Why representative discourse in the media matters
Just 15% of photojournalists are women. That's the distribution you can see in the photo above. At every protest I attend in Madrid, I'm one of very few women holding the camera.
The Korean luthier keeping one of Spain’s disappearing traditions alive
Right at the intersection of Divino Pastor and Monteleón, in the heart of lively Malasaña, there is a sign that reads ‘Guitarra Ángel Benito Aguado’. If we are lucky enough to find the blinds up, we can see luthier Yunah Park inside, working with silent dedication.
“We owe our success to the Queer community”: Chueca’s Restaurante El Bierzo turns 50 this year
Restaurante El Bierzo in the heart of Chueca celebrates 50 years of existence this month. Run by 80-year-old Miguel Gonzales Sastre, El Bierzo stands firm as a rock and is one of the few restaurants in the area to serve homemade, traditional Spanish dishes, with a menu that has been the same for half a century.
The Riders’ Law explained
I met Ángel (not his real name) waiting in the dinner queue of Vecinas de Lavapies food bank last summer. It would cost him at least one hour's work to feed himself, and another job to get the metro back to his sister's house where he was staying.
Storm Filomena
Now that the last remaining piles of snow have finally melted away, let's reflect on a fortnight of Filomena's presence in this city. With zero Council preparations and unprecedented snowfall, how did Filomena's force unfold and take Madrid from its most beautiful to a disaster zone?
Stolpersteine reveal Madrid’s Nazi war camp victims’ last chosen address
Over 75,000 Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) have been installed across Europe, marking where victims of Nazi war camps last lived by choice. Each small golden stone bears the name of the victim, their date of birth, the date of their camp deportation and when their lives ended – there are so far 12 in Madrid.
CIEs, Spain’s migrant detention centres, explained
The Regularización Ya movement which fights for the legalisation of migrants in Spain is closely linked with the CIEs No movement. They believe a world without migration detention centres is possible.
Lavapiés’ food banks keep going: sun, rain or snow
When Mario talks about the snow, he can’t help but smile. He’s from Romania, and has been living in Madrid for the past eight years, but on the streets of Fuencarral for the past two after losing his job as a truck driver.
“I’m tired”: our naïve nostalgia for Madrid’s no-frills bars
I’m proud to say that I grew up frequenting the neighbourhood bars of La Latina with my dad, and I have fond memories of their no-frills charm. But it took me many years living abroad in Denmark to appreciate the cultural richness of my barrio, and it came mixed with nostalgia and grief at the places that had closed.
How Madrid’s social housing crisis turns paying tenants into “illegal squatters”
Let's take a look at Colonia de los Olivos (Colony of Olive Trees), which was built hastily in 1947 to accommodate a post-war migration boom in Madrid. Around 1,000 people have called these temporary blocks their home until their phased demolition more than half a century later, which is still not complete.
Visit Spain in the 1970s via a box of postcards found in El Rastro
Instagram account Visit Spain 1970 arose from an accidental discovery of tourist materials from the 1960s and 1970s found in a Rastro bookstore earlier this year.
The House of Suitcases
"Is it busy out there?" asks Isabelle, owner of La Casa de Maletas in El Rastro. That day was the first day of the Rastro for eight months, since the pandemic shut Europe's largest open-air flea market down in the second week of March.
The Cañada Real: “Electricity is not a privilege, it’s a right”
On 2 October, a power outage left around 1,000 houses in a Madrid neighbourhood without electricity. Almost 60 days later, the lines have still not been repaired – a situation that seems hard to believe, except for the fact that this neighbourhood is Sector 6 of the Cañada Real.
Discover the juxtaposed remains of Madrid’s 170-year-old aqueduct
Along the Avenida de Pablo Iglesias in the north-west barrio of Buenas Vistas lies the aqueduct of Amaniel, a half-buried vestige of one of the most important engineering projects ever made in Spain.
The Madrid No Frills Prints Collection
Madrid No Frills is finally selling prints! Orders processed within one day, prints available to collect within three days or posted to your home within one week!