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Culture

Antonio on the emergency phone
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The last toy hospital in Spain

Once upon a time in Madrid, in a neighbourhood named after the Pacific Ocean, there was a man named Antonio, who kept the child inside all of us alive. The Toy Hospital’s customers aren’t typically children. Antonio’s customers are adults – some are toy collectors or savvy antiques dealers, but many of them are nostalgic souls whose childhood is preserved in the peculiar object clutched in Antonio’s paint-stained hands.
Incredible views of Madrid's skyscrapers from the historic centre
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Madrid’s city of the dead

Over five million people are buried, stacked and stored as ashes in Madrid’s biggest graveyard. La Almudena’s size and layout make it feel like more of a city than a cemetery: it has a historic centre, named streets, and neighbourhoods with different characters. You’ll find upmarket areas with mansions for the rich and famous, detached houses, workers’ apartment blocks, the poor neglected parts of the city and, last but not least, an anarchist squat.
The cactus garden
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Madrid’s guerilla gardens

Guerilla gardens have been popping up all over Madrid since the recent crisis – people have been reclaiming disused land for use as public space by planting trees and vegetables.
A woman carrying her white plastic chair to the beach in Nazaré
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Latest obsession: the white plastic chair

The white plastic chair is a perfectly no-frills icon of the nostalgic Spanish lifestyle. Its low price, durability and simple design has made it the most popular chair in the world, costing as little as €3, and lasting a lifetime. It requires little to no cleaning, often being either left out in the rain, hosed down, or dipped in a swimming pool.