"I like everything about Madrid except the traffic," said the VTC driver, also a preacher and former TV presenter

• Tourism From 170 to 120 euros per night;

  the hotels of Madrid 'revive' at Easter

It's a holiday on the calendar.

The only soundtrack of the underground journey from Cuatro Caminos to Atocha has an English voice.

Tourism returns to normal.

Not a word in Spanish is heard.

.

The street is packed with visitors, but the Metro is not at all full.

For this reason, a lady, with her head held high and on her seat, falls asleep.

Meanwhile, a man to her left looks for a place with three beers in hand.

"I'm not much of a tourist; they are

."

Valentín, also in the Metro, refers to his parents.

Maybe it's best to start with beer.

This is, for many, the most repeated baptism in Madrid these days, the way to welcome the heat on the terraces.

The sidewalk of

looks like another city, another nation, another place.

There are several people in line and no free table.

Among those waiting to hunt down a table are

.

It is the second time for the little ones and one of many for the older ones.

They will walk through El Retiro immediately after tasting the squid sandwich.

The El Brillante bar is just your toll.

Although for some it is directly season.

Carmen is from Madrid and celebrated Holy Thursday sitting at the bar, after staying without enjoying

the Thyssen Museum, "because there were no tickets left."

"I'm a tourist".

"Places with mass tourism are degraded but I also go abroad and, when I leave Madrid, I hope they treat me well. I don't know, in some way, I am leaving something to the people of that country."

Carmen believes that those who come are no longer looking for culture, but street

.

"It never ceases to amaze me," he continues, with the El Brillante napkin still between his fingers, "what has changed tourism in Madrid in recent years. Before, those who came did so with the museum or theater ticket purchased ".

And she adds surprised: "Now they just walk around."

Carmen is an eternal guest of the city, but if she were a tourist she would stay and live in the architectural footprint of

.

"Not much is known, have you noticed the Maudes Palace? It's wonderful," she says proudly.

"For the tapas, the jokes and the Madrid life"

.

is a

and believes that whoever interferes with this species, incidentally, seeks to "live this".

"What I like least about Madrid is the traffic, the tourists make people happy, it's fun to see people after so much".

He refers to the pandemic.

"They were always there. Tourists for the people of Madrid were like pivots that you had to avoid to avoid crashing," says Sergio.

At 3:44 p.m., with the return to life of the processions and festivities, the car that runs on Line 1, from Estación del Arte to Gran Vía, is full.

"The truth is, it does weigh when I've climbed the stairs."

A boy says it to a girl after carrying the suitcase.

"See? Don't go macho," she replies.

Some leave the car in Tirso de Molina.

But

"Angel, shall we go?"

"Wait, I want to see them jump," he replies excitedly.

A group of dancers choose the heart of the city to dance in the street and make some money.

Little by little they are surrounded by more and more people, including Ángel and Nuria.

.

José Carlos, however, travels "for the people."

He arrived

.

Despite the fact that his journey, for a few months, is always the same.

He is a driver of Bolt -a VTC vehicle- and was born in Alicante.

"This is chaos," he says, looking at the tourists.

-Are those who are coming or those who are already there more annoying? -Actually, I like everything about Madrid except the traffic.

José responds by looking at the pedestrians crossing

.

As a good driver, he boasts of having a thousand and one lives behind him.

He was an unconditional supporter of the bakalao route, today he is a preacher and collaborates on American television... But that is another story.

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• Thyssen Museum