Madrid No Frills

Culture

The Duck Church of Lavapiés

15 July 2018

Unless you live on this quiet, narrow street in Lavapiés, there's almost no reason for you to walk down it – that is, unless you're going to the Duck Church. Nestled into the ground floor of a centenarian building lives a tiny temple devoted to the rubber duck, and its priest is Leo Bassi, a 66-year-old clown who was born on tour.

No Frills

No-frills bars in peculiar places (Vol. II)

13 July 2018

Edward Lawrence continues his offbeat adventures to the most surprisingly located no-frills bars in Madrid. This time, he explores two bus stations, a family-run service station and a shrine to Franco, and climbs a hill – passing a decaying bunker – to find serenity in the most peculiar place.

Culture

Casa Postal: Madrid’s very own cabinet of curiosities

9 July 2018

Casa Postal is an unfinished, no-frills cabinet of curiosities that will transport you back to your childhood, your mother's childhood, your grandmother's childhood and beyond if you let your imagination take you there.

Culture

The story of the old rocking chair told through illustrations by Nathan Brenville

3 July 2018

Nathan Brenville likes to explore his local barrio with sketchbook in hand, believing that drawing is the best way to notice the details of his surroundings. While doing so, it often leads to some interesting conversations with passers-by, which is exactly how Nathan met Encarni.

71 enchanting years of Bodegas Jiménez

27 June 2018

When I asked Jose Luis Jiménez who the people in the photographs were, he spent the next half hour telling me stories from his childhood and showing me pictures taken by his friends from all over the world.

History

Latest obsession: Madrid’s ‘hidden’ drinking fountains

24 June 2018

Madrid's drinking fountains are beautiful, carefully designed and soaked in history. But, you've probably walked past dozens thinking very little of them – perhaps you thought they were miniature monuments, a fire hydrant or an electricity box.

The 128-year-old Chueca hideout for generations of simmering lefties

20 June 2018

"Do you know about El Comunista? It's painted Ruby red for people who can't read – just like the other bodegas – and when you step inside, you'll see the Spain my great-grandparents knew"

Ikram: delicious, no-frills Moroccan food in the heart of El Rastro

14 June 2018

Mohammed serves really good Moroccan food, which he makes himself in his tiny kitchen at the back of the restaurant. The food at Ikram is even better than meals I've had in Morocco, and you'll find it right here in the northernmost neighbourhood of Africa: Lavapiés.

History

Madrid’s no-frills theatre, born centuries ago in the heart of Lavapiés

5 June 2018

You will probably have spotted that Gran Via is home to Madrid’s grandest theatres and its most spectacular shows. However, what isn’t so well-known is that pulsating deep within the barrios of Lavapiés and Arganzuela is a thriving no-frills theatre scene, which emerged hundreds of years ago.

Culture

The Outsider Artist building a life-size cathedral set for demolition

28 May 2018

Ex-monk Don Justo survived the Spanish Civil War and even tuberculosis, yet at 93 years old, he knows doesn't have long left. He's just a decade away from completing his 60-year mission to build a life-size cathedral, but when the local city council want it demolished, the question becomes, 'who will outlive who?'

The last horchata kiosk in Madrid

21 May 2018

My obsession with horchata began exactly where it should: on the coast of Valencia, surrounded by orange blossom and flamingos. On my return to Madrid, I vowed never to rest until I'd found the best horchata in town, and there it was – as it has been for 74 years – in a little roadside kiosk run by the fifth generation of the same family.

History

Lavapiés in the 1980s

11 May 2018

When you first glimpse Marivi Ibarrola's casually composed photographs of Lavapiés in the 1980s, you feel as if very little has changed. But stare for longer and you'll see some profound differences: the Tabacalera no longer emits smoke from its chimney, the anarchists have been gentrified out of their squats, and cinemas have been demolished to pave the way for the Lavapiés we hang out in today.

No Frills

No-frills bars in peculiar places (Vol. I)

13 April 2018

Much like a municipal bin, a no-frills bar is never more than 50 metres away from you in the centre of Madrid. Going for an impromptu caña was never easier, be it at a train station, on a train, in a hospital or even next to a funeral parlour.

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The ‘human zoo’ of Madrid

8 April 2018

An entire village was built to exhibit these unfamiliar people in their 'natural habitat', with thousands of curious spectators paying for a glimpse into their exotic world. Welcome to the darkest corner of Retiro Park: Madrid's erstwhile 'human zoo'.

Bar El Jamón: the Godfather of Lavapiés

23 March 2018

In the thick of bustling Indian restaurants and foreign food stores, a jazzy facade with bold retro lettering stands out from the crowd. This neighbourhood veteran is Bar El Jamón, the Godfather of Lavapiés.