| Jasr's Malasa�a links |
| Softguide description of Malasa�a Los bares de Malasa�a Cityvox guide to Malasa�a Arthur Frommer's Auf Deutsch mehr Madrid Geschichte Epi y Blas se conocieron en un bar de Malasa�a, but Bert is evil Italiano |
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| Tour Guides |
| The Madrid neighbourhood of Malasa�a is officially called Barrio de Maravillas, because of some statue of the Virgin Mary called Virgen de Maravillas, which has been lost in the 19th century, no doubt it is dallying with St. Anthony somewhere. Anyway, the neighbourhood first came to prominence as the place where the fight against the French occupiers started (2 May 1808). The statue in the center of the park depicts Daoiz and Velarde, two officers who started the rebellion by throwing their Kalimotxo in the face of some poor French conscript. Just off to the right (of the statue) there is a great caf� called Pepe Botella ("Joe Bottle"), the nickname given to Napoleon's brother Joseph, who had the thankless task of being king of Spain. Strangely enough, Joseph was the best king Spain ever had. During his short strange reign he managed to reform the legal system which had been basically untouched since the time of the Neanderthals. Joseph's reforms were later embodied in Spain best constitution (1812), "La Pepa." During the civil war (1936-1939) my street was used for executions, the bullet-scarred wall still stands as part of my building on San Andres street. Franco finally died in 1975, and I arrived for the first time in 1976. During the 1970s the barrio was the fountainhead of "La Movida", the flowering of Madrid nightlife and partying which has been well documented by Almodovar and co. The initial result of that period was that in the 80s Malasa�a was plauged with drug-dealers and shunned by yuppies. When I moved into the neighbourhood in 1995, that reputation had depressed property prices, so I was able to find a very nice one-bedroom apartment with a big terrace on calle de la Palma. In the evenings Malasa�a was crowed with young alcoholics, since there were many small shops willing to sell to the underaged, and the police would do little or nothing. That seems to have changed this year after my departure to K�ln, and the cobblestoned streets are now free of teenaged drunkards. All things must pass... The best thing about the neighbourhood was the quiet on Saturday morning, as most people nursed their hangovers, there are a number of caf�s just like in the east village, and a number of bars where one can sit and read the paper while enjoying either wine or expresso. You would often find me at the Caf� Comercial. Oh yeah, the name of Malasa�a derives from the fact that when you get off at the local metro stop (Bilbao) there is an arrow pointing towards the exit on calle Manuela Malasa�a, and the name has a cool ring to it: Mala (bad) - sa�a (anger). The namesake, Manuela Malasa�a, was shot by the French troops for having a pair of scissors. She lived on 18 San Andr�s, but she is probably apocryphal |
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