Hi there.

Can anyone tell me about the Getafe area in Madrid,Please. Is it east, west,north,south suburb? How many minutes by public transport to the city? Is it nice there? Appreciate any help. Cheers!

I don't think I've been been in/through Getafe but you can visit their city hall's website @ http://www.getafe.es and a live cam shot . You can also type GETAFE into the search box @ http://www.comadrid.es/ for more information (all in Spanish, I'm afraid).

Here are some others worth a look:

http://www.getafe.net/
http://www.radiogetafe.net/ (listen live!)
http://www.madrid.org/metrosur/99_03/msur/getafe.htm (map)

Anyone else? Saludos, MadridMan

thanks very much MadridMan..Judging from the pictures(since i cannot understand spanish),It seems like a nice place. I might be sent there next year(fingers crossed)for some staff training for about 10 days or so.I dont know the exact location where in getafe we're gonna stay. I can't contain my excitement when the Co. announced the good news during the meeting and when the manager asked for volunteers, I almost fell off my seat shooting my arm up!

Located at the south of Madrid, indeed it's called by themselves 'capital of the south'
Good connections with Madrid by bus and commuter trains (3 or 4 stations) also has several Metrosur stations that connects all the city and Getafe with neighborhood towns but not directly with Madrid

C/Madrid is the main street, mostly pedestrian, crosses the city from north to south, there is the university Carlos III (getafe campus). Having this campus let this city to have a good night ambient in the old center.

Another curious thing is that you won't find almost any typical 70's and 60's apartments towers because of the aereal base attached to the city.

Bests areas of Getafe are the north area (because is the newest part) and Sector III formed by single and rows of houses.

There is an small commercial center at Sector III and other one at Bulevar Getafe (north area) but main shopping area is Madrid street.

Nearest big commercial center with a variety of shops are Loranca at Fuelnabrada and Parque Sur at Leganes (metrosur line).

In Getafe is also located what it's called the geografical center of iberic penninsula at 'cerro de los angeles' which is a hill with pines surrounded by industrial areas and has some churches on the top, that's all.

any more questions?

Although Getafe might not be directly connected to Madrid, there is a connection on the Metro Sur line to the main metro line of Madrid, you will just have to pay additional fare to switch between the two lines.

Plus, you have to realise that, if you plan to hold your activities in Madrid, like work, sports, hanging out, ..., you'll enjoy losing at least 1 hour each way in transport activities.

By car, at the rush hours, it can take 1 h 30 min to reach Madrid because of the jams. Train maybe faster, but the stations train reaches in Madrid are very few. Metro, because you have to combine Metro and Metrosur, is also a long way to reach downtown.

Thank you all for the helpful info .

I wouldn't mind paying extra and 'enjoy'( is that right Ignacio ) losing an extra hour to get to the city as long as i'm going anywhere in Spain! I'll charge it to the company anyway .

v diaz, hope you don't mind if I e-mail you if i've got more questions in the future?

I was being ironic, I forgot the '' signs.

I would hate to lose so much time, that's why I said that.

Are you coming? from downunder, isn't it? great!

I knew you forgot :p . I'm really hoping they push through with that plan. But there's a catch...we have to learn spanish and i just went over the thread about the diff. bet. mexican and spanish accent and I thought that's gonna be hard. But as I said whatever it takes to go to there!!(do i sound so desperate :o )

When I studied in Madrid, I stayed in Getafe. It's a really nice city and Calle Madrid is a great place for the daily "paseo". I took the cercanías trains into Madrid every day to go to class and it only took about 25 minutes from the Getafe Centro station to Atocha in Madrid. The MetroSur wasn't open then, so I don't know much about that. Anyway, I believe you can do the commute to Madrid in much less than an hour, even in busy times with the commuter trains (cercanías).

It's not so different. I guess it's more like the differences in English from Australia-USA-UK. If you speak cultured language, it's all the same. The language is mainly modified when people try to sound cool, funky, ...

But you can learn slang later!

I'm just a tad worried rolling those r's because as you probably know we can't pronounce r "pwapehly" .

Yes, Mariacristi, but in this case, you can't do it either in your mexican spanish. :p

Torero, what you say is not opposed to what I say (in case you mean so). I said train was faster (cercanías), but then, train leaves you in one of (three?) the few stops in Madrid, AND you still have to move on in metro or bus. Unless your work/study is at or very near Atocha, Chamartín, or Principe Pío, I believe, you'll have to move further, mainly if your workplace (or study place) is east or west, for the line goes from south to north.

Good point, Ignacio. The train into Atocha takes about 20-25 minutes, but any metro travel in Madrid would add on to commute time. It took me another 25-30 minutes to get to Ciudad Universitaria for class. But to go to el centro, near Atocha or Sol,takes less time. The bottom line though, is that Getafe is a very nice, laid back place to live and not that far from Madrid, the travel time into the city never bothered me.

Thanks Torrero. 'Laid back' is actually what i'm waiting to hear and that's my kind of place(to live). Anyway, the public transport info you, Ignacio and Chica provided was very good and on our next meeting i'll have something to share.

My mexican spanish Ignacio? I may have a spanish name( and looks a little)but no hablas espanol at all (and i got my half-spanish great abuela to blame for that! ).

I said that because of this:

But there's a catch...we have to learn spanish and i just went over the thread about the diff. bet. mexican and spanish accent and I thought that's gonna be hard.

I understood you spoke some mexican spanish by now.

For Mariacristi, Good for you, raising your hand. I "raised my hand" 43 yrs. ago and volunteered for duty in Spain (USAF). It was to change my life completely. Getafe is near enough to Madrid that you'll enjoy the city life and near enough to the country that you'll enjoy the country life, read: pueblos that dot the countryside. My in-laws hale from a pueblo so. of Madrid called Ciempozuelos. It's on the rail line, next to Rte. IV and very near Aranjuez, which is my most favorite town. Will possibly be going over there for Easter 2004. Good luck and buen viaje.

Thanks Charles .