So the boys and I decided to pick a warm destination to visit for a week away during the build up to spring. Spain was an obvious choice for great weather and good community, so we booked flights to Madrid and off we went – not quite knowing what to expect!
I slept the whole way through the flight and arrived in Madrid very casually at 12pm. The usual plan of action is water, food, then beach. Being in a city, we had to change this up a bit. We got cash out (€50) and headed to Sol on the metro, as a local had previously told us this was the place to go. Wandering through Sol, someone handed us a voucher for a €1 taco and pint. Of course we were sold, so sat outside Taco Bell devouring our feast and pondering where to go next. Luckily that decision was made for us. A random dude from across the street starts walking towards us, as he got closer he pointed, smiled and said ‘Are you Storror?’. He’d watched our videos for years and offered to house us in his limited English.
He showed us some local spots that day, we chilled, grabbed some local food later on and had a decent nights sleep on his living room floor! We woke up on the second day, not entirely sure what the rest of the week would behold. We started sending some messages, and with the help of Juan’s translation, got in touch with some of the local guys, with dozens of spots mentioned.
Our first introduction to the spots in Madrid was solid. This first spot was pretty central, it had some nice rails, wall pops, a cool play park – I’d seen the spot before in Will’s video. The locals were killing it, there is some serious unknown spanish talent. This spot is a public area, so we weren’t hassled by anyone. We shot some fun runs and moved on another spot.
Plaza De Santo Domingo
This I definitely recognised, quite famous for it’s striking appearance. Essentially it’s a set of over engineered stairs, not too far from the previous spot but very different opportunities. You’ve got great plyo and stride missions, but also cat pass and precisions too. After these two, we were pretty tired so grabbed some food and found a bar to watch the Madrid derby.
Palacio
For the third day we woke up in a new house, and were taken to ‘Piramides’ again quite central. Met up with the locals again. This spot was quite different, was over a much wider space but was packed full of fun stuff! I can see why the spanish are so good at catpasses, there are tonnes of them here! Also running jumps galore, there’s grass here too if you enjoy experimenting with a flip or two.
The next spot was the wooden park, which is amazing. Basically a load of wooden logs scattered everywhere. Not quite sure who it was designed to be used by, but it’s once again, perfect for Parkour. Apparently, one of the locals Cosmin trained here exclusively for his first four years, and it really shows when you watch him train. This is a foot placement paradise. It’s difficult to concentrate on what you’re jumping to/from because there are so many logs!
Acacias
The last spot of the day, was again incredible, another stairway with far too many rails, twists, turns and unnecessary walls for the designer to have not had Parkour in mind. Endless precisions, plyos, catpasses at this spot. There’s also a little sandy park behind with a lache and a good flip ledge.
Embajadores
Day four we headed over to Azca, another incredible area with loads of spots. It’s kind of the canary wharf of madrid, yet security didn’t bat an eyelid! There’s rails spots, the famous stair pit which loads of people front down, and a great wall spot round the corner. All the spots are surrounding a mall, so it’s easy to go and get some food and water and stay here all day!
The last few days we spent adventuring, and you may have heard the story of sleeping in the ex dictators summer house? Even when we’d thought we had seen all that Madrid had to offer, the locals still managed to squeeze in a few last spots (including tres cantos) which was the best spot I have been to in recent times. It’s so good, at first glance I presumed it was a Parkour park. It’s better than most Parkour parks I’ve visited, the walls are lovely, gaps are challenging but not impossible, and there are opportunities here for all kinds of movement.
Madrid is incredible, I don’t know why, but the way they design public spaces is so over the top it provides great opportunity for Parkour. Apparently we didn’t even see them all the best spots in Madrid so will definitely be back over summer to carry on exploring this amazing city. If you’re looking for somewhere to improve your training for cheap, Madrid is the place.
