Tetuán is the Madrid that doesn't perform for anyone — a working northern barrio that grew on the fields beyond the old city when soldiers came back from a Moroccan campaign in 1860 and named their new streets after the battle. It has no cathedral, no plaza mayor, no reason to be on a list. It is on this one because it is the most alive square kilometre in the city, and because Calle de Bravo Murillo, walked top to bottom, is a route on its own.
Start in Plaza de Tetuán de las Victorias and head south down the spine. Halfway, duck into the Mercado de Maravillas — one of Europe's biggest food halls and almost entirely a local one; do a lap of the fish aisle even if you buy nothing. East of the street, the blocks around Marqués de Viana are where Madrid's Dominican and Andean communities settled; lunch in the busiest room you can find.
Drift the quiet side streets, then end at Cuatro Caminos, the great junction under the curved Edificio Titanic, where three metro lines take you back to the Madrid that does perform.
