Fodor's Expert Review Puerta del Sol

Crowded with locals, tourists, hawkers, and street performers, the Puerta del Sol is the nerve center of Madrid. It was renovated in 2023, and not all Madrileños are wild about its new, more austere look. A brass plaque in the sidewalk on the south side of the plaza marks Kilómetro Cero, the point from which all distances in Spain are measured.  Across the square are two important statues: El oso y el madroño (a bear climbing a strawberry tree, Madrid's official symbol) and an equestrian statue of King and Mayor Carlos III. Watch your belongings when passing through, as the area is often packed with pedestrians.