El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-08-07

/ ~
| kVf traveller ever goes to Spain by
aeroplane and flies to Madrid
direct, he Will find himself in a. fine,
modern city, as unlike the Spain of
which he has always read and heard
as Chicago is unlike Charleston, S. C..
Madrid fs the most progressive the
| most splendid, the most massfvely
| built. the most "hustling," the least
Spanish. OF all of the cities between
the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean
! Spain is country in which most per-
sons take their time. Madrid is a city
| in which 1t Is necessary to "step live
ly' in the streets to keep from being
| stepped upon. and in which it is neces-
sary to look sharp" and jump quickly
| to keep from being run over by cabs
| and automobiles.
Busy, Busting Crowds.
| The rush and scurry of the Puerta
del Sol-the central square of the
Spanish capitals hardly less than
that Of the Place de la Concorde in
! Paris Longacre Square in New York.
or Piccadilly circus In London. There
are not so many heavy trucks as there
] are In Paris, and neither Paris Lon
| don, New York nor Chicago boasts the
| quality Of horseflesh seen in Madrid
| Coming up from Seville, Granada or
| Cordova to Madrid the traveller finds
| himself In another world The art OF
old Spain is hidden in the Prado gall
lery, building squat and bare of
| adornment and as ugly as an American
factory, and along A1cala street, be-
! tween the Puerta del Sol and the
| Prado are magnificent Business blocks
/ Of white stone distinctly up to date,
| as massive as those Of Paris and as
| clean as those Of Washington The
| Puerta del Sol was so named for an
| old gateway that commanded a view
| of the rising sun in the direction OF
/ the Guadarrrama mountains. Nowadays
! the rising sun climbs over smart shops
and steamheated( hotels which are sur
| prising discoveries to persons who
| have been sojourning in Seville and
| other Andalusian cities
Granite Paving.
/ The Prado. which is at the other
| end Of Alcala street from the Puerta
| del Sol as the White House is at the
I! other end OF Pennsylvania avenue from
the capitol in Washington, was the
"pratum" or meadow Of San Geronimo.
often sung by the famous Spanish
! poet, Lope de Vega. 1t is now paved
| with granite and thanked with huge
! buildings such as the Bank Of Spain,
and is no more suggestive of the sig
| nificance Of it's name than is the
Bowery OF New York But the Prado
is no longer the fashionable promenade
OF Madrid Beyond ii extend new
"paseos" with rows Of palaces upon
each side of them. The Paseo de Re
coletos. the most fashionable and mod
ern of these is almost as wide as the
Champs Elysees, the banner thorough
fare of Paris. ornamented by equally
handsome trees and notable for bet
ter average OF handsome houses. al
though 1t does not. OF course, extend
nearly so far as the Paris boulevard
FL Retro. Madrids principal park. is
a we'll forested pleasure ground. skirt
ed by Alcala street. containing three
lakes Of considerable size and several
minor ones FL Retro is 353 acres in
extent. It dates back to the time of
Philip IL, who here built country
house for his English queen in the
form of Norman castle.
With its wide. we'll paved streets.
It's smart shops. its many cafes at
which the bright lights burn till
morning. Madrid presents the aspect
of a distinctly modern capital. and re-
fleets little of the life of old Spain.
And in truth Madrid is capital that
has historical connection with a new
era in the history of the country Ii
represents. and a geographical reason
for existence that marks the passing
OF that old Spain which was composed
Of numerous small Kingdoms, and the
consolidation OF the peninsula into e
great country
Madrid Is New
In comparison with some Of the old
cities in Spain. Madrid is as new as
It's buildings would Indicate Many of
the cities in Spain were towns OF the
1berians before the coming of the
Ayrans. and walled cities during the
domination of the Romans. Madrid.
the largest Of them all containing
more than a half million inhabitants,
was born Of political necessity, and to
that fact 1t owes its peculiarly unfor-
nate location In the midst of a steppe,
at an elevation of more than 1000 feet
above the sea. where the climate has
been described as being mine months
Of winter and three months of hell
Madrid was chosen as the capital of
The United Kingdom of Las Espanas"
when the Kingdoms were consolidated
Neither Moorish Cordova Castilian
Burgos. Aragonese Saragossa nor visi-
gothic Toledo would do lest inferno
cine strife should result II is observ-
able upon the map that Madrid Is
placed almost exactly in the center Of
Spain. 1t was because of this situa-
ton that Philip II, chose II as the
capital. No less picturesque or prac-
teal site for capital could. have been
CHOSEN IN the whole peninsula. With
out a river that is more than a creek;
without a seaport: without the charm
OF fine scenery; without the compan-
sations Of good climate; without op-
portunities for large commerce or pros
poets for large industrial development,
Madrid was chosen as the strategically
eligible center of government for an
empire composed Of petty Kingdoms
that needed to be welded into a whole
The Palace Site.
About the only really handsome site |
in Madrid IS that occupied by the |
royal palace upon a hill overlooking |
the Manzanares river and commanding |
a fine view of the valleys beyond and !
Of the Guadarrama mountains in the |
distance. The royal palace is a SIS |
100000 granite pile in which the king |
maintains the traditional dignity of the !
Spanish court at an enormous expense, |
desDite the poverty OF his country.
While Madrid may be compared with |
London and Paris in some respects. IL |
is totally different in others. There |
Is none of the extreme poverty of Lon |
don in the slums and none of the ar |
tificiality and dissipation of Paris or |