Just south of the Plaza Mayor begin two of Madrid's best-loved districts. La Latina is the oldest part of the city, with curving lanes that follow the medieval walls, churches, small squares and dozens of tapas bars. Lavapiés, a little further east, was the old Jewish quarter and then the heart of working-class Madrid of the chulapos and the corralas; today it is the city's most multi-ethnic district. It is part of the Madrid guide.
La Latina
The name comes from Beatriz Galindo, called la Latina because she taught Latin to Queen Isabella the Catholic, who founded a hospital here in the early 16th century. The district is best discovered on foot:
- Cava Baja and Cava Alta, the streets of taverns, built over the moat of the old walls: here you go from bar to bar eating tapas, broken eggs, croquetas and tortilla. Nearby are calle de Toledo and plaza de la Paja, the district's prettiest square, with the Bishop's Chapel and the Príncipe de Anglona garden.
- The basilica of San Francisco el Grande, with one of Europe's largest domes and paintings by Goya and Zurbarán.
- Las Vistillas, a viewpoint over the Manzanares and the Casa de Campo, popular at sunset.
- La Cebada market, with its undulating roof, for shopping and a few food stalls.
Sundays: the Rastro and vermouth
Every Sunday and holiday, from about 9am to 3pm, the Ribera de Curtidores and surrounding streets fill with the Rastro, Spain's most famous flea market, with over a thousand stalls of clothes, crafts, antiques, records, books and objects of every kind. After the Rastro Madrileños move to La Latina for the ritual vermouth, served on draught with an olive and a slice of orange, accompanied by tapas until lunchtime: on Sunday at noon Cava Baja and plaza de los Carros become one great aperitivo. Watch out for pickpockets.
Lavapiés
Lavapiés slopes steeply south from plaza de Tirso de Molina, full of flower kiosks. It was the judería, the Jewish quarter, before 1492; then it became the heart of working-class Madrid, the Madrid of the corralas, tenements with internal balconies overlooking a shared courtyard, like the famous one on calle Mesón de Paredes. Today people from dozens of countries live here, from Bangladesh to Senegal, Morocco to China, alongside artists, students and young families.
- Calle de Lavapiés and calle Argumosa, with bar terraces in the shade of trees.
- The Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants on calle Lavapiés, cheap and tasty, and African and Middle Eastern eateries.
- San Fernando market, half traditional market and half food hall with craft beers and world cuisines.
- Alternative theatres, such as the National Drama Centre's Teatro Valle-Inclán and Sala Mirador, and the old tobacco factory, La Tabacalera, a cultural centre with murals and exhibitions.
- The murals and street art decorating the façades.
The district borders Embajadores and the Reina Sofía to the south, and the Barrio de las Letras to the east.
August festivals
In August, when half of Madrid is on holiday, La Latina and Lavapiés celebrate the popular festivals of San Cayetano, San Lorenzo and the Virgen de la Paloma, with processions, music, chotis dancing, lemonade and people dressed as chulapos and chulapas, with carnations and headscarves. See Madrid festivals.
Tips
- Tapas are eaten standing at the bar, moving from place to place: a wine or a caña and a tapa in each.
- Lavapiés is safe, but some streets are poorly lit at night: use common sense as in any big city.
- To eat well for little, the lunchtime set menu is unbeatable.
See also eating in Madrid and all neighbourhoods.