Night life in Madrid

Nightlife

It has been countless times now that I have assumed the responsibility, of making it clear how amazing the the city of Madrid is, for a good night out. Personally, within Spain, I have been in cities such as Barcelona, Seville, San Sebastian... most of the big province capitals. Although all of them have countless charms that the others do not have, out of them all, Madrid is the city that looks the best and has the best atmosphere at night.

I have also been to many other European capitals, such as Paris, Rome or London (Im missing Berlin from my list) and I completed my Erasmus in Finland. I can say with pride and a little giddiness, because I'm taking a risk, that Madrid is the best city for a night out of all the ones I've been to. At least it is the city where I have had the best time and have gathered the most stories from, throughout my life.

Because Madrid isn't just a city that has so much life during the day, I will dare to say that Madrid is even better at night than during the day. And what it offers culturally during the day is incredible. There has even been talk of introducing a model similar to the one used in Amsterdam, of having a mayor who is especially responsible for nightlife in the city. But at the minute it is all hearsay.

A quick review: starting the night

In Madrid, a lot of things are emphasised when the sun goes down. Firstly, it has to be said that the main characteristic of the city when it comes to a night out (and this is the same for all of Spain) is that the party starts very very late. If the place closes at 3 in the morning, people will go there at around 1. 30 in the morning. And here in Spain, either because of the lack of punctuality or because the nights are very long, it is strange to start partying at 10pm. Here, the night starts much later than it usually does in a lot of other places in Europe.

According to my experience, and depending on what you want to do each night (club, bar, drinking €1 cans on the street, etc), it is normal to start to go out at 11pm. You can also go out beforehand with friends to eat and drink together, which is what usually happens because of the large amount of places that you can go to eat until you are full and drink yourself blind for a very low price. The most famous is the franchise, 100 montaditos: small sandwiches for €1 and a beer (Cruzcampo) for €1. 50. There are a few better places in the whole city for it and they can be found in practically all the zones of the city.

Perhaps the most similar is the Mercado Provenzal, who boast about having the cheapest beer in all of Spain, at €1. 20 for half a litre, but I think it has a worse offer for food than 100 montaditos. After we would also go to Bar El Tigre, somewhere less known but also perfect to eat and drink. The beer here is a little more expensive, but better, and the food is trays of tapas which you can take and carry with you. It is not great food, but the portions are huge and at the end of the night in Madrid, you don't eat, you drink more.

But without a doubt, the place that I think is perfect for both food and drink is La Troika, a Russian bar that serves a very good beer (with a shot of vodka) for €4. And in terms of food, the portions are huge for quite an acceptable quality. I have already written specifically about this magnificent bar in one of my posts, it is without a doubt, one of the bars that really stands out on the map of the city.

These are the main places that I would go out to eat and drink with friends before a night out, although you can always just go out to drink and then go for a kebab or to a 24 hour McDonald’s in the middle of the night.

Time to look for a bar or club

But we cannot spend the whole night eating and drinking (although many of us would like to). A time comes when these places close, which is when you need to look for a place to go to continue drinking.

This is where everyone's taste comes in. There are people who prefer going to pubs that you pay entry to and drink what you want, and people who prefer go straight to a club and stay there until 6 in the morning with a good offer on the entry and drinks. Although there will always be the option of combining both, but this option will obviously end up being the most expensive.

• Argüelles-Moncloa

  It is one of the university areas that is excellent for everything in the city, from nights out to choosing a flat, since it is the area which is right next to the Complutense University of Madrid. Here you can always find a university atmosphere of every type and the possibility of finding places to spend time drinking or dancing and clubs that open until 6 am.

  To speak of this area in Madrid, I have to mention the club, Bajos de Argüelles. As its name indicates, it is near the metro stop with the same name (Argüelles) and it is characterised for being a kind of ecosystem, where all types of people in the city that are going out for the night, gather.

  Among all of the places you can find anything from rock bars, heavy metal bars to reggeaton bars. All of them are known for being very cheap places where it is very unusual to be charged entrance fees. They will want to charge you if you go into the heavy metal bar, dressed posh for example, which has happened to me more than once before. Although, life outside these bars is people drinking cans of beer and smoking, since it is a pedestrian place that the police don't usually be unless there are problems.

  But these aren't the only bars that you will find in this area. There are also a number of places, bars or pubs, which are spread out through Moncloa that you just have to discover. Personally, one that I usually go to is the Star Coyote (previously Star Studio). An international bar with all kinds of music and a very good price for beer, €10 for an open bar for 2 hours.

