How to enjoy the nightlife of Spanish cities
Apr 18 '01
The Bottom Line Spanish cities invariably have a vibrant, buzzing nightlife. Find a bar, find a restaurant, find a concert, find a club, and you'll have fun.
For much of this century, Spain was a boring, boring place. The hated dictator, General Franco, was an uncompromising fascist, a hardline Catholic, and an extreme puritan. Entertainment and leisure were almost proscribed, while labour and efficiency were encouraged.
Of course, Franco couldn't completely crush the Spanish spirit, but it was still a depressing place until his death in 1975. Since then, Spain has been a fantastic destination for travellers.
Places like London, Paris, New York, and Los Angeles are famous for their nightlife. But Spain is different, because Spanish cities don't just have a great nightlife, they are their nightlife. A common phrase in guidebooks to Spain is something like: 'The area is dull and sleepy during the day, but at night it really comes alive.' That could be said of the whole country.
In most Western cities, you might go for a short drink at 7, a meal at 8, and a club at 10. In Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Seville, or any other big Spanish town, it's more like to be a long, long drink at 6, a meal at 11, and then drinks for the rest of the night, including a hot chocolate to calm down just before going off to work.
And there's no reason why a visitor shouldn't enjoy the excitements of Spain after dark just like anyone else. Finding a bar is incredibly easy, as there are a couple on most streets. Most of them look tacky, with striplights and plastic fittings, but they're actually clean, pleasant and above all friendly. Order una piña (pineapple juice), un vino blanco (white wine), una sangria (red wine cocktail), or just una cerveza (bottled beer). And with it have some tapas, the ubiquitous snack-food that works a bit like bar peanuts and a bit like sushi. Throughout the evening, bar-goers order raciones (small portions) of things like gambas a la blancha (fried prawns), patatas bravas (fried potatoes with tomato sauce), albondigas (meatballs), aceitunas (olives), or calamares (squid rings, my personal favourite).
So you eat, drink and chat, maybe changing bars a couple of times, until it gets dark (in Spain, it stays light for hours in the evenings). If it's past 10:30, the restaurants are starting to get going, so hopefully you're not to full and not to drunk.
A good restaurant is a little harder to find, and you can't trust the guidebooks. But if the place looks nice, and the price is about right, you'll be unlucky to go wrong. Ethnic food is less common in Spain than elsewhere, although you can still find occasional Chinese, Italian, Greek and, if you're lucky, Peruvian restaurants. But if you didn't want Spanish food, why did you come to Spain?
The Spanish do seafood better than anyone else in the world. If you've never tried it, you absolutely have to have paella. It's a wonderful dish which used to be a simple peasant staple, but is nowadays a common choice even in expensive restaurants. It's a bed of rice, flavoured and coloured with saffron, with assorted meat or fish. In a seafood paella, the nicest sort, you'll find mussels, prawns, squid, octopus, and any number of other things, all of them fresh and delicious.
If you want something else, you'll find an excellent selection on most Spanish restaurants. If you speak the language it's easy, otherwise you're quite likely to have a waiter with a smattering of English. If not, just order at random, and it'll almost certainly be good. Seating, ordering, billing, and tipping work just like you're used to.
After the meal, it's bar time again! Or if you want some fresh air, find un parque (park, duh!), where young urban Spaniards congregate in the evenings. Otherwise, look for some entertainment.
Buy El Pais, the best Spanish paper, and inside you'll find a local supplement, where you'll find listings for film, music and theatre. Again, it's useful to speak the language, but even if you know no Spanish you can find the address of a multiplex. Most of them will be showing dubbed American films and the odd Spanish film (sadly, Spain's film industry isn't what it could be), but if you yearn for a familiar voice there are subtitled films.
You'll see posters advertising cheap concerts, where you can take in Flamenco music or homegrown Spanish rock. A theatre ticket could be a little expensive if you're not going to understand a word, but if you want to see a play, look in the paper again.
Your last option is a good club. The guidebooks will be out of date about the fashionable places, so don't bother being picky about where you dance; just follow the sound of loud music.
Eat, drink, chat and maybe dance until you can't stand up, then crawl (taxis are sometimes hard to find) back to your flat or hotel room. Drink some water, take some aspirin, enjoy a few hours of sun during the day, and repeat!
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