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Inside a migrant safe house on ‘the coolest street in the world’

24 April 2020

Lavapiés is a neighbourhood of extremes. It was recently crowned the coolest neighbourhood in the world by Time Out Magazine, but is also one of the most multicultural – and poor – in Spain.

No Frills

Bar El Trébol: a nostalgic time capsule to Spain’s most optimistic era

21 June 2019

It's 1979. Franco had died just four years earlier and the transition to democracy was well underway. Everything painted, moulded and built in this era would become a time capsule to Spain's post-dictatorship optimism. Or, at least, what still remains of this era.

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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.

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Casa de Baños: washing with Madrid’s homeless

7 January 2018

I've always been curious to see inside the Casa de Baños in Lavapiés, and the opportunity finally arose when we returned to our flat after a week away to find that the boiler had exploded. As you'd imagine, very little gets done over the Christmas period, so we were to embark on yet another fascinating no-frills adventure, and what an insight it's been.

Culture

Forget about the art: we’re here to see the ghosts of Madrid’s Tabacalera

14 October 2017

The best thing about exhibitions in La Tabacalera Promoción del Arte? They let you see inside this beautiful building. And the best kinds of exhibitions are the smaller, more subtle ones, opening up all corners and details of this 225-year-old industrial masterpiece.

No Frills

The Lavapiés sweets and spices shops

24 July 2016

Wander around Lavapiés' maze of connected high streets and find dozens of Asian spice stores firmly grounded. Gentrification is going to need to work hard to push these neighbours out.