Madrid joins race for high-spending tourists with bet on five-star hotels

[1/5] A swimming pool is seen at the top of Hyatt’s Thompson Madrid Hotel, overlooking central Madrid, Spain, June 13, 2023. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura MADRID, June 27 (Reuters) – As pandemic travel restrictions began to ease in the spring of 2021 foreign tourists returning to Madrid discovered the city’s downtown had undergone a makeover. An area better known for its budget hostels, tacky souvenir shops and car-choked roads now had wider pavements, pedestrianised zones, and streets that Madrid’s town hall says are safer and cleaner. The facelift was part of the city’s plan to attract a string of five-star hotels…