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Plaza de Chueca (Metro: Chueca) once teetered on the verge of infamy, owing to its popularity with drug dealers and prostitutes. However, most of the addicts have been moved on and there is now a strong neighbourhood feel, with kids and grannies giving a semblance of innocence by day, and a lively gay scene springing into action at night. It is also fronted by one of the best old-style vermut bars in the city, Bodega Angel Sierra , on c/Gravina at the northwest corner. The whole area has become somewhat gentrified in recent years with the rise of a host of stylish bars, cafes and restaurants many of which have been established by the local gay community. From Plaza de Chueca east to Paseo Recoletos (the beginning of the long Paseo de la Castellana) are some of the city's most enticing streets. Offbeat restaurants, small private art galleries, and odd corner shops are to be found here in abundance and the c/Almirante has some of the city's most fashionable clothes shops too. On the parallel c/Prim, ONCE , the national association for the blind, has its headquarters. ONCE is financed by a lottery, for which the blind work as ticket sellers, and many come here to collect their allocation of tickets. The lottery has become such a major money-spinner that the organization is now one of the wealthiest businesses in Spain; oddly, perhaps, it is also the sponsor of one of the world's top cycling teams. To the south, the Ministry of Culture fronts the Plaza del Rey , which is also worth a look for the other odd buildings surrounding it, especially the Casa de las Siete Chimeneas (House of Seven Chimneys), which is supposedly haunted by a mistress of Felipe II who disappeared in mysterious circumstances. To the north, on the edge of the Santa Barbara barrio , on c/Fernando VI, is the Sociedad de Autores (Society of Authors), housed in the only significant modernista building in Madrid, designed by Jose Grases Riera, part of the Gaudi school. Nearby, the Museo Romantico , at c/San Mateo 13 (Tues-Sat 9am-2.45pm, Sun 10am-1.15pm, closed Aug; ?2.40, free on Sun; Metro: Tribunal), has its admirers for its late-Romantic-era furnishings, though casual visitors are unlikely to be impressed. The Museo Municipal at c/Fuencarral 78 (Tues-Fri 9.30am-8pm, July & Aug 9.30am-2.30pm, Sat & Sun 10am-2pm; ?1.80, free on Wed & Sun; Metro: Tribunal) is more interesting for its models and maps of old Madrid, which show the incredible expansion of the city in the last century. The building itself has a superb Churrigueresque facade by Pedro de Ribera.
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