Madrid is Mad for the Gays

It was after 1 a.m. on a Wednesday night in Madrid's gay Chueca district but it didn't look like a weeknight. Despite cool weather and an intermittent light rain, the streets, bars, and cafes were jammed with people. Locals tell me that that is not unusual. Spain's economy may be on the skids, but the Spanish are showing no signs of giving up their cherished nightlife any time soon.

Although Spain has long enjoyed a robust nightlife, not that long ago, that nightlife did not have much to offer gays.

Madrid resident Mili Hernandez, 50, recalled how far ahead the U.S. was on gay rights when she first visited New York City 25 years ago.

"When I arrived in the states in 1985, I thought it was a paradise for gays and lesbians. Now I think that Spain is a paradise for gays and lesbians," Hernandez told the Bay Area Reporter .

In 1993, she opened Berkana, the first gay bookstore in the Chueca neighborhood. In a 10-year span after opening, she saw an explosion of gay bars, nightclubs, and cafes.

Chueca (pronounced Choo-aye-ka) was named for Federico Chueca, a 19th century heterosexual Spanish composer. By the late 20th century, the area had deteriorated into a dangerous drug-infested slum. But Madrid's gays turned it around. Elderly residents who couldn't afford to move out of Chueca were appreciative of the change because they saw the drug addicts move out and the streets became cleaner and safer.

The first three gay bars opened in Chueca in 1981. Just three years earlier, Spain had repealed its laws that had made homosexuality illegal. That followed Franco's dictatorship, which ended with his death in 1975. Spain has had same-sex marriage since 2005.

Chueca, within easy walking distance of downtown, is now one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Madrid. Rents and home prices have skyrocketed. Hernandez saw the value of her modest apartment increase from $130,000 when she purchased it in 1996 to nearly $800,000 today. She was forced to move her bookstore from one building in Chueca to another after a huge rent hike.

Chueca's resurgence has helped surrounding businesses thrive. Just last year, Madrid opened a more than 300-yard stretch of Fuencarral Street as a pedestrian-only street. It has already become one of the most expensive streets in the city with rents on some high-end shops running at as much as $5,000 a month.

Fuencarral intersects with Gran Via, Madrid's famous wide boulevard lined with that distinctive and often copied Spanish architecture.

____________________________________________________________________________

Madrid Nightlife

Visitors to Chueca are the beneficiaries of the boom. There are a wide variety of gay places in Chueca, from heterosexual mixed cafes to men's saunas and cruising bars with dark rooms. The bars and nightclubs have different themes on different nights. You won't have much trouble figuring out what is going on once you get in town. Chueca's sidewalks are filled with barkers handing out fliers and trying to convince passersby to come in to sample their club. Once you get in town, you can pick up a copy of the free gay glossy magazine, Shanguide. It is in Spanish but it has handy maps listing gay businesses.

The population of Madrid is 3.2 million, or nearly twice that if you count the suburbs. That's more than enough to support a lively gay scene. And it's not uncommon for visitors from other European countries to visit Madrid to take in the weekend nightlife.

Like most major cities, there are many more nightlife venues for gay men than lesbians. But the options for gay women include the Fulanita de Tal and the Planet bars in Chueca. South of Chueca, th

While the royal family no longer lives at the Royal Palace in Madrid, it continues to be used for official functions. Photo: Ed Walsh
e Medea nightclub is one of the best-known lesbian nightclubs in the city. La Bohemia is on Chueca Plaza and is mostly women. Also in Chueca, the Truco bar is lesbian owned and gay and lesbian mixed.
The nightlife options for gay men in Madrid are seemingly endless.

The Angel Sierra is right on Chueca Plaza and is often an after-work meeting place where the night starts out before moving on to other more late-night venues. By the way, during the week, bars and saunas are usually busiest early in the evening. Nightclubs and some bars don't get going until late in the evening. Nightclubs usually don't open until 11 p.m. and don't get busy until after 1 a.m.

The Diurno Cafe and DVD shop is an example of Madrid's relatively newfound openness. The gay cafe has glass walls and caters to a younger clientele who have no memory of the bad old days when gay bars were hidden behind covered-up windows and you had to ring a bell to get in.

The popular Mito disco in Chueca is gay and lesbian mixed.

The LL club in Chueca hosts drag and stripper shows and packs 'em in even during the week.

The Leather Club is a huge venue for the leather community of Madrid. The space also includes a dark room. And when the leather men want to bar hop, they don't have far to go, the popular Eagle is just a block away. Three bear bars are clustered near each other in Chueca: Hot, Bears bar, and El Paso.

Enfrente is a gay bar and cafe in Chueca just across the street from the Hot bar.

Liquid, Studio 54, and Pricilla cater to a younger crowd.

There are several small gay saunas in Chueca. The Men sauna is among the more popular.

