The sun, the sand and the blissful sea are privileges forbidden to the Madrilenians who stay at home during the summer. But if you look hard enough, you end up finding what you wanted, or at least something that looks a lot like it. From the lack of coastline comes ingenuity, and hence the beach bars in Madrid.
1. Café del Rey
The terrace of Café del Rey, this neighboring bar of the Temple of Debod, is actually a tiki bar with hammocks and surfboards, more typical of a Caribbean beach bar than of the center of the capital. The daiquiris and other more exotic cocktails go luxuriously with the music chill out and the white sand that carpets the patio. To eat, Mediterranean recipes that do justice to those served in the south.
📍 Paseo del Rey, 22 (Madrid Río)
2. Hopefully
The restaurant Ojalá hides a beach in a basement of Malasaña. The restaurant, which has a very particular summery air throughout the year, has a downstairs full of sand where you can bury your feet while you sit on the cushions at ground level. The brick wall and colored lights give it a sci-fi look you won’t see anywhere else in Madrid.
📍 Calle de San Andrés, 1 (Malasaña)
3. Grama Bar
In its efforts to bring the best of Venezuela, Grama Bar ended up looking like a Caribbean lounge a few meters from the Puerta del Sol. In this oasis you can get your fill of arepas, tequeños and other Venezuelan delicacies that make the immersion on the beach much more realistic (and pleasurable).
📍 Calle de la Cruz, 19 (Las Letras)
4. Cava Baja 5 (La Playa)
From the outside, Cava Baja 5 is another tavern in La Latina, but downstairs there is sand under the brick arches that roof the basement. The cocktail bar, more lively than the adjoining premises, is baptized with its exact address, so as not to get lost, but its most loyal customers colloquially call it “the beach”.
📍 Calle de la Cava Baja, 5 (La Latina)
5. Xiringuito
Xiringuito, the new gastronomic space of X-Madrid, has brought kilos and kilos of sand to turn a Madrid business into a bar by the sea. It has a menu for everyone, with traditional and international recipes. And in addition to good food, you can also enjoy concerts and DJ sessions in the evenings, play volleyball or do yoga.
📍 Calle Oslo, 53 (X-Madrid)
6. Terraza Playa – Madrid Río
It is true, Terraza Playa does not have fine sand, but it has the water -from the river, not the sea, obviously- very close, and this already counts as a beach bar in Madrid. It is next to the water jets that refresh this area of Madrid Río every summer and are one of the most important capital plans for the summer. So if in the middle of the summer heat wave you want to lie on a sun lounger sipping cocktails by the water, this is the place.
In case you didn’t already know what could surprise you in the capital, beach bars in Madrid are already something very common in this city without coast. Chiringuitos in Madrid are also among the most versatile, they have freed themselves from the waves of the sea and have even taken over old cellars and basements, shopping malls and sidewalks. No complexes.