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Spain Information · Joined: 21 Oct 2006 Posts: 19 Home Country: spain

NIGHTLIFE IN SPAIN (MADRID & BARCELONA)

MADRID

Madrileños tend to make not one plan for the evening but three or four. While the busiest nights are Friday and Saturday (with Thursday a close runner-up), the locals go out every night and miraculously manage to work or study during the day. Perhaps the secret lies in the tradition of consuming tapas – snacks of olives, anchovies, chorizo (sausages), gambas (deep-fried shrimp) and local specialties like orejas (pig’s ears), callos (tripe), mollejas (sweetbreads), snails in hot sauce and bull’s testicles. After a long night on the town, it is customary to breakfast on thick hot chocolate and sweet fried churros (dough).

Nightlife centres on three major districts – Chueca (Madrid’s gay village, which specializes in trendy restaurants), Calle Huertas (traditional Spanish music, jazz clubs and bars) and Malasaña (mainly bars and clubs frequented by a young crowd). All bars and clubs are licensed but hours are flexible. It can be hard to tell bars and clubs apart, since bars often have a dancefloor and not all clubs charge for entry. Where they do, €5–10 is the standard admission fee, which usually includes consumición (first drink). The legal drinking age in Madrid is 18 and the price of tipple ranges from €1.50 for a small beer or glass of wine to €4.50 for spirits and cocktails. It is customary to pay on leaving and certainly worth noting that few bars [spam word detected]. Tipping is discretionary (€1 will suffice).

Many venues close during the month of August. There are several listings magazines. The weekly Guía del Ocio (website: www.guiadelocio.com/english), published in Spanish only and available from kiosks for €1, has information on concerts, theatre, film and other entertainment options. It also provides restaurant listings. The monthly What’s On is published in English and Spanish and is less detailed but good on opening times and contact details. In Madrid is a monthly English-language newspaper, available from tourist offices, Irish bars or Barajas airport. It is hot on the latest club news, DJs, bars and other aspects of night-time entertainment, and it is free.

Bars: Madrid’s bars range from dark, wood-panelled taverns to the fabulous Viva Madrid, Calle Manuel Fernández y Gonzáles 7, with its painted tiles of Madrid scenes from the early 1900s. The Garamond, Calle de Claudio Coello 10, has a castle-like interior and suits a smart older crowd. Chicote, Grand Vía 12, is Madrid’s most famous cocktail bar and has preserved its 1930s interior – it is easy to imagine American novelist Ernest Hemingway relaxing here during the Civil War. A former brothel run by gypsies, with a tiled interior depicting Velázquez’s The Drunkards, Los Gabrieles, Calle Echegaray 17, is now a respectable bar for a young chic clientele. Tapas bars cluster around Plaza de Santa Ana near Sol, Plaza de Santa Bárbara in Calasaña and Cava Baja and Calle de Cuchilleros, behind Plaza Mayor. One of the best is Taberna los Austrias, Calle Nuncio 17, situated near metro La Latina. As dawn breaks, revelers head for Chocolatería San Ginés, Pasadizo de San Ginés 11, a Mecca for those in search of hot chocolate and churros.

Casinos: Casino Gran Madrid, Autovía A6, Km 29 exit from Madrid, Carretera de la Coruna, (tel: 900 900 810; website: www.casinogranmadrid.es), is the only officially recognized casino in the area and is located outside the city, near Torrelodones – a free bus service leaves from Plaza Espana 6. The dress code is formal and ties must be worn, the age limit is 21 and passports are required for entry.

Clubs: Most tourists head for the clubs around Sol and Gran Vía, although true hedonists might want to try out some of the locals’ haunts instead. A typical night might begin around 2300 with the exotic elite at Serrano 41, Calle Serrano 41, Independencia, Puerta de Alcalá, or the tango-friendly Sportsman, Calle Alcalá 65, before moving on to Fortuny, Calle Fortuney 23, the laid-back Café del Foro, Calle San Andres 38, or super-trendy Mármara, Calle Padre Damián, next to Hotel Eurobuilding. There are no admission charges here, although chic dress is recommended. The energetic dance to techno at Pachá, Calle Barceló 11. Gabana 1800, Calle de Velázquez 6, is another popular venue for stylish 20- and 30-somethings – if the bouncer allows admission.

Live Music: Madrid offers an eclectic choice of flamenco, salsa, jazz, rock, world music and cantautores – Spanish singer-songwriters. The Café de la Palma, Calle la Palma 62 (website: www.cafelapalma.com), is the venue of the moment for cantautores, as well as flamenco and Cuban music acts. For more Latino sounds, fans should head for La Negra Tomasa, Calle Cádiz 9, for live music nightly from 2100. Moby d***, Avenida de Brasil 5 (website: www.mobydickclub.com) in the Castellana district, plays live pop and rock on weekdays and hosts DJs (reggae and rap) at weekends. The clientele is a charming mixture of foreigners and locals. At Café Populart, Calle Huertas 22 (website: www.populart.es) punters can experience everything from live jazz to swing, salsa, blues, gospel, African and reggae. There are two shows nightly, at 2300 and 0030. The Irish Rover pub, Avenida de Brasil 7, imports Irish, folk and country music. International acts play regularly at the Café Central, Plaza del Angel 10, Madrid’s top jazz venue. Pop stars and the best salsa bands perform at La Riviera, Paseo Bajo de la Virgen del Puerto.

