IETF 123 - Madrid, Spain, July 19 - 25, 2025
Meeting Venue
The IETF 123 Meeting Venue is the Meliá Castilla Hotel https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/spain/madrid/melia-castilla/index.htm.
The Meliá Castilla is very well located next to the Paseo de la Castellana, one of the key arteries of Madrid, walking distance to the Bernabéu Real Madrid football stadium and right in the middle of the culinary Golden Mile of Madrid.
It offers easy access to the airport, train stations, exhibition centers, museums and main touristic attractions.
If you're coming to the IETF with your family, the hotel offers special services for your kids and even allow small dogs (up to 8 Kg.).
Meliá Hotels is one of the top-10 worldwide hotel chains, offering their own Loyalty Program "Meliá Rewards" https://www.melia.com/en/meliarewards/elprograma/home.htm.
VISA Information
See your IETF registration page to obtain a Letter of Invitation.
Airport Information
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) is operated by AENA, being the bigger one in Spain, 2nd in Europe, and 14th in the world. It has 4 main terminals, which distribute the flights among different airline alliances.
The bigger and most modern terminal, the T4, concentrates all the flights from the Oneworld alliance, and has a Satellite terminal (T4S), for all the non-Schengen flights.
The official AENA website with all the airport information is http://www.aena.es/en/madrid-barajas-airport/index.html.
AENA is the national operator for Spanish and many international airports. You can register for free in their Club https://clubcliente.aena.es/AenaClub/en/ to obtain free services and discounts within the airports network.
An alternative non-official website is available at https://www.aeropuertomadrid-barajas.com/eng/.
IBERIA Airlines
Iberia Airlines is the preferred airline for IETF 123, offering discount on flights to Madrid.
Complete information is available at https://www.ietf.org/meeting/123/featured-airline/.
Airport and Madrid Transportation
Depending on what terminal you're landing, there are several transport options to reach the venue
There are different bus lines, metro and train. Google Maps offers very good information of all the choices.
Of course, you can take a taxi (35 Euros, fix price), Uber or Cabify. In those cases, it should not take more than 15 minutes.
If you prefer public transport, Cuzco and Plaza de Castilla metro stations are at 5 and 10 minutes walking distance to the hotel, respectively.
The Public Transport Consortium web site offers all the relevant information https://www.crtm.es/?lang=en.
It offers maps and real-time apps/alerts at https://www.crtm.es/muevete-por-madrid.aspx?lang=en.
You can get the information of different tickets and fares at https://www.crtm.es/billetes-y-tarifas.aspx?lang=en.
There is a public bike services BiciMAD https://www.bicimad.com/.
Language
The official language of Spain is Spanish, together with other autonomic languages in some specific regions:
- Catalonian (in Catalonia and Balearic Islands)
- Aranés (in Arán Valley)
- Valencian (in Valencia)
- Galician (Galicia)
- Basque (Basque Country and Navarra)
Currency and Credit/Debit? Cards
The currency in Spain is the Euro. The older currency (Peseta) is only accepted for exchange in the National Bank and their offices and only until 31/12/2020 https://www.bde.es/bde/en/.
Major Credit and Debit cards, such as VISA and MasterCard? are usually accepted everywhere. American Express is often also accepted, but not in smaller shops.
VAT Refund
Most of the airports in Spain have offices and electronic machines for requesting tax refunds for non-EU residents.
AENA, the National Airports Authority, offers the relevant information, in the case of the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport, the information is located here https://www.aena.es/en/adolfo-suarez-madrid-barajas/airport-services/categories-and-terminals/vat-refund.html.
Self-tour - Not to miss while in Madrid
Organize your own walking tour. A very nice one could cover:
- Almudena Cathedral
- Major Square
- Orient Square
- Royal Palace
- Spain Square
- Sun Square
- Temple of Debod
Plenty of food options in almost every corner of those locations.
