Madrid and New York: The Cities That Never Sleep
Madrid and New York have a lively and long-lasting friendship that has flourished in recent years as Spain and the United States become more connected than ever.
Though their official sister city partnership was established in 1982, their relationship began in the early 1900s with the arrival of Spanish sailors at the Port of New York. These sailors, together with Spanish immigrants, created Little Spain, in what is now Chelsea. Lined with Spanish restaurants and shops, the neighborhood was home to the first Spanish-speaking Catholic Church in the city –the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Calle Catorce (14th Street) saw the procession of the Feast of Saint James (Santiago) every year until the mid-90s.
Today, you can still find the Spanish Benevolent Society, or La Nacional on Calle Catorce. A home to Spaniards arriving in New York, the Society operates as a restaurant and cultural center. It was during his stay at the Society that modernist poet Federico García Lorca wrote sections of his famous anthology “Poet in New York.”
Hubs for High-Level Meetings
New York and Madrid frequently serve as the backdrop for important meetings between Spanish and U.S. leaders. President Obama visited Madrid in July 2016 to meet with King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, marking the first visit by a U.S. president to the Spanish capital in 15 years.
The rest of the former First Family also made its way to Madrid in 2016, as part of a tour to highlight the work of the Obama’s Let Girls Learn Initiative. Then First Lady, Michelle Obama, was given the royal treatment, much like her husband, meeting with Queen Letizia at the beautiful Zarzuela Palace.
Hosts of International Organizations
Both New York and Madrid host important international organizations. The United Nations is headquartered in New York, while one of its agencies, the World Tourism Office, has its headquarters in Madrid.
Centers of Innovation
Both cities are capitals of finance and business, hosting the national stock markets, La Bolsa Española in Madrid and The New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ in New York. Spain is also a leader in renewable energy, with companies such as Enerthink and Endesa housing their American branches in New York.
Military & Defense
Madrid and New York are both home to important centers of military and defense. The Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base in Madrid was a strategic European base for the U.S. Armed Forces during the Cold War, hosting U.S. Air Force personnel and equipment from the 1950s to the early 1990s. On the U.S. side, Fort Hamilton Army Base in Brooklyn dates back to the Civil War, and West Point Military Academy, just outside of NYC, is currently hosting five Spanish cadets on exchange.
Educational and Cultural Exchange
One of New York and Madrid’s strongest and most thriving relationships is in education and culture. The Spanish Ministry of Education’s Language and Culture Assistants program gives Americans the opportunity to teach English in Spanish schools. The program has thrived over the past 10 years, with nearly 1,500 Americans teaching English in Madrid this year (read the story of one of them here). On this side of the Atlantic, the Visiting Teachers in the U.S.A. and Canada program has allowed more than 6,000 Spanish teachers to teach in bilingual education programs across the country over the past 30 years, with New York serving as one of the locations for the pilot program in 1986.
Spain’s educational presence in New York continues with the United Nations International School, which hosts two teachers from Spain, as well as the Cervantes Institute and the Spain Arts and Culture program, where New Yorkers can take Spanish language and culture classes and attend Spanish cultural events.
Similar Cityscapes
Parks
One of the striking similarities between the two cities is the presence of large parks that dominate the cityscape. Buen Retiro Park in Madrid — a sprawling 350 acre park in the city center filled with sculptures, monuments, galleries, and lakes — regularly hosts a variety of events and is one of Madrid’s premier attractions. New York’s Central Park has a similar function, providing a large urban oasis for city dwellers.
Urban Innovation
Both cities have proved to be leaders in urban innovation, successfully reclaiming unused urban spaces and converting them into public parks. The Madrid Río Project transformed the Manzanares River and its surrounding banks into public parks and green spaces for city residents. Likewise, the High Line in New York was converted from an out-of-use railroad trestle to a public landscape.
Art, Sport, Fashion, Food & Nightlife
Art: Madrid and New York are worldwide capitals of art and have an intertwined history. Picasso’s Guernica, a world-famous anti-war piece from the Spanish Civil War era, spent its early years in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York before making its way to its permanent home at the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid.
