Estadio Vicente Calderón, a colossal oval fortress that has dominated Madrid’s riverside skyline since 1966, is about to be demolished. One month since its closure, local bars which once thrived from the custom of football fans are now eerily quiet.
Yunie Kebab is run by a Lebanese husband-and-wife team who took over a charming seventies diner and changed nothing about it but the menu. They now serve up incredible Lebanese food, and quite possibly the best hummus in Madrid.
Why are so many iconic no-frills Spanish bars closing, and what does this mean for the future of Spain?
One end of Calle Cabestreros opens out onto the buzzing 24-hour Plaza Nelson Mandela so you’d be forgiven for not paying much attention to the opposite end. But illuminating the dimly lit end of the street with a distinctive dusk-pink glow is a little Cuban bar blasting Caribbean music through its sealed windows.
Over five million people are buried, stacked and stored as ashes in Madrid’s biggest graveyard. La Almudena’s size and layout make it feel like more of a city than a cemetery: it has a historic centre, named streets, and neighbourhoods with different characters. You’ll find upmarket areas with mansions for the rich and famous, detached houses, workers’ apartment blocks, the poor neglected parts of the city and, last but not least, an anarchist squat.
Since 1961, El Brillante has been the first and last port of call for millions of Atocha’s passengers. A first caña stood at the bar sets the tone for the rest of your stay, and that final bocadillo de calamares leaves you with a belly full of fondness for Madrid.
Mercado de la Cebada has been through some ups and downs over the last couple of centuries, but what didn’t kill it made it adapt.
The dust may have settled in Ajenjo Café but, with nearly 40 years under its belt, the place has developed a ghostly charm that fills your head with visions of its heyday.
Botellón is a favourite pastime in action, but it’s seriously testing the innate Spanish tolerance for noise and is causing friction across all of society.
The tinned food craze is sweeping the hipster capitals of the world but Spain has long been aware of the treasure inside these little tins.
Hidden deep within Lavapiés, and almost always closed, this stunning cobbled patio took some serious discovering.
Cafetería Hinojar has been open 24 hours a day every day for 40 years and hasn’t changed at all.
Every Saturday, all of the seafood stalls group together and transform the mercado’s aisles into electric avenues of seafood bars.
Corralas encapsulate the soul of Spanish urban living, which boomed when Madrid was declared capital of Spain in 1606.
The white plastic chair is a perfectly no-frills icon of the nostalgic Spanish lifestyle. Its low price, durability and simple design has made it the most popular chair in the world, costing as little as €3, and lasting a lifetime. It requires little to no cleaning, often being either left out in the rain, hosed down, or dipped in a swimming pool.