The Royal Palace

The Royal Palace of Madrid was the next site to be explored. Spain currently has a monarchy - King Felipe VI. Spain has been through various versions of political constitution, including republic, dictatorship, monarchy. At the moment it is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. In that sense, Spain is like Australia (except our monarch is really the Queen of England). There are two strong views in Spain - one group say that the monarchy should be eradicated in favour of a republic, and the other support the king. One of our guides said that one day there will be another civil war to decide the matter. Obviously all the previous civil wars have not decided the matter satisfactorily, so I'm not sure what another civil war will achieve.

The Royal Palace is not the permanent residence of the King and his family, although it is used for special state occasions. The royal family live outside Madrid in a more peaceful setting. The Royal Palace is now used for state events and a whole wing of the palace is open to tourists. This wing is furnished as it was in the 18th century in the reign of Carlos 111 (Spanish for Charles 111). The sumptuous palace and its rooms are magnificent. The artwork and furnishings on display are much like the other great palaces in Europe. In fact, this royal palace is the largest palace in Europe by floor area. It has 3418 rooms. If you visited 10 rooms a day, it would take a year to visit all the rooms!

The throne room in which the king received ambassadors is furnished as it was. The visitors would wait in a smallish room, to get acquainted with their smallish status, and then enter the grand throne room where the king (and queen) would be seated, elevated, and surrounded by royal fabrics and statues of lions with their paws resting on carved spheres, representing the power of Spain over the earth.

There was one thing on display that particularly caught my eye. In one room there is a full quintet of Stradivarius string instruments of the highest quality. It is the only such set in the world. They are on display in glass cases. There are two violins, a viola and a cello, all decorated the same. Then there is an additional undecorated cello that is the finest instrument of them all and one of the best in the world. I wasn't expecting that. With all the crowns and gold sceptres around, it was these instruments that held the most value from my perspective. It was tempting to break the glass case right there and do some busking. The instruments are all set up ready to play, and apparently they do get played on special occasions. These instruments would be priceless, but I would reckon the set would be worth more than 150 million dollars if it went onto the market right now.

The Royal Palace is worth a visit for a number of reasons, not least of which is the collection of Stradivarius string instruments. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed in most of the palace, so my photos are only those I could surreptitiously take when the security personnel weren't watching and they will be low quality.Read more