Your hotel in Madrid close to Puerta del Sol

Hostal Bianco is your best choice,there is no other hotel in Puerta del Sol with better value for money.

Puerta del Sol is the heart of Madrid’s historic center, the official center point of Spain, and it’s, above all, a crossroad, people here are forever heading somewhere else on foot, by metro ( three lines cross here) or by bus ( many lines starts and terminates nearby). It’s hard to believe now that in Madrid’s earliest days Puerta del Sol (Gate of the sun) was the eastern gate of the city adorned with an image of the sun, hence the square’s name.

The square is actually almost semi-circular in shape and owes its current form in part to the king Carlos III, called The Best Major of Madrid, due to the improvements he ordered to make in the city, his equestrian statue stands in the middle of the square. At the East side is placed another statue with a bear nuzzling a strawberry tree “ El Oso y el madroño”, which is the official symbol of the city.

The main building on the square houses the regional government of the Comunidad de Madrid. The Casa de Correos, as it is called, was built as the city’s main post office in 1768. The clock was added in 1856 and on New Year’s Eve, people overflow the square to wait impatiently for the clock to strike midnight, and at each gong swallow a grape – not as easy as it sounds! On the footpath outside the Casa de Correos is a plaque marking Spain’s Kilometre Zero, the point from which Spain’s network of roads is measured.

This mostly car-free square is constantly bustling with people. Several crowded streets radiate from Puerta del Sol and lead to important sights as Plaza Mayor, Opera House or Plaza Cibeles. The pedestrianised area between Puerta del Sol and the Gran Vía, formed by Calle Preciados and adjoining streets, is packed with mainstream clothes and shoe shops, and this is where the original branch of El Corte Inglés department store is situated.Many locals consider it one of the city’s best shopping areas.