DOSSIER - Madrid: winning back business

Madrid is in with the times. The Spanish capital, the country's economic powerhouse, is growing in confidence. At every level. It is perfecting its infrastructure, renovating its faded buildings, rehabilitating entire districts, planting thousands of trees, creating a veritable green lung like Madrid Río - built on the old ring road, now underground - and inventing daring, highly contemporary architecture. Madrid launched itself onto the international scene of major metropolises with the opening of its new airport terminal in 2006, propelling the Barajas hub to fourth place in Europe. As the city becomes increasingly trendy, the hotel industry has moved upmarket, with a steady stream of four- and five-star hotels. And few capitals can boast six Unesco-listed sites within an hour's train journey. Madrid can. It has Segovia, El Escorial and Toledo. The city of three cultures and El Greco. Discover it without delay. Text Cécile Balavoine - Photos Ludovic Maisant