Living in Imperial, Madrid

Imperial is a barrio of Distrito Arganzuela, at the northwestern corner of the district. It is bounded by the Puente de Segovia and Calle de Segovia to the north, the Ronda de Segovia and Calle de Toledo to the east, and the river Manzanares to the west and south, and covers about 0.97 km2. Its neighbours are Palacio in Centro to the north, Puerta del Ángel and Los Cármenes across the river to the west, San Isidro in Carabanchel to the south and Las Acacias to the east.

What it is

A slope. This is the one thing to understand before renting here, because it decides how the barrio feels on foot. The western half is flat riverside ground; from there the land climbs east to the Ronda de Segovia, which at its northern end, on the corner of Calle de Segovia, stands about twenty metres above the river and rises another twenty by the time it reaches the Puerta de Toledo. Living at the bottom means the river is at your door and the centre is a climb; living at the top means the reverse. The layout still follows the tree-lined promenades laid out under Carlos III by the engineer José Salcedo: the Paseo Imperial, which gives the barrio its name, the Paseo de los Pontones, and the Paseo de los Melancólicos running along the lower ground. The buildings are a mixture of modest older housing and blocks from the second half of the twentieth century, with none of the ensanche grandeur of the northern districts.

Who lives here

Working and lower-middle-class Madrid, long established, with a growing share of younger renters who came for the river and the price. Rooms cost clearly less than across the Ronda de Segovia in Centro and less than in most of Arganzuela to the east, and the barrio has never been a tourist address, so the flatshare market is aimed at people who live here rather than at short stays. There is a substantial older population in the lower streets and a much younger one in the blocks nearer the Puerta de Toledo.

What it's like during the day

Quiet and slightly out of the way, with the river doing most of the work. Madrid Río, the park built along the Manzanares after the M-30 was put underground, runs the entire western and southern edge of the barrio, which gives Imperial more usable green space per resident than almost anything else this close to the centre: paths, playgrounds, running routes and the bridges across to Latina and Carabanchel. Inland the streets are residential and modest, with small shops rather than commercial avenues. The Puente de Segovia at the northern corner, built in 1584 by Juan de Herrera for Felipe II, and the Puente de Toledo at the southern corner are the two historic crossings, and both are pleasant to walk.

What it's like in the evening

Local and low-volume. There are neighbourhood bars along the Paseo Imperial, the Ronda de Segovia and around the Glorieta de las Pirámides, and the riverside fills with people walking and running until late in summer, but there is no nightlife here in any organised sense. The compensation is location: La Latina, one of the best-known eating and drinking areas in Madrid, is ten to fifteen minutes uphill from most of the barrio, and you can walk home from it.

Getting around

The weak point, and it needs stating plainly: there is no metro station inside the barrio. Line 5 runs along the eastern side with Puerta de Toledo at the northeastern corner, under the plaza where Calle de Toledo, the Ronda de Toledo, the Ronda de Segovia and the Gran Vía de San Francisco meet, and Pirámides just beyond the southeastern corner, where it also connects with Cercanías line C-10. Across the river, Marqués de Vadillo on line 5 sits at the far end of the Puente de Toledo and Puerta del Ángel on line 6 is a short walk over the bridges. In practice most addresses here are a five to twelve minute walk from a platform, and the walk from the low streets is uphill on the way home. Buses along the Ronda de Segovia and Paseo Imperial fill the gap. The Plaza Mayor is fifteen to twenty-five minutes on foot depending on where in the barrio you start.

Eating and shopping

Basic and cheap, which is either the point or the problem depending on what you want. There is no traditional market inside the barrio; the everyday shopping is supermarkets and small food shops along the Paseo Imperial, the Ronda de Segovia and Calle de Toledo, with more choice a few minutes east in Acacias or north in La Latina, where the Mercado de la Cebada is. Restaurants are neighbourhood places with menú del día prices, plus a handful of terraces facing the river. Anything ambitious means walking into Centro.

When NOT to pick it

If you cannot face the hill, or if you need a station at the door. The climb between the river and the Ronda de Segovia is real and it is the daily reality of living here; the metro is on the edges; and the barrio itself is plain, with modest architecture and a thin commercial life. It is also cut off on three sides, by the river and by the ring road, which makes it feel further out than the map suggests. It is the right choice if you want a big park on your doorstep, a walk into old Madrid and rents below the centre; the wrong one if you want flat streets, a station downstairs or a lively high street, and for those you should look east to Las Acacias and Palos de Moguer, which are flatter and better served, north across the Ronda de Segovia into Palacio if you want the old city itself, or across the river to Puerta del Ángel, which is cheaper again and has line 6 in the middle of it.