The Monocle Minute

Spain’s economy is growing five times faster than the eurozone average and Madrid is seizing the moment (writes Liam Aldous). Tourism has been a cornerstone of this boom: the country welcomed 94 million international visitors in 2024 – a 10 per cent rise from the previous year. Visitor numbers in the capital are also up and hotels that have enjoyed well-timed upgrades are poised to welcome a cash-rich clientele. Since 2022 the Rosewood Villa Magna and Mandarin Oriental Ritz have had makeovers, while new openings – such as The Madrid Edition, Four Seasons and Hotel Brach – mean that Madrid can claim to have the best beds in Europe.

Hotel openings often share the freneticism of a major film production. This month, following a €90m refurbishment, it was the turn of Madrid’s iconic Palace Hotel to roll out the red carpet. More impressively, the hotel remained operational throughout its entire 22-month upgrade, a feat that one lobby-touring local likened to “traversing a tightrope inside a high-occupancy chrysalis.”

The Palace is no mere inn, though; it’s the hotel in Madrid. The 470-key establishment, which includes 51 suites, has been running since 1912 – a feat of longevity interrupted only by its turn as a military hospital during the Spanish Civil War. Its sparkling new look honours the past but prepares for the future, mirroring a wider trend that is energising the city. Sitting in the heart of both Spanish political power (the lower house of the country’s parliament is right across the road) and cultural clout (neighbours include the Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums), the action and anecdotes have always flowed effortlessly through its doors. The drawing-room styled bar once counted a trio of young, cash-strapped artists named Pablo Picasso, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí among its guests. The latter even left an imprudently whimsical scrawl on one of the bedroom walls, promptly (and sadly) wiped clean by housekeeping.

“Madrileños see The Palace as their own; many have attended weddings or festivities here,” says Miguel Díaz, who oversaw the restoration as chief architect at Ruiz-Larrea Arquitectura. With this revival, the latest and arguably largest gem has been reappointed to Madrid’s hotel crown – and an era of adjustment comes full circle. Now the capital must capitalise on this momentum and, unlike some other Spanish cities, embrace its visitors. The crowds pouring through the doors suggest that The Palace is staying true to its original open-door policy. But curious guests are kindly asked to refrain from recklessly scribbling on the newly polished surfaces – no matter who you are. Bienvenido a Madrid

Liam Aldous is Monocle’s Madrid correspondent. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

When Brazilians hear the late singer Gal Costa’s refrain “Brazil, show your face”, most will immediately picture the opening sequence of iconic 1988 soap opera Vale Tudo (writes Fernando Augusto Pacheco). This daring soap, still considered a masterpiece of Brazilian teledramaturgia, questioned the value of honesty in a country awash with corruption. Today, Vale Tudo returns to Brazilian screens today as a central pillar in broadcaster Globo’s 60th anniversary. But there’s apprehension in the air: can the new cast reach the same heights? Can its iconic characters, such as arch-villain Odete Roitman, still capture the imaginations of millions?

For Globo, there is good reason to be worried: its latest 21.00 soap, Mania de Você, was expected to be a hit but ended up being the lowest-rated telenovela in the slot’s history. Tonight’s showing of the new Vale Tudo, with a cast that includes Taís Araújo (profiled in Monocle Issue 144) and Débora Bloch, the latter playing the iconic Roitman, will certainly draw a captive audience. In the 1980s the final episodes of the soap’s original run were watched in 81 per cent of Brazilian households. Though the TV industry is changing as streaming services distract audiences with new shows and formats, Brazilians are still obsessed with soap operas. This evening’s entertainment will be a momentous chapter in the nation’s story.

The Place de La Concorde should be Paris’s largest public square (writes Simon Bouvier). In reality, though, it is little more than a cobbled carousel of congestion. That is all due to change: after a year-long selection process led by city hall, architect and urbanist Pierre Prost has been tasked with reinventing the landmark, turning almost three hectares of stone and concrete into green space and flower gardens.

“From the French Revolution to the 2024 Olympics, this square has never stopped evolving,” says Prost. “The Place de la Concorde demands excellence.” The project is emblematic of mayor Anne Hidalgo’s stated aims to make Paris greener and more pedestrian-friendly. While cyclists and aesthetes will be sad to see Hidalgo leave office next year, SUV drivers from outside the périphérique ring-road are less enamoured with her plans. Nevertheless this redesign, if successful, will be part of her enduring legacy.

As the seasons shift in the northern hemisphere and longer days provide ample time for reading outside, Chris Power picks a memoir, short-story collection and an innovative series that are all worth picking up this spring.

‘Children of Radium’
Joe Dunthorne
In this memoir, poet and novelist Joe Dunthorne investigates the life of his great-grandfather Siegfried, a Jewish scientist who worked in Germany between the wars developing, among other substances, radioactive toothpaste and poison gas. Siegfried wrote a near 2,000-page memoir, which Dunthorne’s father called “a bit of a slog”. By contrast, Children of Radium is anything but: a funny and moving family history that troubles even as it entertains.
‘Children of Radium’ is published on Thursday

‘The Accidentals’
Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Rosalind Harvey
Nettel, one of Mexico’s most well-regarded authors, returns with a collection exploring the ways in which ordinary lives can turn upside down. Sometimes these changes, such as the one described in “The Pink Door”, are brought about by magic. Other stories, such as the brilliantly menacing “Playing with Fire”, suspend us in a space somewhere between realism and horror-tinged fantasy.
‘The Accidentals’ is published on 10 April

‘On the Calculation of Volume’
Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J Haveland
The first two books of Danish writer Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume are published simultaneously. They follow Tara, a bookseller, as she lives repeatedly through the same November day. If the conceit isn’t original, the beauty and philosophical heft that Balle brings to it is.
‘On the Calculation of Volume’ Books I & II are published on 10 April

The ritual of hammam has played an important role in the region for millennia. Visiting Turkish baths for the first time can be intimidating, so let Monocle be your guide. Join us as we glide from the hot room to the cold room via a foam massage, and plunge into this living part of Turkish history.