First he visited the Madrid-based sports daily newspaper Marca where business came to a standstill as if King Juan Carlos had bestowed his royal presence.
At the table for his interview there were a dozen journalists, all from the same paper, plus the proprietor and two photographers. Then, still more impressively, Beckham gave a long interview to radio station Cadena SER.
The boy from Leytonstone took his first tentative steps in speaking Spanish to the nation and his main triumphs were the perfect pronunciation of jamon (pronounced hamon) and cinco (pronounced thinko), meaning ham and think. A small step but nonetheless one greeted with puppy-like enthusiasm by the Spaniards.
Of course he won't get such a warm welcome tomorrow from his old foe, Diego Simeone, the Argentinian whose gamesmanship saw Beckham notoriously sent off at France '98.
"It's easy for me to understand the importance that these two games have for Real Madrid, their fans, their members and the players," he said. "We're playing two of our eternal rivals and I pray that we win. First we have to get the Atletico game out of the way."
BECKHAM knows about the treatment Figo received last year when the match was almost suspended and, as a result, Barcelona embarked on a feverish anti-violence campaign.
He added: "I've often seen the Madrid-Barcelona game on TV and previously I have always said I want to go and see one of them.
"But now I'm actually going to be playing and I know it will be a fantastic atmosphere. I also saw last year's game and I was really surprised about the way that the Catalan fans treated Luis Figo. But that has done nothing to diminish my hunger to play.
"Barcelona announced yesterday that Ronaldinho won't play and he's one of the best footballers in the world so any team would notice his absence.
"It's going to be my first Barca-Madrid derby so I'm pleased that he won't be there."
Beckham, with six goals and six assists, has converted his doubters and is playing in a central midfield position. Madrid's No23 partly attributes his smooth acclimatisation to the quality of team-mates.
"Roberto Carlos has had a massive impact on my life," he admitted. "He's treated me with the kind of generosity that makes it seem as if I was his son or brother. He and Ronaldo are two of the most sweet people I've known in all my life and that's saying something given how many people this lifestyle allows me to meet. Ronaldo has a tremendous incredible talent and he speaks a little bit of English which helps us communicate very well on the pitch.
"And as I have said before Raul was one of the first people to shake my hand when I arrived and I understand how much pressure he is always under with new arrivals because he has always been the king of Real Madrid and the king of the Spanish team. He's been phenomenal to me.
"But maybe it's Michel Salgado that I communicate with most, he's helping me with my Spanish and I'm helping him with his English. He's a great person and a really talented footballer."
Dressing-room banter is universal and he's been ribbed mercilessly since his date at Buckingham Palace last week where he received his OBE.
He said: "All the players have been kneeling in front of me and calling me sir, or your highness but I honestly don't feel any different. I think maybe it's time they just got back to calling me David!"
One thing he's eagerly anticipating is Christmas. "I love living here, and now that we have got a house and we are not in a hotel it's a much more comfortable family life. Our new house is beautiful and the neighbours have been inviting the boys round to play.
"Brooklyn is already rehearsing a little Christmas play at school in which he's going to be one of the shepherds. And people are telling me about the Festival of the Kings and how people celebrate Christmas in Spain.
"But we will spend some of the Christmas holidays in London because we've actually got Christmas Day free for the first time in my career. Spending that with the boys and my wife will be tremendously special. We've got an incredible family and even though there are situations which we don't enjoy it all forms part of being Victoria and David."