The expansive Paraiso sauna, outside Chueca near the Noviciado Metro station, features an indoor pool and two hot tubs. The modern Octopus sauna is closer to Chueca, near the Tribunal Metro station. Its centerpiece is a bar with a glass floor that looks down on its pool.

____________________________________________________________________________

(Madrid travel feature continued on next page: sights, accommodations, and more...)

Madrid Sights

The Madrid Vision bus is a good way to get around to the major sights of Madrid without getting lost. The buses run about every 10 or 15 minutes and you can hop on or off at stops at the major attractions. The cost is $23 for one day or $28 for two days. (Conversions into dollars are based on the current exchange rate of 1.33 euros per dollar.)

The Madrid Card is well worth getting. It allows you free entrance to most museums and many attractions for 24, 48, or 72 hours, priced at $65, $82, and $101, respectively. Free rides on the Madrid Vision bus and the Teleferico gondola ride are included.

A bicycle tour is a fun way to see the top sights of Madrid quickly because you can drive onto the plazas and the pedestrian-only paths that are off limits to the bus tours. Bravo Bike tours are among the best. It ranks ninth of all Madrid attractions on http://www.TripAdvisor.com.

The Prado Museum is regarded as one of the most famous art galleries in the world, exhibiting works by Rubens, Goya, Titian, and Velazquez.

The Plaza Mayor was completed in 1619 and is Madrid's most famous square. It is a pedestrian-only open space surrounded by historical buildings and is filled with cafes and street performers now.

You will find the oldest restaurant in the world, Botin, just behind Plaza Mayor. It was founded in 1725 and holds the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest eatery anywhere.

Retiro Park is the city's best-known park and one of its most popular attractions. Officially called Parque del Buen Retiro, the park was opened to the public in 1868 after being off limits to everyone except royalty. Retiro Park's centerpiece is a man-made lake. Madrid residents jam this park on the warm summer nights.

The Teleferico is an aerial gondola ride that connects the Parque del Oeste (West Park) and the Casa de Campo Park. It offers great views of the city as you are whisked away from one side of the city to the other.

The centerpiece of Oeste Park is an Egyptian monument. The Temple of Debod, which dates back to 2 BC, was a gift from Egypt.

Casa de Campo is the city's largest green space. Attractions in the park include a zoo, amusement park, and boating lake.

Puerta del Sol is a plaza that is at the geographic center of Spain. The plaza is lined with cafes and restaurants and is filled with street performers and people who are drawn to the open space and sunshine. Visitors crowd around a plaque on the sidewalk across the street from the plaza that marks the geographic center of the country. Tourists have their photos taken touching the plaque on the sidewalk that marks the spot.

The Royal Palace is the place where royals have governed Spain since Carlos III in 1764. The palace is open to the public now but if you go, it's a good idea to get there early before the line gets too long. Spain's royal family does not live in the palace but it is still used for official occasions.

____________________________________________________________________________

Madrid Accommodations

The Me by Melia Hotel, which markets itself to the gay community, is within easy walking distance to Chueca and a number of Madrid's most famous sights. This four-star hotel is deserving of its reputation for excellence and it's no wonder it is the favorite of George Clooney and other celebrities when they visit the city.

Hostal Puerta del Sol is a good choice if you are on a budget. It is on Puerta de Sol Plaza. It bills itself as a gay hotel but it is gay and heterosexual mixed. It is in the center of the city, just steps from Chueca.

Casa Chueca and the Hostal Dolce Vita are small hotels in the heart of Chueca and are also good options if you are on a tight budget.

The modern chic Oscar Hotel, the heart of Chueca, has a gay bar on the ground floor. The four-star hotel is just two years old and is already drawing a loyal clientele.

____________________________________________________________________________

Getting there and around
Madrid's subway system, Metro, runs directly to the Madrid airport. Don't rent a car unless you plan on doing a lot of driving outside of the city. You can buy a one-use ticket for $2.60. A one-day unlimited ride pass is $9, two days is $11.50 and a five-day pass is $23.

Safety
Madrid, like most major cities of Europe, has a serious problem with pickpockets. It's a good idea to leave most of your money, important cards, and passport locked in your hotel safe. In public, keep all valuables in front of you where you can see them. Avoid walking with cameras, handbags or fanny packs dangling from your body as they can be tempting targets for thieves who will rip them off and run.

Language
It is big help to know at least some Spanish before going to Madrid. If you don't know any, it would be a good idea to carry a phrase book with you or give yourself a crash course on the basics on the flight over. Most Spanish people know some English but they aren't as fluent in English as most other European countries.

Most hotels and tourist attractions have employees who are fluent in English.

For more information on travel to Spain, the official tourist board's website for Americans is http://www.okspain.org/us.

____________________________________________________________________________

Reprinted courtesy of Ed Walsh and Bay Area Reporter