Cuesta de Moyano

The Cuesta de Moyano hill is a famous pedestrian avenue which is the site of Madrid's permanent book fair, with around 30 wooden stalls primarily dedicated to the purchase and sale of second-hand books.

This place is a great favourite with booklovers, as its numerous stalls sell everything from the latest releases to priceless and elusive incunabula and classics at very reduced prices. The street, popularly known as the 'Cuesta de Moyano' due to its slope, has been home to Madrid's permanent book fair since 1925. In addition to its particular charm and the chance to buy books at excellent prices or browse through a few old tomes, it is also a good place to find items which are hard to come by in traditional libraries, such as books which are no longer in print or first editions. It connects the Paseo del Prado avenue near Atocha station with Madrid's Buen Retiro park. There is a monument presiding each end: at one end, a homage to Pío Baroja, the Spanish writer from the famous movement known as the Generation of '98; and at the other a statue of Claudio Moyano, the 19th-century Spanish politician after whom the hill is named.