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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".

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.

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The secret lives of the Cañada kids

2 December 2019

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.

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Welcome to the Cañada Real: Madrid’s forgotten barrio

22 November 2019

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.

Spain’s struggle with gentrification, tourism and globalisation

23 August 2019

Spain's first McDonald's opened in 1981, replacing an old jeweller's on Gran Vía. Many predicted that this gran hamburguesería would be the beginning of the end of Madrid as we knew it. And they were right.

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From Franco to freedom of expression, and the fight that is far from over

6 July 2019

Secret gay nightclubs and bars were opening right under Franco's nose and the cornerstones of Chueca's infamous nightlife were being laid. By the time the dictator died, in 1975, Spain's marginalised communities were already organised and ready to begin the countrywide fight for freedom of expression.

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“¿Cerveza?” The story of Madrid’s ‘tin men’

30 May 2019

What the lateros are doing is illegal and there are police everywhere. If they're caught selling beer, their stock, which they purchased themselves, will be confiscated. But, for the tin men, it's worth the risk.

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The Nigerian church in the industrial outskirts of Madrid

23 May 2019

In one of Madrid’s many stark industrial zones, a Nigerian church provides an oasis of soul for its community. On any given Sunday, the area would be empty and silent, but for the rich gospel being performed to a lively crowd of parishioners.

Madrid’s no-frills bars are a portal to Spain’s migrant boom years

16 April 2019

For the past few centuries, Spaniards from all over the country have been packing their bags, saying adios to their towns and villages and setting sail for the big city. When they arrive in Madrid, they disperse into many different lines of work, but there's one business over any other that harks back to the most recent migration boom. You guessed it: Madrid's no-frills bars.

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The story of the little bookstore that helped save Mercado San Fernando

8 April 2019

Five years ago, Mercado San Fernando was close to giving up the ghost, but this little bookstore arrived just in time. Now, the market is rampacked with locals enjoying craft beers, ramen and vegan food, but has it gone too far?

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The death of Mame Mbaye and the Lavapiés riots – one year on

15 March 2019

I'm getting used to the sound of hovering helicopters but what can I expect, living in Lavapiés? I live in a barrio so routinely pushed to the edge that, every now and then, the pressure becomes too much and its people crack.

From Mauritania to Lavapiés: meet Usman, the alternative vegetable farmer

15 February 2019

Usman is a Mauritanian organic vegetable farmer with an allotment in the Jarama valley – a beautiful bit of local countryside with clay, terracotta soil, which I know well because I find it in the nooks of my freshly picked purple carrots.