Calle Fuencarral

This street is a paradise for all those who like shopping. There are many shops along the street, clothes, shoes, whatever you want and of all styles and colors. The design shop windows are constantly in competition to be the coolest and even though they won't let you take a picture to prevent plagiarism, from the street no one can tell you you can't.

Also the colorful Fuencarral flea-market is worth visiting. It is not the best I have been to, for sure, but the friendly locals and stall-keepers make this flea-market somehow special...

This is the street where the most shops for young people are found, the so-called "fashion victims". You can find shops like Quicksilver, Energie, O'neil, Puma, G-Star, Levi's, Foot Locker. One of the most emblematic spots of the street is Fuencarral Market. This market has about twenty small shops with various types of clothes. There is also a small hairdresser's where I never dared to go and some small bars as well. One can say Fuencarral is one of the liveliest streets in Madrid, at any time of the day you see people walking there. Most of them are picture-worthy.

Fuencarral street is supposed to be the trendiest street in Madrid: you can find brands like Energie, Desigual, Miss Sixty and Co, with shop windows looking like magazine and with the highest prices. Half way up the street, there is also Fuencarral Market, with more original stuff but as expensive. I think this trendy aspect is starting to loose credibility...

To start with, there are chains you can also find in Gran Vía, Preciados, or any mall or shopping street, also in any city. So I guess it is not as exclusive as it seems. Also, a few years ago a shopkeeper association started speculating in the triangle of the Ballesta, Barco and Desengaño street (between Gran Vía and Fuencarral) in order to create a sort of (fake) Londoner Soho, taking the advantage of the reputation of the street.