Plaza de Chueca (Métro: Chueca) once teetered on the
verge of infamy, owing to its popularity with drug dealers and
prostitutes. However, most of the addicts have been moved on and
there is now a strong neighbourhood feel, with kids and grannies
giving a semblance of innocence by day, and a lively gay scene
springing into action at night. It is also fronted by one of the
best old-style vermut bars in the city, Bodega Ángel
Sierra , on c/Gravina at the northwest corner. The whole area
has become somewhat gentrified in recent years with the rise of a
host of stylish bars, cafés and restaurants many of which have been
established by the local gay community.
From Plaza de Chueca east to Paseo Recoletos (the
beginning of the long Paseo de la Castellana) are some of the
city's most enticing streets. Offbeat restaurants, small private
art galleries, and odd corner shops are to be found here in
abundance and the c/Almirante has some of the city's most
fashionable clothes shops too. On the parallel c/Prim, ONCE
, the national association for the blind, has its headquarters.
ONCE is financed by a lottery, for which the blind work as ticket
sellers, and many come here to collect their allocation of tickets.
The lottery has become such a major money-spinner that the
organization is now one of the wealthiest businesses in Spain;
oddly, perhaps, it is also the sponsor of one of the world's top
cycling teams.
To the south, the Ministry of Culture fronts the Plaza del
Rey , which is also worth a look for the other odd buildings
surrounding it, especially the Casa de las Siete Chimeneas
(House of Seven Chimneys), which is supposedly haunted by a
mistress of Felipe II who disappeared in mysterious
circumstances.
To the north, on the edge of the Santa Bárbara barrio ,
on c/Fernando VI, is the Sociedad de Autores (Society of
Authors), housed in the only significant modernista building
in Madrid, designed by José Grasés Riera, part of the Gaudí school.
Nearby, the Museo Romántico , at c/San Mateo 13 (Tues-Sat
9am-2.45pm, Sun 10am-1.15pm, closed Aug; €2.40, free on Sun; Métro:
Tribunal), has its admirers for its late-Romantic-era furnishings,
though casual visitors are unlikely to be impressed. The Museo
Municipal at c/Fuencarral 78 (Tues-Fri 9.30am-8pm, July &
Aug 9.30am-2.30pm, Sat & Sun 10am-2pm; €1.80, free on Wed &
Sun; Métro: Tribunal) is more interesting for its models and maps
of old Madrid, which show the incredible expansion of the city in
the last century. The building itself has a superb Churrigueresque
facade by Pedro de Ribera.