If you have spare time, and you want to visit nice places around Madrid, don't miss:
- San Lorenzo de El Escorial https://www.patrimonionacional.es/en/visita/royal-site-san-lorenzo-de-el-escorial.
- Segovia https://turismodesegovia.com/en.
- Royal Palace of La Granja of San Ildefonso https://tickets.patrimonionacional.es/en/tickets/palacio-granja-san-ildefonso.
- Toledo https://turismo.toledo.es/.
- Ávila https://www.avilaturismo.com/en/home/.
- Royal Palace of Aranjuez https://www.patrimonionacional.es/en/visita/royal-palace-aranjuez.
Museums
Madrid offers an spectacular set of museums, being the more famous ones "El Prado", "Reina Sofía" and the "Thyssen Bornemisza", which coincidentally are in walking distance one to each other. However you will need several days to pay a complete visit to them!
The Madrid official tourism guide, offers a specific web page for listing all them https://www.esmadrid.com/listado-museos-madrid-pdf.
Getting Around (to and from the Meeting Venue)
Suggested Smart Phone Apps:
Exercise
Running Trails:
Hiking:
Events
ATMs & Money Conversion
Self-Service Laundry
Electrical Plug / Outlet
Electronics
Cellphones / Data
Miscellaneous Information
Supermarkets
There are several types of supermarkets and convenience stores at walking distance of the venue. You can find them using Google Maps.
- Cheaper options: Alcampo, Carrefour, Día, Mercadona.
- More expensive, probably if you want to bring some Spanish food back home: Sanchez Romero.
Wine
Spanish Ham
Spanish Olive Oil
Restaurants at the Meliá Hotel
The Meliá offers an impressive international breakfast buffet "Cervantes" https://www.melia.com/es/hoteles/espana/madrid/melia-castilla/restaurantes/desayunador-cervantes.
If you want to enjoy Spanish rice dishes, you should make sure to visit L'Albufera https://www.melia.com/es/hoteles/espana/madrid/melia-castilla/restaurantes/lalbufera.
"El Pelícano" offers international cuisine choices, while "Distrito 798" offers a sushi bar and two dining rooms offering carefully prepared and surprising cuisine, a fusion of Chifa, Nikkei and Mediterranean styles https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/spain/madrid/melia-castilla/restaurants.htm.
Dining outside the venue
- Amazónico https://www.amazonicorestaurant.com/madrid-es/. Not precisely cheap but definitely worth the experience.
- Angelita https://madrid-angelita.es/es/.
- Ocafú http://www.ocafu.com/. Very reasonable price, Galician typical food.
- Taberna La Bola https://www.minube.net/place/taberna-la-bola--a23155. The best cocido in Madrid.
- AltoBardero? https://bardero.es/altobardero/english/.
- GranVia18 https://www.granvia18restaurante.com/.
Bars and Tapas
- La Casa del Abuelo https://lacasadelabuelo.es/.
- Marcano http://restaurantemarcano.com/.
- Mercado de la Reina https://mercadodelareina.es/en/.
- Mercado de San Miguel https://mercadodesanmiguel.es/.
- Platea Madrid https://www.plateamadrid.com/.
- StreetXO https://streetxo.com/madrid/en.
You can also choose popular city areas, plenty of food options, such as:
- Cava Alta
- Cava Baja
- Plaza de Santa Ana
Having a Drink after dinner
- Cibeles Palace https://palaciodecibeles.com/terraza-cibeles/.
- Circulo de Bellas Artes https://www.circulobellasartes.com/azotea/.
- Ginkgo Restaurant & Sky Bar https://www.plazaespana-hotel.com/en/sky-bar-rooftop-madrid/.
- Rooftop bar of Hotel NH Collection Casa Suecia, where you can enjoy fantastic views of the entire city. http://casasuecia.es/en/terrace/
- Sky Bar and 360º Terrace https://www.riu.com/en/hotel/spain/madrid/hotel-riu-plaza-espana/#skybar.
