Simon Baskett has lived and worked in Madrid since 1992. He began his connection with Rough Guides in 1997 when he wrote the mini guide to Madrid. Since then he has been a regular contributor to the Rough Guide to Spain and is the author of the Madrid Directions book.

Born and brought up in Bristol, he graduated in history at Oxford and then trained as a teacher. He taught at several schools in England and Spain before moving into writing and journalism.

He has worked as a freelance writer and journalist for a number of newspapers, magazines and broadcasters and is now the Spanish sports correspondent for a leading international news agency.

A convinced hispanophile, Simon has travelled the length and breadth of the country for the last decade and a half, from the remotest corners of Galicia, Asturias and Extremadura, to the noisy backstreets of Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla. He is also a keen aficionado of Spanish art, music and culture.

He is a long-suffering fan of Atletico Madrid and still dreams of seeing them repeat their historic league and Cup double of 1996. His ambition is to win El Gordo (the huge Christmas lottery), spend his free time exploring Spain and then retire quietly to a local bar. He is married to a madrileña, Trini, and they have two children, Patrick and Laura, who were both born in the city.