Madrid No Frills

No Frills

10 Madrid No Frills bar backgrounds for your Zoom get-togethers

20 April 2020

Over the weekend, I had an idea: to set my Zoom background to one of my favourite no-frills bars. When I joined my meeting, I was met with laughter and bewilderment, with one friend even asking how I got into a bar despite them being closed.

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The shrapnel-scarred bungalow challenging Spain’s civil war amnesia

19 April 2020

It is only by chance that a small bungalow in Madrid bearing the scars of Nazi shelling still survives. And it is only by pure coincidence that, just a decade ago, this fact came to light when photographer and archeologist Jose Latova stumbled across a photograph taken by the Hungarian war photographer Robert Capa. Its residents share their stories.

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Dragon heroes: the Lavapiés lockdown food bank helping vulnerable migrant families

8 April 2020

As Madrid remains the European epicentre of the coronavirus crisis, the city's most marginalised groups have been pushed even closer to the edge. Once dependent on charities and local organisations, many migrants are suddenly fending for themselves, but not if the Lavapiés Dragons have anything to do with it.

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Spain’s marginalised heroes fight against coronavirus – and racism

1 April 2020

While ordinary people with ordinary jobs occupy the headlines, there are people whose hero status has become their only form of survival.

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Portrait of an abuelo under lockdown

29 March 2020

At 94, Abuelo's physical health is enviable to many who are decades younger. These days, his biggest health worry is not coronavirus-related, but that "estas piernas se me están resistiendo".

Culture

The art of war on Coronavirus

21 March 2020

The fight against coronavirus echoes something hauntingly familiar in Spain, and it's from this dark period in history that local artist Félix Rodriguez has found inspiration. From the confines of his home in Madrid where he remains, like the rest of us, under lockdown, a renaissance is happening.

Culture

Colour and chaos in Catania, Sicily’s ‘other’ city

9 March 2020

I'd like to transport you to a place where the streets are paved with volcanic rock that braid the city, and crumbling houses wrap around outcrops of ancient lava flow.

Bodegas Rojo: Carabanchel Alto’s living museum of niche wine and spirits

27 February 2020

Bodegas Rojo, like any diamond in the rough, lies unbeknownst to many, tucked away on a residential street. Families and groups of teens walk by but few so much as throws a furtive glance its way.

Housing

Madrid’s poorest neighbourhoods are still condemned by their ancient invisible borders

20 February 2020

Zoom out of Madrid on Google satellite view and red clusters begin to emerge. Between grey, gridded avenues and barren parks, see clusters of winding narrow streets with red roof tiles and tiny plazas, which were once independent towns with their own culture, economy and architecture. Today, even though they lie well within the city limits of Madrid, they remain different.

Míticos, típicos y no-frilleños: Malasaña’s 10 best bars

8 February 2020

The bares típicos are one of the things I deeply love Spain for. The way you can pop in for a coffee in a glass, a caña, a tapa, a few words with the person behind the bar and other people in the bar – a sense of connection to simple uplifting things.

Culture

Pilgrimage to El Coleccionista: Lavapiés’ iconic comic book store

29 January 2020

Down Calle Tribulete, just a few minutes from Plaza Lavapiés is Cómics El Coleccionista, where it has stood seemingly forever. Opened in 1993 by a pair of friends who met each other through their mutual love of comic books, El Coleccionista has remained virtually unchanged throughout its 27 years of existence.

A homage to Madrid’s Chinese corner shops

25 January 2020

A year ago, my photo series of 100 of Madrid's no-frills bars reignited the nation's love for a time-honoured aspect of Spanish culture, but around 20 of these no-frills bars are actually Chinese-owned.

Culture

Welcome to Blyth, the underdog of North East England

21 January 2020

I'd like to transport you to a place a few miles up the road from where I grew up. It's a tiny, windswept port town that had its heyday up until the 1960s. After that, the industries shifted outwards, like the dunes that shield Blyth from the North Sea, switching from mining coal to farming wind.

Culture

Spotlight on Plaza Nelson Mandela: the heart and the underbelly of Lavapiés

15 January 2020

I'm sitting on a concrete bench on Plaza Nelson Mandela, taking in the warm winter sun on my face. A local Senegalese man wearing an ivory silk boubou pours his friends cups of hot black coffee from a canister. On a bench near them, a group of young Argentinians top up their cups of mate and share a smoke.

The battle for Baobab

10 January 2020

Yesterday, the people of Madrid make their thoughts crystal clear: don't evict Baobab! So far, this emotive Instagram post has been shared by 2,793 people in their stories, and viewed by 32,557. To put things in perspective, that's about 10 times more people than my average Madrid No Frills Instagram posts.