Lavapies

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The Congolese seamstress fighting the coronavirus crisis with culture

15 May 2020

Becha opened up her Lavapiés tailor shop two years ago with a big ambition: to get Spanish people wearing African clothes. But what she never anticipated was that her workshop would become a small hub for African migrants and, further still: a food bank for the local community.

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Teatro del Barrio stages Lavapiés’ biggest Covid-19 relief effort yet

12 May 2020

The same spotlights that once shone bright on the faces of Madrid's rising stars now illuminate food parcels for victims of Lavapiés' Covid-19 crisis.

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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.

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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.

Housing

Madrid’s poorest neighbourhoods are still condemned by their ancient invisible borders

20 February 2020

Zoom out of Madrid on Google satellite view and red clusters begin to emerge. Between grey, gridded avenues and barren parks, see clusters of winding narrow streets with red roof tiles and tiny plazas, which were once independent towns with their own culture, economy and architecture. Today, even though they lie well within the city limits of Madrid, they remain different.

Culture

Pilgrimage to El Coleccionista: Lavapiés’ iconic comic book store

29 January 2020

Down Calle Tribulete, just a few minutes from Plaza Lavapiés is Cómics El Coleccionista, where it has stood seemingly forever. Opened in 1993 by a pair of friends who met each other through their mutual love of comic books, El Coleccionista has remained virtually unchanged throughout its 27 years of existence.

Culture

Spotlight on Plaza Nelson Mandela: the heart and the underbelly of Lavapiés

15 January 2020

I'm sitting on a concrete bench on Plaza Nelson Mandela, taking in the warm winter sun on my face. A local Senegalese man wearing an ivory silk boubou pours his friends cups of hot black coffee from a canister. On a bench near them, a group of young Argentinians top up their cups of mate and share a smoke.

Culture

The battle for Baobab

10 January 2020

Yesterday, the people of Madrid make their thoughts crystal clear: don't evict Baobab! So far, this emotive Instagram post has been shared by 2,793 people in their stories, and viewed by 32,557. To put things in perspective, that's about 10 times more people than my average Madrid No Frills Instagram posts.

No Frills

Bodega Maribel: donde los parroquianos son el bar

26 September 2019

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.

No Frills

The Rastro fish bar that will never give in to tourism (even when it totally could)

3 September 2019

The prices are low, the quality is fine, the service is quick, the menu is in Spanish and the soul and decor of the bar is utterly no-frills.

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.

Culture

No frills, nostalgia and resistance at Madrid’s summer Fiestas

10 August 2019

An elderly woman dressed in all black is straddling the wrong side of a first-floor balcony. Standing up there with her is another elderly woman wearing a floral smock, bellowing unsolicited advice about how her friend should tie up the bunting. Fierce high-rise arguing descending into laughing, and I watch on in horror yet reassurance that, somehow, these ladies have got it handled. After all, it is quite possibly their 90th year of decorating the streets.

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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“¿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.

Culture

Latest obsession: Urban Sky Frames

9 May 2019

What is an urban sky frame? It's a worm's-eye view centring around the sky, almost seamlessly framed by urban structures (a term invented right here, right now).