Finding a nice bookstore in Madrid is easy, but the real magic comes when you find one that houses much more than just books and whose atmosphere invites you to, one, talk to the booksellers and get recommendations and, two, wander among the shelves for hours on end. The charming bookstores in Madrid that we love are compiled in this list.
1. Mujeres and Company
Not far from Isabel II Square 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 disseminates a non-sexist and peaceful culture. It is perfect for finding a specialized book or attending an interesting talk on these topics.
📍 Ercilla, 32 (Arganzuela)
2. Eight and a Half
Specializing in cinema for over 20 years, the bookstore Ocho y Medio has become a reference for lovers of the seventh art. It is decorated with scripts, autographs and dedications from actors and directors who have been there, such 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 St., 11 (Conde Duque)
3. Antonio Machado
It 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 premises suffered the smashing of the windows of the shop 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)
4. La Casquería
It is not a street-side establishment, but a stall in the San Fernando Market in Lavapiés. At La Casquería, books are priced by weight. All you have to do is stroll along the shelves, where the books have been assigned a value based on weight, and head to the cashier’s desk where they will weigh them and tell you their equivalent in euros. Based on the principles of social and solidarity economy, this second-hand bookstore has reinvented one of the premises with the explicit objective of “recovering the market” because “it means to put 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 St., 41, Lavapiés)
5. Infamous Types
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 andeven wine tastings.
📍 San Joaquín Street, 3 (Malasaña)
6. Pérez Galdós Bookstore
This old store crammed with pages in every cubic centimeter is the sanctuary of missing books. The bookstore, founded by the grandson of writer Benito Pérez Galdós, plays Celestina between a peculiar book and the reader who was looking for it. Decades-old treasures are hidden on its shelves.
📍 Calle Hortaleza, 5 (Chueca)
7. Berkana
Berkana was the first gay-themed bookstore opened in Spain in 1993, and is considered the Hispanic equivalent of the legendary 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)
8. Grant
Grant’s main focus is on the bibliographic selection specialized in comics, graphic novels, fanzines, narrative, novels and art books. A selection where you can find a varied, complete and, in many cases, in its original language. Fits the definition of concept store because it is a store where you enter without knowing when you are going to leave.
📍 Miguel Servet Street, 21 (Lavapiés)
9. 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 much more. They also have illustrated children’s books (very nice) and an exhibition hall that accommodates illustration in its broadest meanings. The gallery exhibits original works by illustrators, caricaturists and cartoonists.
📍 Calle Hernán Cortés, 7 (Malasaña)
10. Molar
Molar is the place to find books that are off 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 do not have in other establishments and also complements its offer with a vinyl collection. Although some people miss the cafeteria it once housed, Molar continues to host events and presentations on its lower floor.
📍 Calle de la Ruda, 19 (La Latina)
11. 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 tourist traffic and inclement weather. Its carefully selected selection of books can be enjoyed with a glass of wine or a cup of coffee. In addition, film cycles and literary colloquiums are organized on its two floors. Proof of its Encanto is that it received the 2018 Cultural Bookstore Award.
📍 Calle de Vergara, 5 (Downtown)
12. Mary Read
A pirate ship in the middle of a sea of asphalt. This could be one 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 began with an “I have an idea”, a whisky and an important reflection on the pandemic.
📍 Calle Marqués de Toca, 3 (Lavapiés)
13. Altamarea
It is hard to imagine a similar action in any other bookstore in the neighborhood of Arganzuela basically because there were not many of these features: oriented to narrative, poetry or illustration produced by independent publishers. Altamarea is a bookstore, yes, but it is also an independent publisher (independent of what? From two imprints that account for about 90% of the publishing market) specializing in Italian literature.
📍 Eugenio Sellés Street, 3 (Arganzuela)
14. The Maltese Falcon
At a time when they practically only open their doors specialty coffees and the stores at street level are converted into tourist rental properties, the fact that bookstores continue to open is to be celebrated. And El Halcón Maltés is one of the latest additions to the Chamberí business fabric. With a showroom down stairs, this neighborhood bookstore doesn’t have a specific specialization, but its booksellers will help you (if you need it) find your next read.
fernando el Católico Street, 3 (Chamberí)