In the capital city of Madrid, Spain

 “The sun also sets in Madrid.”

-- Ernest Hemingway
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(in the capital and most populous municipality of Spain.) With almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of some 7 million, it is the second-largest city in the EU. Translated to "Gate of the Sun," Puerta del Sol is Madrid’s busy central public square and main crossroads. A clock sits atop the plaza’s main building, the old Casa de Correos -– now the headquarters of the Madrid government. Every New Year’s Eve, thousands of revelers gather here to eat the traditional 12 grapes with each chime of the clock at midnight. All roads quite literally lead to Sol, as it is the symbolic center of Spain, marked by the Kilometer Zero plaque at the doorstep of the Casa de Correos. At the plaza’s center is the equestrian statue of King Charles III, though his popularity is overshadowed by a more famous sculpture on the east side of the square – El Oso y el Madroño (the Bear and the Strawberry Tree) that appears on Madrid’s coat of arms.
+(Join locals after work any day of the week, hopping from one tapas bar to the next to sample a selection of Iberian hams, cheese and speciality dishes.)

+ "Hemingway did not drink here" is a joke on signs in some Madrid establishments. It’s no secret that the American literary giant and Madrid’s adopted scribe, fondly called Don Ernesto, loved to drink, eat, write, and watch bullfights while covering the civil war as a foreign correspondent.
Fans of Hemingway can retrace his footsteps to some of his haunts that still exist today, including Restaurante Botín, the world’s oldest restaurant. Hemingway also used to frequent La Venencia, a sherry bar that is virtually frozen in time. The statue of the Bear and the Strawberry Tree standing on one side of Puerta del Sol is still considered a symbol of Madrid. The city is full of great monuments, like the royal palace, the Plaza Mayor or the museum Del Prado, Reina Sofia, or Thyssen has some of the most fantastic collections of famous Spanish painters.

+ A year after the start of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Hemingway left for Spain to cover the conflict for the American Newspaper Alliance. During his coverage of the war, he traveled with a fellow reporter named Martha Gellhorn. The two had first met in Key West and became close during their time in Spain. Reporting on the war and traveling through Spain during such a time of upheaval formed the basis of inspiration for Hemingway’s work, "For Whom the Bell Tolls," as well as his play, "The Fifth Column."

+ During his earlier years living in Paris, Hemingway spent time in Pamplona watching bullfights. After leaving Paris, Hemingway returned in the 1930s to do research for his manifesto on the subject, "Death in the Afternoon." Hemingway visited Spain often and attended bullfights throughout his life. (His last trip to the country in 1959 to watch the contests between two famous matadors lead to the Life magazine story "The Dangerous Summer."