BARCELONA

Barcelona is widely considered one of Europe’s great party cities and deservedly so. Things may start slowly with some food and a few drinks after siesta finishes (at approximately 1700) but they soon gather pace and by 2300 the city is buzzing. Friday and Saturday nights are when the city is at its liveliest, although the drinking and dancing keeps going throughout the week. Bars are usually open until 0200 or 0300, while clubs and discos keep going until 0500 or 0600. The legal drinking age in Barcelona is 16 years and the price of tipple ranges from €1 for a small beer or glass of wine to €5 for something stronger, such as a rum and coke, depending also on the type of establishment.

Port Olímpic is particularly buzzing on summer nights, as is Port Vell, where the Maremagnum shopping complex bizarrely metamorphoses into a nefarious collage of cafés, bars and nightclubs, open late into the night. In the last few years, bars modernos with music and designer decor have been popular with a young ultra-hip clientele across the city. The trend is to dress quite smartly when going out in Barcelona.

Available in hostels, the free seasonal guide See Barcelona (website: www.seebarcelona.com), and the Guía del Ocio booklet (website: www.guiadelocio.com), available from newsagents and newspaper stands, both provide information on nightlife in Barcelona.

Bars: Xampanyerías (champagne bars) serving sparkling Catalan wine (cava) are a specialty of the city. Good places for cava include La Bodegueta del Xampú, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes 702, Xampanyeria Casablanca, Carrer Bonavista 6, and El Xampanyet, Carrer Montcada 22. The latter also serves cider and tapas, in vibrant surroundings. Bar Pastís, Carrer Santa Mònica 4, has the honour of counting Picasso among its former regulars. The artist’s other hangout was El Quatre Gats, Carrer Montsió 3, a modernista bar with good beer and live music from 2100. The original menu, designed by Picasso, is on show in the Museu Picasso (see Key Attractions). L’Ovella Negra, Carrer Sitges 5, is a favourite as much with the international backpacker set as it is with local students. Bar Marsella, Carrer de Sant Pau 65, is the place to imbibe an absenta, a close relative of absinthe. For the style-conscious, some of the city’s coolest haunts include the spectacular Torres de Avila, Avenida Marqués de Comillas, Poble Espanyol, on Montjuïc, the perennially stylish Dry Martini, Carrer Aribau 162-166, Ideal Cocktail Bar, Carrer Aribau 89, and Mas i Mas, Carrer Maria Cubi 199. Mirablau, Plaça Doctor Andreu, at the foot of the Tibidabo funicular, is especially romantic, with its sweeping views of the city. Popular Berimbau, Passeig del Born 17, serves up good cocktails to a background of Brazilian rhythms, while Oven, Calle Ramon Turró 126, is a hip venue for cocktails, in a modishly-converted factory in the up-and-coming Poblenou district.

Casinos: Gran Casino de Barcelona, Carrer de la Marina 19-21 (website: www.casino-barcelona.com), is open daily 1300-0500. Visitors must be 18 years or over and carry a passport or driving license. A smart dress code applies.

Clubs: Barcelona’s most beautiful people can be found in Up And Down, Carrer Numància 179, the city’s most exclusive nightclub, while a younger, more down-to-earth crowd boogie to the latest sounds at Bikini, Carrer Deu i Mata 105 (website: www.bikinibcn.com). The split-level Moog Club, Arc del Teatre 3 (website: www.masimas.com), in the Chinese Quarter, offers the best of European techno and hosts big international DJs. Salsitas, Calle Nou de la Rambla 22 (website: www.gruposalsitas.com), with a well designed bar, restaurant and a dancefloor, is one of the city’s trendiest hotspots, while stylish Torres de Ávila, Avenida Marquès de Comillas, Poble Espanyol (website: www.welcome.to/torresdeavila) has long been celebrated for its all-night trance-techno discos on summer weekends. Popular open-air haunts include La Terrazza, Avenida Montanyans – open in the summer months only (website: www.nightsungroup.com). Punto BCN, Carrer Muntaner 63 (website: www.grupoarena.com) is a popular gay club.

For flamenco dancing, try Tablao Flamenco Cordobes, La Rambla 35 (website: www.tablaocordobes.com), Los Tarantos, Plaça Reial 17 (website: www.masimas.com), or Tablao del Carmen, Arcs 9, Poble Espanyol (website: www.tablaodecarmen.com). La Paloma, Carrer Tigre 27 (website: www.lapaloma-bcn.com), is a beautiful dancehall dating from the turn of the century. The band plays to an enthusiastic crowd, with a menu of pasa doble, tango, salsa, flamenco and more.

Live Music: Large-scale rock and pop concerts by international stars can be heard at the Palau Sant Jordi, Passeig Olímpic 5-7, the Estadi Olímpic, Montjuïc, and Camp Nou, Avenguda de Joan XXII. The best mid-sized venue is Zeleste, Carrer Almogàvers 122, in Poble Nou, which hosts Spanish and international pop and rock groups. Harlem Jazz Club, Carrer Comtesa de Sobradiel 8, hosts jazz and other live music, daily until 0400. Jamboree, Plaça Reial 17, is a long-standing and popular jazz, blues and funk venue. Traditional folk music from Catalonia, Spain and the rest of Europe is on offer at the Center Artesà Tradicionarius, Travessera de Sant Antoni 6-8, which hosts concerts on Thursday and Friday evenings.