The enormous Royal Palace of Madrid is the official residence of His Majesty The King of Spain, who makes use of it for official ceremonies, though he does not reside there. With 870 windows, 240 balconies, 44 sets of stairs and 110 doors, it is quite a structure. The building occupies the same area as the old Alcazar of the Hapsburgs. Some of its 2,000 rooms are open to the public; others are still used for state business. It is well worth seeing. The palace was last used as a royal residence in 1931, before King Alfonso XIII and his wife fled Spain.The origins of the Palace go back to the 9th century, when the Islamic Kingdom of Toledo built a defensive fort on the site, later used by the Ki
...Read More