MNF > Articles by: Madrid No Frills

Madrid No Frills

Categories

Two of the last historic buildings in Lavapiés have been saved from demolition

Two of the last historic buildings in Lavapiés has been saved from demolition. Just before noon today, following recognition of the buildings’ potential heritage value, police shouted from street level to the construction workers on the roof to stop work immediately. The two-storey buildings on Plaza Nelson Mandela – formerly home to Baobab, Madrid’s first Senegalese restaurant and an old guest house – now stands as a powerful symbol of a rare victory for the barrio.
Categories

The seafood bar that does the best callos inside the M30

Author and photos: Abbas Asaria One of the things l love the most about Madrid are the senseless yet beautiful contradictions it serves your way. One of our most famous dishes is the bocata de calamares despite being 350km away from the coast, and ordering ‘un mini’ will get you a litre of beer, to name a couple. My favourite of them all relates to the bar that does the best callos inside the M30 (in my opinion), which you can recognise from the huge sign out front proudly identifying the place as Marisquería Bar Alonso. Founded in 1957, according to one of the tiles behind the bar, or 1956 according to the website (what’s one more contradiction while we’re at it), the place is run by José Manuel, who started working there as a teenager in the 1980s, who took over when the founders retired and cooks 10kg of callos...
Categories

Mazón’s belated resignation is no act of grace, it’s an insult to democracy

For twelve long months, Mazón has staggered on like a political ghost haunting a grieving nation. His party, the Partido Popular, never forced him out. Instead, they stood by him every step of the way, offering loyalty just to save their own names, long after it became clear his position was untenable. And so, when Mazón announced his resignation this week, he was allowed to do it on his own terms – framed not as disgrace, but as an act of dignity. It was anything but.
Categories

As 12 October approaches, hay algo que celebrar: This.

Each year, in the shadows of the nation-wide parade of the Spanish military, indigenous communities come together in Madrid to celebrate the parts of their culture and history that were never erased during the colonisation of their people and lands.
Categories

Madrid EXT: The film about Madrid you need to see right now

Juan Cavestany, 56, was immortalised as a child in the sun-bleached mural in the corner of Plaza Cascorro in El Rastro, painted more than 40 years ago by his dad. Now, after decades working as a journalist around the world, he returns with outsider eyes, able to capture the iconic elements of a vanishing city – the Madrid I’ve also spent the last 10 years documenting.
Categories

How can we stop record heat deaths if we can’t accurately record temperatures?

Spain was one of many European countries hit by record-breaking heat this summer. For three straight weeks in August, temperatures across the Iberian Peninsula soared past 40°C, with no relief after dark. Nights stayed above 26°C, a clear sign of the Urban Heat Island effect, where asphalt and concrete trap the day’s heat and release it slowly at night, preventing temperatures from naturally cooling off.
Categories

Pro-Palestine protesters successfully boycott the Vuelta a España

Yesterday, pro-Palestine protesters successfully forced the cancellation of the final stage of the Vuelta a España, where an Israeli team had been competing. After weeks of coordinated disruption attempts across Spain, more than 100,000 demonstrators descended on Madrid, blockading the route using their bodies and fencing barriers. Riot police responded with tear gas and multiple clashes broke out between protesters and authorities.
Categories

The hidden realities and quiet resilience of migrant domestic workers in Spain

In a quiet restaurant in Barrio Quintana, Annelis sits across from me filling out a survey on gender-based violence. Her chipped nails a silent witness to the relentless hours she’s spent scrubbing floors and bleaching bathrooms. When her employer recently complimented her manicure while backhandedly suggesting she must be earning too much – Annelis quietly corrected her. The truth is she painted her nails herself a few days ago, and already the polish is peeling, worn down by domestic labour invisible to most and often dismissed by those who benefit from it.
Categories

Stop squirting tourists with water pistols and look at the real issue: a lack of affordable hotels

Tourists aren’t inherently bad, and they shouldn’t be told to go home. But after coordinated anti-tourism protests across Europe last weekend, it’s easy to feel uncertain. With headlines blaming visitors for everything from overcrowding to housing shortages, even the most conscious travellers may start to wonder if they’re no longer welcome. But this growing backlash, while rooted in real frustrations, doesn’t tell the whole story.