Lavapies

Today we started the day early and head to Lavapies neighbourhood at 9:30am. The first impression that we had was that it seemed like we were in a different country. There were lots of restaurants with Indian and Arabic food, and also some stores with Arabic names.

Lavapies was a neighborhood were Jewish people lived before they were kicked out of Spain in 1492. It seems that the name of Lavapies could come from a fountain in the square, which was the ritual washing of the feet before going to the temple. After the expulsion of the Jews in 1492, the church of San Lorenzo was built in place of the old synagogue. From that moment, and until the eighties / nineties, Lavapies became an extremely popular neighborhood for workers,  quite decadent. It revived precisely when a new generation of immigrants and artists began to occupy the old abandoned houses to make new apartments Madrid. A new impulse of life quickly perked up this part of town, turning it into a young center of nightlife, surely with a very authentic taste of street life.

After seeing the square, we head to San Fernando Market which is located where the "Escuelas Pías" used to be. Years ago it was a traditional market but like many others sales began to fall. In 2005 the city hall proposed a method of remodeling that ultimately was not carried out until 2007. 

In the past years the market has opened may shops and it looks like it's doing financially fine. Locals do their grocery shopping here but some shops have also attracted a different target of people. There is a particular shop that is very rare. It's called Tripe Of Books (Casquería in Spanish). But here you can't buy tripe but books. The second thing that will catch your eye is that books are priced by their weight. They use a scale to see how heavy the book you like is, and then do a simple mathematical equation: ten euros per kilo.  

The only let down is that you won't find many current titles since all the books are second hand, and that for children and teenagers there aren't many books, however they are all in very good condition.

 

After our visit to the market, where we enjoyed our morning snack, we went to the School Of Pious Church. This church is characterized by currently being used as a library, where people can study, check books or use the computers located at the entrance. The tabernacle area is a favourite for university students when preparing for exams. 

After enjoying the comfortable silence of the library, we went up to the rooftop to have a coke and enjoy the beautiful views of Lavapies, and especially the building that's located right in front of the library, a typical corrala that is divided by the middle so people can have an idea of what apartments were like in the past.

By M.B.

San Fernando Market
Gau Café
How to get there