- GranVia18 Rooftop https://www.granvia18restaurante.com/cocteleria-carta.
Espresso, Coffee, and Tea
For Gourmets
Madrid offers an incredible set of choices for gourmets, with some of the best Michelin Star Restaurants. Some of them are even at walking distance from the venue. Be aware that very advance reservation may be required!
- BIBO https://www.grupodanigarcia.com/en/booking/bibo-madrid/. Previous reservation required even months in advance. Michelin Stars "Dani Garcia".
- Corral de la Morería https://www.corraldelamoreria.com/. Incredible experience - Flamenco and Gourmet Dinner, not to miss it!
- DiverXO https://diverxo.com/en/. Book in advance, even several months. Michelin Stars. Multi-year Best Chef of the World "Dabiz Muñoz".
- RavioXO https://www.ravioxo.com/en/.
- La Tasquería https://latasqueria.com/en/la-tasqueria-and-javi-estevez/. Delicious offal specialities - Michelin stars.
The following web sites collect information about many other options:
- https://guide.michelin.com/en/es/comunidad-de-madrid/restaurants
- https://www.esmadrid.com/en/michelin-starred-restaurants
- https://devourtours.com/blog/michelin-restaurants-in-madrid/
Shopping
- Las Rozas Village, a cozy, elegant, outlet with the very best brands some 12 miles from downtown Madrid. Dedicated buses over and back leave from the heart of the city. https://www.tbvsc.com/las-rozas-village/en
Soccer Lovers
- Real Madrid Bernabéu Stadium Tours https://www.realmadrid.com/sites/en/tour-bernabeu.
- Atlético de Madrid Tours https://en.atleticodemadrid.com/atm/tour_museum.
Tourism in Spain
Links to web sites of Tourism from Spain and around different Spanish autonomies.
- Spain (general) https://www.spain.info/en/
- Andalusia https://www.andalucia.org/en/home
- Aragon https://www.turismodearagon.com/en/
- Asturias https://www.turismoasturias.es/en/
- Balearic Islands https://www.illesbalears.travel/en/baleares/
- Basque Country https://tourism.euskadi.eus/en/
- Canary Islands https://www.hellocanaryislands.com/
- Cantabria https://turismodecantabria.com/
- Castilla-La Mancha http://en.www.turismocastillalamancha.es/
- Castilla y Leon https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/turismocyl/en
- Catalunya http://www.catalunya.com/?language=es
- Ceuta https://turismodeceuta.com/
- Extremadura https://www.turismoextremadura.com/en/index.html
- Galicia https://www.turismo.gal/inicio?langId=en_US
- La Rioja https://lariojaturismo.com/en
- Madrid https://www.turismomadrid.es/en/
- Melilla https://melillaturismo.com/en/
- Murcia https://turismodemurcia.es/en
- Navarra https://www.turismo.navarra.es/eng/home/default.htm
- Valencia https://www.visitvalencia.com/en
Tours in Madrid
Here are some interesting options for tours in Madrid:
- Madrid City Tour https://madrid.city-tour.com/en
- Vintage City Tours https://www.vintagecitytours.com/en
Visiting Barcelona?
- Boca Grande https://bocagrande.cat/en/.
- Can Fisher https://canfisher.com/en/.
- El Nacional, a former commercial space now entirely devoted to restaurants with specialties from all over Spain, pastries, ice cream and cocktail spots in a cozy, very lively atmosphere. All in one single place and at the very heart of the city https://www.elnacionalbcn.com/en/.
- Ideal Cocktail Bar https://idealcocktailbar.com/en/.
- La Deliciosa https://www.panteabeach.com/en/la-deliciosa-en/.
- Solomillo https://www.restaurantesolomillo.com/en/.
Weather
Current weather conditions in Madrid https://www.wunderground.com/weather/es/madrid.