  And, of course, in this area, you can also find a lot of clubs that a lot of students go to every weekend. They are all pretty small for being a club. They are rooms that hold about 200 people and a lot of them have good offers on entry and drinks. It usually costs around €10 with a drink or €12 with two drinks. And girls, for the most part get in for free. What I got to most often in the area is the club Copérnico, it is not a very elegant place but I have always had a good time there and they always let me in no matter what state I was in (yes, the gone kind of drunk).

• Malasaña

  I made a post in which I spoke specifically about one one day in Malasaña and how it was as a place in general. Just like, I also spoke about how the nightlife in Malasaña is. Therefore, it is clear that Malasaña is one of the main centres in the capital when it comes to nightlife.

  

  During the day, Malasaña is a place where families, young people, old people and kids, calmly walk in the sun light, but at night it completely transforms into one of the places with the most parties and diversity in Madrid.

  Malasaña is mainly highlighted for the large number of bars you can find in a few minute walk through the streets in a neighbourhood. It is free to get in to the majority of places although the drink prices are usually quite high, but some places are really worth it.

  I always go out in Malasaña and usually go through the street calle Velarde, one of the streets where most locals gather in a small space. At the end of this street you will find Plaza del Dos de Mayo, a place that is perfect to drink cans of beer as long as there are no police walking around. Anyway, you can simply go to this street and drink €1 cans before going into any place.

  As I once heard the owner of a bar say as he was watching the door: "any day that police pass by here, we are all arrested". And that is the uncomfortable truth for those of us who go out as well as the ones who run the places. It's not any more illegal to do this in the street as it is to do it in some bar.

  It would be almost impossible to count the number of places I have been to around here, but if I had to choose one, it would be La Vía Láctea, a bar with two floors, amazing music and a great atmosphere. In fact it is a place that a lot of young people in the television or music industry go to at the moment.

  In terms of clubs, there are quite a few in this area, but the one that I find the most significant is the club Ochoymedio, an indie-rock and indie-electronic environment with free entry until 1:30 in the morning, after previously signing the guest list

• Sol

  If Malasaña is a centre of nightlife, Sol is the nerve centre of life, of partying, of transport, of tourism... of practically everything in the city of Madrid.

  You can find so many places here, such as clubs, Irish pubs, a combination of a little of everything... Anything you can imagine. It is usually a place where most people gather, and tourists more than anything to be honest.

  If you go to Sol and don't know it very well, you can always let yourself be guided by one of the hundred of PR staff who will approach you to tell you about their offers. Many times, these people try to falsify or dress up the places they promote, so you have to be careful and if you are not convinced by the place you are going to. Don't let yourself be fooled.

  But I am writing about this a lot, since there are infinite party places in Sol to go to. Firstly I am going to talk about the places that I usually go to in Sol for a night out and that I think are worth it.

  The pub La Fontana de Oro is a place that I wrote about recently and is somewhere I also go to at the end of the night. They open until 6am and you can get free entry until about 3am. But if you are not convinced, you can try some other pub like O'Coneil's. Another acceptable and cheap option is to go to +kCopas of those that are in the area, one of these places one of those random places you go to when you don't know what to do.

  But without a doubt what this area is most notable for is the amount of clubs. One of the usual PR offers is a tour of some of the main clubs in the area, something I personally don't recommend because you end up doing nothing all night. It is only a strategy to attract indecisive tourists.

  To choose a club to go to for a night out here, trust in some of the PR staff to advise you or look into the styles on the places there before you go. I normally go to Independance, which is a club that has free entry until 1:30am. But there are many others... Shoko, Joy Eslava... And if you rush me you can go to Atocha (15 minutes walking from Sol) to get to what may be the best nightclub in Madrid: Kapital. It can seem far, but there are PR's for the area that will give offers for this club.

• Huertas

  This area is very close to Sol, and it is mainly busy at night where people gather around the street that the club Huertas is on.

  It is not the most lively area of the city of Madrid, but it still offers a large number of bars and pubs that can be interesting if you are looking for something different, such as the Cafe Jazz Populart, a bar where you can be having a drink while listening to live jazz music from 10pm or music by a DJ from midnight.

  I cannot remember the times that I have been there very well. It is possible that it is due to fact that the times that I have been, I was there because I didn't now where to go with my friends at that time. Also, the times that I have went to a place here, I have not had good feelings about them for some reason.

  In any case, it is an area where there are quite a types of bars, and for that it is worth going to check it out. For example, you can find some karaoke bars, something that there is not a lot of in the rest of the city. I have tried it more than once and I love it. Although it is something that it quite decadent in general, I have always enjoyed these palces.

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