The arithmetic
Bed: €35 (Lavapiés double split two ways is €20; solo travellers budget €35 for a hostal single or good hostel private). Food: €12–14 — bar tostada breakfast €3, menú del día lunch €13 as the day’s main event, evening tapas round €6–8. Transport: €1.50–3 — the centre is walkable and one metro ride covers most days. Culture: €0 using the free museum windows. Total: €48–55 solo, comfortably under €45 each as a pair — with zero suffering involved.
Where the budget breathes
The menú del día is the load-bearing wall: two courses, bread, drink, often dessert, €12–15 anywhere locals eat. Make lunch the day’s restaurant meal and dinner the tapas stroll and you eat like a king on a courier’s wage. The free windows (Prado evenings, Reina Sofía evenings, Thyssen Mondays, Debod sunset, Retiro always) carry the culture budget entirely.
Where it breaks
Rooftop bars (€12 cocktails), the Palacio interior plus tablao flamenco in one day (€60+ combined), taxis by choice, and any peak week — Pride or May doubles the bed line. The fix is calendar-shaped: in January, February or August the same €50 buys margin for one splurge a day.
Questions, answered
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