El Candela reopens. Two years ago at this time we put these same words together, but it is now when they are accompanied by a specific date (and very close, moreover): according to Gran Madrid reports, what was once the flamenco cave par excellence of the capital will reopen its doors next Wednesday, December 18.
Let’s recap with a brief chronology of how it got here: The original Candela closed its doors due to the pandemic and in early 2022 what was announced, instead of the expected reopening, was its closure. It would have completed 40 years of an indelible history in Lavapiés, in Madrid and in the flamenco scene.
However, before the end of the year, in December 2022, El Periódico de España published a scoop that the mythical flamenco cave would reopen to the public in the same location as always, at number 2 Calle del Olmo. Since then there had been no new news about the Argentinean businessmen who wanted to give it a new life until this new announcement that El Candela is now reopening.
The Candela that will be
According to the article published by Ana Barrios in Gran Madrid, an eclectic group of partners has been responsible for bringing forward the new Candela: “the actor Unax Ugalde, the winner of MasterChef, Ángela Gimeno, the film producer Enrique Lavigne, the artist Amanda Portillo, the painter Piro Sánchez-Ocaña and the businessmen Alfonso Pozuelo, Edu por las Noches and Neus Cerdà”.
At the venue you can continue to see flamenco performances, both by established artists and other emerging ones, from the most classic and contemporary flamenco. In addition, there will be DJ sessions that will merge the genre with other current ones.
The gastronomic part is in charge of the Valencian Ángela Gimeno, who has focused the proposal of the space on traditional dishes that can be tasted from 14h in the afternoon.