Taberna Malaspina: a home away from home
Photography by Cara Vaitilingam
Cara Vaitilingam reminisces about Taberna Malaspina, her favourite hidden jewel among the streets of Madrid.
Tucked away just a few paces from the frenetic hum of Madrid’s Puerta del Sol hides a little bar called Taberna Malaspina. Inside, its mustard-coloured walls are lined with dark wooden beams and glossy columns of red wine bottles. The shelves are dotted with a shifting pattern of pink scraps of paper scrawled with orders, and just in front the bartender leans on the tap, filling glass after glass with cool, frothy beer. In the corner, the chefs sweat in the small sauna-like kitchen, blowing wafts of fried potato aromas out to the masses.
Alejandro Malaspina, the Tuscan explorer exalted by the Spanish throne for his voyages through Asia and America, and the man after whom the bar is named, is immortalised in a tiled portrait on the wall. There are antique model ships tracing the shores of the room, and industrial-sized bulbs hang low, recreating a hushed cabin on Malaspina’s ship.
Hushed, however, this bar rarely is. Wander in at any time and the place is crammed with young and old, Spaniards and foreigners. During the day, senior locals take long, leisurely lunches, chattering loudly in Castilian over red wine while two charming waiters glide between the tables with plates aloft. At night, every inch is filled with young madrileños, foreign couples and extended Spanish families celebrating birthdays or anniversaries. As it gets darker outside, the waiters turn up the speakers and Taberna Malaspina becomes an unofficial karaoke joint; even the bartender gets involved, standing on a stool and singing along to reggaeton as she mashes up mint for the mojitos.
Photography by Cara Vaitilingam
With its antique decor and traditional Spanish food, the bar echoes a past gone by, but the lively crowd and modern soundtrack pull it back to the present day. There is something curiously satisfying about this crossroad it inhabits.
Taberna Malaspina has become my corner of Madrid. I come back again and again for the inexhaustible joy the food brings me. I dream of their hefty plates of padrón peppers with salt-flecked skins and juicy emerald flesh, their steaming rings of calamari and their chunky patatas fritas dolloped with piquant bravas sauce and pungent aioli.
Yet it’s not just the food that makes this place so special: it’s the warmth and character that mark it out from hundreds of other taverns in Madrid. Come here enough times and when you walk through the door, you’ll be greeted with a welcoming smile, an ‘hola, mi amor!’ or, if you’re lucky, a kiss on each cheek. In no time, Taberna Malaspina will come to feel like an old friend, welcoming you into its dining room where the tables are set with hearty Spanish delights.
Photography by Cara Vaitilingam
The satisfaction I feel from becoming a regular of sorts here is evidently shared by the many I see returning to the bar each night, bringing friends along for una cerveza and some platos de chorizo. For some locals, the tavern must bring some nostalgic comfort, with the menu of classics like tortilla remaining unchanged year after year.
It is a welcoming atmosphere for the staff too: one of the waiters has been working there for 11 of the bar’s 22 years, and when I asked another if he’s worked anywhere else, he simply replied, “why would we look elsewhere?”. It is a place of contentment; a place that makes you feel at home, especially when, like me, you are many miles away from home. A jewel among the rowdy backstreets of central Madrid, Taberna Malaspina is a place to be cherished.
This article was revised on 9th March 2020.