Finding a nice bookstore in Madrid is easy, but the real magic comes when you find one that houses much more than books and whose atmosphere invites you to, one, talk to their booksellers and let them recommend you and, two, wander among their shelves for hours and hours. The charming bookstores in Madrid that we love are compiled in this list.
1. Mujeres y Compañía
Not far from Plaza Isabel II hides an incredible feminist bookstore that offers titles by and for women, from children’s stories to essays on gender perspective. This bookstore rescues the literary legacy of women and spreads a non-sexist and peaceful culture. It is perfect to find a specialized book or to attend an interesting talk on these topics.
📍 Ercilla, 32 (Arganzuela)
2. Traficantes de sueños
This bookstore, located on Duque de Alba street, which connects the Tirso de Molina and La Latina metro stops, is one of the most beloved businesses in the neighborhood.
Its two floors and various spaces -including a beautiful patio- are home to an infinite number of stories for all audiences and ages. From political vindication to poseía, from children’s literature to LGTBIQ+ memory. A haven of peace (and good literature) that make it one of our favorite bookstores in Madrid.
3. Ocho y Medio
Specializing in cinema for over 20 years, the bookstore Ocho y Medio has managed to become a reference for lovers of the seventh art. It is decorated with scripts, autographs and dedications of actors and directors who have passed through there as Almodóvar, Berlanga or Álex de la Iglesia. It has more than 15,000 film-themed books, movie merchandising and a small space to have a coffee and feel like a screenwriter looking for inspiration. In addition, the space takes on a life of its own when it hosts colloquiums, book signings or monologues.
📍 Martín de los Heros Street, 11 (Conde Duque)
4. Antonio Machado
This is one of the oldest and most historic bookstores in Madrid. It opened its doors during the dictatorship, in 1971, as a meeting place for concerts, exhibitions, rallies and colloquiums, a program for which it received attacks from the ultra-right: in 1972, the store suffered the smashing of the windows of the windows and a series of insulting graffiti, which was considered a terrorist attack. When Franco died “and after finishing the champagne”, as they themselves explain on their website, the management of the store changed management.
📍 Plaza de las Salesas, 11 (Chueca) and Calle del Marqués de Casa Riera, 2 (downtown).
5. La Casquería
It is not a street-side establishment, but a stall in the San Fernando Market in Lavapiés. In La Casquería, the price of books is calculated by weight. All you have to do is stroll among the shelves, where the books have been assigned a value based on weight, and go to the cashier where they will weigh them and tell you their equivalent in euros. Based on the principles of the social and solidarity economy, this second-hand bookstore has reinvented one of the premises with the explicit aim of “recovering the market” because “it means putting it back in value as an economic and social engine of the territory it inhabits”. An essential of the letters of Madrid.
📍 San Fernando Market (Embajadores Street, 41, Lavapiés)
6. Tipos Infames
What better combination than good wine and good books? Because these Tipos Infames not only offer you great independent narrative titles, but you can also have a drink in their cafeteria or in their enoteca and enjoy workshops, book presentations, conferences and even wine tastings.
📍 Calle San Joaquín, 3 (Malasaña)
7. Pérez Galdós Bookstore
This old store crammed with pages in every cubic centimeter is the shrine of missing books. The bookstore, founded by the grandson of writer Benito Pérez Galdós, acts as a Celestina between a peculiar book and the reader who was looking for it. On its shelves are hidden real treasures that are decades old.
📍 Calle Hortaleza, 5 (Chueca)
8. Berkana
Berkana was the first gay-themed bookstore opened in Spain, in 1993, and is considered the Hispanic equivalent of the mythical Oscar Wilde Bookshop in New York. It is part of the recent history of Madrid and of the fight for the rights of the LGTBI movement. It is a must visit in the Chueca neighborhood and its customers highlight the friendliness and good treatment of those in charge.
📍 Calle de Hortaleza, 62 (Chueca)
9. Grant
At Grant, the bibliographic selection specializes in comics, graphic novels, fanzines, narrative, novels and art books. A selection where you can find a varied and complete collection and, in many cases, in its original language. It fits the definition of concept store, because it is a store where you enter without knowing when you are going to leave.
📍 Calle Miguel Servet, 21 (Lavapiés)
10. Panta Rhei
This bookstore specializes in visual arts and contemporary culture. Here you will find a wide variety of books on graphic and digital design, advertising, photography, design, fashion, crafts and a large etcetera. They also have illustrated children’s books (very nice) and an exhibition hall that gives space to illustration in its broadest meanings. In their gallery they exhibit original works by illustrators, caricaturists and cartoonists.
📍 Calle Hernán Cortés, 7 (Malasaña)
11. Molar
Molar is the place to find books that are out of the typical commercial circuit. This cozy bookstore located next to El Rastro, in one of the most entertaining streets of La Latina, hides small treasures that they don’t have in other establishments and also complements its offer with a collection of vinyls. Although there are those who miss the cafeteria it once housed, Molar continues to organize events and presentations on its lower floor.
📍 Calle de la Ruda, 19 (La Latina)
12. La Buena Vida – Café del Libro
Its compound name already gives us a clue. In the middle of the Opera Square, next to the Palace and the Royal Theater, this bookstore is a refuge from the traffic of tourists and inclement weather. Its carefully selected selection of books can be enjoyed with a glass of wine or a cup of coffee. In addition, on its two floors they organize film series and literary colloquiums. Proof of its charm is that it received the 2018 Cultural Bookstore Award.
📍 Calle de Vergara, 5 (Downtown)
13. Mary Read
A pirate ship in the middle of a sea of asphalt. This could be a way to define Mary Read, the LGBTQ+ transfeminist bookstore located at Marqués de Toca, 3. At the helm Ana Murillo and Óscar Romero, responsible for this project that started with an “I have an idea”, a whiskey and an important reflection in the wake of the pandemic.
📍 Marqués de Toca Street, 3 (Lavapiés)
14. Altamarea
It is hard to imagine a similar action in another bookstore in the Arganzuela neighborhood, basically because there were not many of these characteristics: oriented to narrative, poetry or illustration produced by independent publishers . Altamarea is a bookstore, yes, but it is also an independent publishing house (independent of what? From two imprints that monopolize about 90% of the publishing market) specializing in Italian literature.
📍 Calle de Eugenio Sellés, 3 (Arganzuela)
15. The Maltese Falcon
At a time when practically only specialty cafés are opening and street-level premises are being converted into tourist rental properties, the fact that bookstores are still opening is a cause for celebration. And El Halcón Maltés is one of the latest additions to the Chamberí business fabric. With a showroom downstairs, this neighborhood bookstore doesn’t have a specific specialization, but its booksellers will help you (if you need it) find your next read.
📍 Calle de Fernando el Católico, 3 (Chamberí)