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Madrid's vibrant culture - from literary giants to bullfighting - is best seen in the gaudy tiled facades of the city.
Sometimes it’s the small things that make a place special. Madrid may be famous for its museums, art galleries and palaces – but keep an eye open for the tiles that decorate its bars and restaurants. They’re one of the city’s most characteristic traditions, and a great way to get yourself thoroughly immersed in Spanish culture. You don't have to go far from Atocha railway station to find Bodegas Rosell, in Calle General Lacy, with a lovely tiled façade. But the heartland of Madrileño azulejos (glazed ceramics) is the area around the Plaza Mayor and Plaza Santa Ana. In Plaza Santa Ana, the Taberna Villa Rosa’s Andalusian landscapes have a fresh, pastoral feel, like a cool breeze in the middle of the city. This bar was opened by two bullfighters in 1914, and its mudéjar influenced (Moorish style) interior is worth a visit. Famous writers remembered in tilesNearby are several fine bars. Many Romantic writers drank in El Parnasillo, in Calle del Principe; its façade is now decorated with tiled portraits of them. Viva Madrid, just round the corner, is tiled inside and out with vivid yellow and green. Los Gabrieles – a former brothel, apparently – used to be a great place to drink and listen to flamenco, with the most remarkable, even surreal tiles. But it’s being redeveloped as this area of Madrid – formerly the haunt of bullfighters and gypsies – gets gentrified. Calle Victoria, which leads up to the main drag (Carrera de San Jeronimo), has a fine series of tiled façades. The Venta El Buscon shows the lowlife swindler in his slouch hat and big cloak – here, you’re being introduced to the work of early novelist Quevedo, another step into Spanish culture. The Taberna Alhambra’s fine tiles reflect its Andalucian origins. In fact, these tiles are really a southern Spanish tradition – first used in Moorish buildings like the Alhambra; they only became popular in Madrid in the early twentieth century. But perhaps the most splendid façade on the street is the Fontana de Oro, now an Irish pub, with its rich colours, fountains and peacocks. Calle Cava Baja is one of Madrid’s most characteristic streets, lined with bars and restaurants. Here, ‘La Chata’ – which you could translate as ‘honey’ or ‘darling’ - is named after a a countess who used to drink here. It has splendid tiles on the façade, advertising its roast suckling pig and fine hams and showing a streetscape of old Madrid. It still serves suckling pig, as well as salt cod with its ‘secret’ tomato sauce, and paella on Sundays. Further along the road is La Bayuca de la Cava, with tiles modelled on Goya and Velasquez paintings – so you can bone up on your art history while eating your dinner, if you like. Tiles commemorate great matadors – and great bullsBullfighting is another aspect of Spain’s vibrant culture and folklore, and it’s not surprising that a bar near the Las Ventas bullring should take the corrida as a theme for its tiles. The Bar Los Timbales is decorated with tiled panels showing matadors, bulls’ heads, and bullfighting scenes. You won't be surprised that the speciality here is rabo de toro, oxtail stew. It’s not just bars that have fine azulejos. Some shops also had decorated façades, though many have been lost to redevelopment. At Calle San Vicente Ferrer 28, for instance, you can see the lovely art deco façade of an egg shop, showing different breeds of chicken. Some of them are quite splendid, with feathery legs or fine arching tails. But you won't get eggs here any more – the shop has become a bar. If all these tiles give you a headache you could head for the Juanse pharmacy, in Calle San Andres. Its tiles advertise the chemist’s wares – salves and pills for tooth pain or stomache ache. Even the street signs are made of tilesKeep an eye open while you’re navigating around Madrid for the fine tiles showing street names. Some are portraits of famous people - Cervantes, Queen Isabel, the playwright Calderon de la Barca – while others show landscapes of old Madrid, with picturesque details. But perhaps one of the most amusing is found just off the Plaza de la Villa, on the corner of Calle del Codo. It’s a disembodied, bent arm in plate armour. Calle del Codo - ‘Elbow Street’.
The copyright of the article The Tiles of Madrid in Spain Travel is owned by Andrea Kirkby. Permission to republish The Tiles of Madrid in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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