Sport: Spaniards have made themselves known on the court, contributing to the New York Knicks’ roster every year since 2014. José Manuel Calderón, medalist on the Spanish National Basketball Team in Beijing, London, and Rio, played in New York in 2014–2016 before being traded to the Chicago Bulls and the LA Lakers. Following him was Willy Hernangómez, Calderón’s Olympic teammate from 2016, who played his rookie season in New York last year, while his brother, Juancho, has been playing in Denver.
On the tennis court, former world number one and 14-times Grand Slam champion, Rafael Nadal, has taken home the championship trophy at the U.S. Open in New York twice since 2010 and Americans, Bob and Mike Bryan, have won the grand prize in the doubles tournament at the Madrid Open five times since 2006.
Fashion: Spanish fashion designers have a constant and anticipated presence every year at New York Fashion Week (NYFW); from the notorious Balenciaga and shoe giant Manolo Blahnik, to Custo Dalmau and newcomer Alejandro Gómez Palomo (Palomo Spain) who Vogue called “the most amazing, beautiful, decadent, evil thing” in men’s fashion at 2017 NYFW.
New York’s Fifth Avenue is mirrored by Madrid’s Calle Serrano — both are the go-to shopping streets in these cities. Zara, the most successful Spanish store in the U.S., opened its first American store in New York in 1989 and has since expanded to eight locations throughout Manhattan.
Food & Wine: Spanish food and wine from all regions of the country can be found in New York. For more typical Spanish cuisine, Boquería has four locations throughout the city. If you’re in the mood for something new, try Donostia or Txikito, serving food from Spain’s Basque region. José Andrés, the Spanish chef famous for pioneering the introduction of tapas and Spanish cuisine in Washington D.C., is expected to expand to NYC, opening another location of The Bazaar.
Visiting Madrid
For more information about visiting the Spanish capital, click here.
Other Spanish Sister Cities in the U.S.
- Albuquerque, Extremadura— Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Alcalá de Henares, Community of Madrid — San Diego, California
- Aledo, Murcia — Aledo, Illinois
- Almonte, Andalucía — Miami Beach, Florida
- Almuñécar, Andalucía — Hendersonville, North Carolina
- Aranda de Duero, Castilla y León — Roseburg, Oregon
- Avilés, Asturias — Saint Augustine, Florida
- Barcarrota, Extremadura — Bradenton, Florida
- Barcelona, Cataluña — Boston, Massachusetts
- Bilbao, Basque Country — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Cabildo de Tenerife, Canary Islands — Miami Dade County, Florida
- Calatayud, Aragón — Glen Ellyn, Illinois
- Cantabria — Laredo, Texas
- Ciudadella de Menorca, Balearic Islands— Saint Augustine, Florida
- Durango, Basque Country — Durango, California
- El Puerto de Santa María, Andalucía — Coral Gables, Florida
- Figueres, Cataluña — Saint Petersburg, Florida
- Granada, Andalucía — Coral Gables, Florida
- Huelva, Andalucía — Houston, Texas
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands — San Antonio, Texas
- Macharaviaya, Andalucía — Pensacola, Florida
- Mataró, Cataluña — Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Oviedo, Asturias — Tampa, Florida
- Palos, Andalucía— Palos Hills, Illinois
- Pamplona, Navarra — Oak Park, Illinois
- Port de la Selva, Cataluña — Nashville, Tennessee
- San Sebastián, Basque Country — Reno, Nevada
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands — San Antonio, Texas
- Santa Fe, Andalucía— Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Segovia, Castilla y León — Tuscon, Arizona
- Sevilla, Andalucía — Kansas City, Missouri & Columbus, Ohio
- Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha — Toledo, Ohio & Corpus Christi, Texas
- Tres Cantos, Community of Madrid — Columbia, Maryland
- Valladolid, Castilla y León — Orlando, Florida
- Vitoria, Basque Country — Anaheim, California
This story is part of the #SisterCitySunday series on Medium. Each Sunday from October 2, 2016 to May 7, 2017, new stories from the 28 European Union Member States will be published. Stories will also be shared on social media using #SisterCitySunday.
To join the conversation on social media, make sure to use #SisterCitySunday and tag @EUintheUS and @SisterCitiesInt on Twitter and Instagram, and EUintheUS and SisterCitiesInternational on Facebook. Let us know about your experiences in twinned cities and share your partnership stories with us!
