i simply must dry clean my slacks and shirts, suit, etc. anyone know one in huertas area...share your experiences.....for instance i know of a few in calle alcantara, but they are too far from where i will be staying this trip.

Hmm.. this IS an excellent question. I ASSUME Spain/Madrid has dry cleaners, but to be honest I've never seen one. There are plenty of laundry places so maybe there they can do that for you.

Spaniards and expats! Are dry cleaners common in Spain? Are they VERY expensive to use?

A dry cleaner's is called "una tintorería" or "tinte" for short. Dry cleaning is called "limpieza en seco." They're all over Madrid, although I'm not familiar enough with the Huertas area to give specifics there. I can't imagine you'd have to go far, though.

As for prices, they're not expensive. Here's a website for a tintorería in Madrid, and they list prices under "servicios." (They're still in pesetas instead of euros, though.) http://www.comendadoras.com/tina/

Some tintorerías will do home pick-ups and deliveries, which is real convenient, but a bit more expensive.

I think (as much as I remember from a previous six-week stay in Madrid) that there's a tintoreria right in the heart of Huertas on the calle Leon between calle Atocha and calle Prado (the street only runs for a few blocks, so it shouldn't be too hard to find.