The Fantastic Playgrounds of Madrid: Plaza de Olavide

Maybe my favorite plaza in all of Madrid is Plaza de Olavide. It's a giant circular plaza in the Chamberí neighborhood a short walk from Bilbao Metro or Quevedo metro stops. The plaza is famous for the terrace cafes that form a ring around the outer edge of the plaza. These cafes are famous for their tortilla and ensalada mixta combo--basically you can order a giant tortilla and ensalada mixta (salad with iceberg lettuce, green olives, tomatoes, onions, shredded carrots, and hardboiled eggs that you toss with olive oil and vinegar and salt dressing) for around 14 euros* and it's enough food to feed like 2-4 people for lunch or dinner (note: lunch doesn't start until like 1:30 pm at the earliest and the tortilla tends to be runny, just in case that's not your thing.)

Plaza de Olavide is a great place to take your kids with two playgrounds. One playground has more little kid slide and play house structures, the other side has a playground for bigger kids with those rope climbing structures and a little rock wall boulder thing. There is a fountain in the middle, benches for sitting, an area for dogs to run around freely, and an old person playground (another popular element of Spanish park design, these are exercise equipment for the elderly like benches with pedals and things to help people work on grip.)

All in all a really nice space. Plaza de Olavide recently underwent a major renovation. Fortunately, the city kept the shade trees although they cut down a lot of the bigger trees so there's less shade than there used to be. womp womp. but the little trees will grow and in 10 years it will be nicer.

*prices have probably gone up since the last time I had the tortilla special in Olavide, but it's still reasonable for the massive amount of food they serve you

The central fountain of Plaza de Olavide. Note the shade "toldos" over the playground in the distance