours like Madrid de "Los Austrias" or "Velázquez's Madrid", walks through the historic
parks and gardens (the Retiro, Botanical Gardens) are just some of the many options for cultural tourism.
Shopping is another of the city's attractions. The most unlikely objects can be found in the old shops in the historic centre and, with a little luck, you might find a unique item in one of the many antique shops. Naturally, the fashion stores sell all the Spanish and
international designer labels. Many business travellers (who are golfing fans) usually make a space in their diaries to practise their favourite sport when visiting Madrid. Incentive travel programmes in Madrid also often include a full or half-day for golf classes or mini-championships.  The offer of courses is greater than many people imagine: in and around the city there are 20 clubs with their own courses, 3 of which are for public use (Club de Golf Olivar de la Hinojosa, Club de Campo Villa de Madrid and Club Las Rejas Golf). Moreover, there are plans for a fourth public course in Arroyofresno.
Traditional attractions like "The Rastro" (the biggest street market in Europe) offer the other popular and bustling image of old Madrid- The historic centre boasts abundant bars, inns and taverns where visitors can sample the delights of a wide range of Spanish cooking, based on "tapas" and snacks. Cuisine is one of Madrid's strong points, as can be seen in the numerous top quality regional or international restaurants.
Madrid's theatres offer an andless repertoire of shows throughout the year: opera, concerts, recitals, dance, theatres, comedies, musicals, and obviously two genuine Spanish phenomena, operetta and flamenco, which are performed in recitals or traditional "tablaos" (flamenco shows)  Music, theatre and dance festivals are organised in spring,
summer and autumns, plus the popular open-air celebrations (verbenas) in August.
Madrid is famous for its lively night life, all year round. When the cinemas and theatres empty out, the restaurants fill with hungry dinners who later while the night away in discos, clubs, bars and the thousand and one night-spots available to night owls. Visitors soon discover that there are endless ways to have fun in Madrid.
BUSINESS TOURISM  Spain's capital made a decisive bet on the meeting market over 30
years ago, when Madrid's Conference and Exhibition Centre, set the heart of the modern city, adjacent to Paseo de la Castellana and right opposite Real Madrid's football stadium, was constructed.
In this Centre belonging to Turespaña, all types of events have been staged since then, including several large ones, such as: the XV World Mining Congress or the 24th European Conference on Optical
Communication – ECO'98 which brought together 5,000 attendees from 80 countries in 1992 and 1998 respectively. The growing economy of Madrid – political and financial capital of Spain – and its consolidation as trade show and conference city, ensured that new and modern infrastructures were planned at the end of the eighties to respond to the need to organise bigger and more
numerous shows and conferences, with the best facilities and services possible. Parque Ferial Juan Carlos I (IFEMA), inaugurated in 1991, next to Campo de las Naciones, a complex comprising the Municipal Conference Centre (opened in 1993), hotels, office books, a golf course and a large park, amongst other facilities. An underground line links it to Barajas Airport and the centre of Madrid.
The proximity of the Municipal Conference Centre and IFEMA's trade fair centre means these modern installations can be combined to hold macroconferences. Thus, the 49th International Monetary Fund and World Bank Meeting, staged in Madrid in October 1944, with 15,000 delegates, used both premises plus other service buildings in the same area.
 Since then, macro-events usually take advantage of this huge available space and ancillary services. This was case with the X World Psychiatry Congress, which brought together 11,000 participants from 95 countries in August 1996, or the European
Respiratory Society meeting ( October'99) which was attended by over 9,000 delegates.
While the installations of Recinto Ferial de la Casa de Campo located in Madrid's green "heart" close to Plaza de España and linked by underground and buses, host numerous trade shows and meetings. Madrid region also possesses important meeting centres, especially in El Escorial and Alcalá de
Henares.  A growing market over the past five years, Madrid's offer for Meeting Tourism has been growing spectacularly, both in terms of quantity and quality, in accordance with the rise in the number of shows, conferences and all types of meetings,
as well as an increase in participation, especially as regards incentive travel.
By virtue of these qualities, the increase in the number of meetings and participants during these years has been constant. The definitive confirmation – in acknowledgement of the considerable efforts made by Madrid's ranked top international conference destination in ICCA's classification. UNIQUE VENUES: LUXURY WITHIN YOUR REACH  Aside from the conventional meeting centres and function rooms
available in hotels in and around Madrid, there is an extensive offer of unique venues in which to organise a meeting or social event with a touch of class to ensure it is different and unforgettable, such as: the Teatro Real opera house, the grand Thyssen-Bornemisza museum, Manzanares el Real Renaissance castle (45 km away), Las Delicias station with its Railway Museum, the XIX century Fernán Núñez Palace, Palacio del Cristal de la Arganzuela (greenhouse), or even the
aquarium in Madrid's Zoo.
 The possibilities are not just restricted to these places. There are many more: Atocha station (AVE – High Speed Train terminal) which has been restored and now boasts a useful area of 4,000 m2, Palacio del Negralejo which is an old country mansion of 9,000
m2 seating 1,800 people (20 km away), Viñuelas Castle in a former XVII century game reserve (outside the city), Marqués de Gaviria palace, next to Puerta del Sol, where 'period' films are usually shot, Casa de América (formerly Palacio de Linares) in Cibeles, sumptuously decorated and furnished.
In the endless list of unique venues for organising events come: the
nineteenth century private club Madrid Casino in calle de Alcalá in the city centre, the Royal Botanical Gardens, adjacent to the Prado Museum, the former Conde Duque Barracks, near the palace of the Duke and Duchess of Alba, Círculo de Bellas Artes, declared to be a national monument, the IMAX Cinema Madrid, with its state-of-the-art-lines… | 
