Outside the Centre
Although the attractions of the city are legion, time permitting it is well worth exploring some of the sights close to the city.
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Just beyond the city boundaries lies the royal palace of El Pardo, the former residence of dictator Francisco Franco.
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Further afield lie the brutalist monument of Valle de Cuelgamuros, constructed with the use of slave labour under Franco's orders to commemorate the Nationalist victory in the Civil War.
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Phillip II's enormous palace-monastery complex of El Escorial lies close by on he slopes of the sierra