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After many years of focusing on MadridMan.com as a written resource, I’ve recently found myself returning, somewhat unexpectedly, to a format that feels both new and familiar at the same time: video. In February of 2025, I officially “re-started” my YouTube channel, MadridMan™ – Making Sense of Life in Spain 🇪🇸, with a renewed sense of purpose. What began as a simple experiment has quickly evolved into something much more engaging and, honestly, more meaningful than I anticipated.
For those who have followed MadridMan over the years, you’ll know that this project has always been about sharing the experience of living in Madrid; not as a tourist, but as someone who has slowly absorbed the rhythms, habits, and contradictions of life in Spain over decades. I first arrived here in 1995, launched MadridMan.com in 1996, and eventually made the move permanent in 2005. That long-term perspective is what continues to shape everything I do, now including the YouTube channel.
The direction of the channel is quite simple on the surface, but surprisingly deep once you begin to explore it: explaining the everyday realities of life in Spain that often go unnoticed or unspoken. Why do conversations feel louder? Why does time seem to work differently? Why do certain behaviors that feel “normal” here feel so unusual to outsiders? These are the kinds of questions I explore, often based on my own ongoing observations and, at times, my own confusion.
I’ve recently been exploring these ideas more deeply on my YouTube channel, MadridMan.
What has surprised me most is how much these videos resonate with people, especially here in Spain. A large portion of the audience is Spanish, many of whom watch in English, sometimes with subtitles, and engage thoughtfully with the content. There’s something fascinating about that exchange: an American explaining Spain back to Spaniards, and discovering, in the process, that many of these “unspoken rules” are not always consciously recognized even by those who live them every day.
The format itself is intentionally simple. I speak directly to the camera, often with a touch of humor, always with respect, and try to present ideas in a way that invites reflection rather than judgment. These are not “top 10” lists or quick travel tips. They are small cultural deep dives, moments where something that seems ordinary is examined just enough to reveal that it’s not quite as ordinary as it first appears.
Looking ahead, I see the YouTube channel as a natural extension of what MadridMan has always been: a place to understand Spain a little more clearly. The website, the videos, and whatever comes next are all part of the same idea; helping people make sense of a place that often feels familiar on the surface, but reveals its uniqueness the longer you stay.
If you’ve ever wondered why Spain feels the way it does… you’ll likely enjoy the videos there as well.
And if you’d like to follow along, you can find the channel here:
http://YouTube.com/@MadridManSpain
