Malasaña survives Madrid’s 100-degree summer afternoons through pure geometry. The buildings are tall and the streets are narrow — three meters between facades on Calle del Pez, two meters on Corredera Alta. Building shadow covers the entire sidewalk on one side from late morning, and the cool side flips around 4 PM.
These picks use the cool side at each hour. We route around Plaza del Dos de Mayo at noon — open square, no shade — and skip Gran Vía in the afternoon entirely (too wide, no shadow). The interior streets carry you instead.