Latest obsession: Madrid’s no-frills Christmas spirit
In the shadow of Madrid's extravagant lights display, the spirit of no-frills Christmas lives on. You just have to look a bit closer.
La Movida sigue viva en Malasaña: La Pelu de Iván
Iván, es un heredero de este movimiento contra-cultural, que se desarrolló en gran parte en Malasaña.
The secret lives of the Cañada kids
This summer, children living in Sector 6 of the Cañada Real (Europe's largest shanty town, just a 15-minute drive from Madrid) were given disposable cameras by photographer Carlos Gutiérrez, who asked them to take pictures of their day-to-day lives.
Welcome to the Cañada Real: Madrid’s forgotten barrio
For more than half a century, residents have been arriving and building makeshift homes along this ancient north-south cattle trail, which curves southbound around the outskirts of the city – now parallel to the M-50 motorway.
The prettiest little no-frills bar in Tetuán
Where I'm from, little buildings like this that look very different from those around them tell us where a bomb fell during WW2. Many pubs were destroyed during the war but new pubs were quickly erected (priorities) and they look a lot like Casa 42.
Parallel worlds: saving Buenos Aires’ no-frills bars
Earlier this year, I discovered that I had a long-lost twin in Buenos Aires: Bar de Viejes. This is an Instagram account that was born out of a desire of one person to document the beautiful old Buenos Aires bars, especially those that are under-appreciated and disappearing.
A brief guide to Spain (written under Franco)
In 1965, Spain's tourism board published a handbook to Spain. It would become a highly collectable item of Franco's 'Visit Spain' campaign – one of the dictator's lasting legacies, seeding the mass tourism we're so familiar with today.
The ancient shepherds’ pass that runs through central Madrid
Tomorrow, all cars and buses will be diverted from the city centre, and shepherds will herd their flocks through Madrid. In a spectacle witnessed by lots of confused onlookers, hundreds of sheep will stroll through our grandest boulevards.
Down the rabbit hole into Madrid’s 100-year-old metro system
In 1919 – the year of its inauguration – Madrid’s metro consisted of just one line with eight charming little stations. Exactly 100 years later, this vast subterranean labyrinth is the seventh-longest underground system in the world and hosts around two million journeys every day.
Anarchy in Madrid’s 11 most no-frills vegan restaurants
Madrid's no-frills vegan and vegetarian restaurants are built on radical foundations. None of the restaurants I've listed below shy away from expressing their opinions on feminism, anti-speciesism, communism or even all-out anarchism, and nor should they. What makes Madrid such an exciting place to live is the people's unrelenting will to fight for what they believe in – a hangover from decades of oppression combined with real concern for the future we're hurtling towards.
Porto No Frills
Let me take you to Porto, where I share with you all my no-frills discoveries, ghost trails and touchable portals to the darkest era of Portugal's past.
Bodega Maribel: donde los parroquianos son el bar
Allí está Maribel y los demás, sobre todo entre semana es raro el día que no ves a alguien con quien ya te habías topado en el mismo lugar. Mismo lugar, la bodega, y mismo lugar, el espacio que ese conocido ocupa en ella. Los habituales de los bares, tabernas y bodegas funcionan así, ya sabes.
Welcome to the homeless camp on Paseo del Prado
Around 150 people are currently sleeping rough on Paseo del Prado. Since February this year, a homeless community of activists have been camping out on one of Spain's most prestigious streets in protest for visibility, safety, security and access to affordable housing, and to end all homelessness in Spain.
A stroll through La Latina’s ‘memory lane’
There are few streets in Madrid with such a well preserved traditional shopping district. Green grocers, bodegas, a coal merchant's and a wicker store are just some of the living museums I found on the short stretch of Calle Calatrava and its surrounding streets.
10 rainy-day activities in Madrid (for people who don’t like museums)
It's raining but perhaps you've already been to all the museums, or maybe you just fancy something a bit less obvious such as spending the afternoon in a mercado, doing a no-frills bar crawl around a barrio you haven't visited before, exploring the labyrinthine tunnels of the old tobacco factory or finally enjoying it being cool enough to eat hearty food again! Here are 10 rainy-day activities that you won't find anywhere else on the Madrinternet...