FRUTAS VAZQUEZ

Frutas Vázquez is a shop in Madrid which specialises in fruit. This is probable the most colourful establishment in the posh Salamanca district and it is popularly known as the 'Vazquez Jewels'. The establishment offers an attractive and rich display of fruit and vegetables with the best of each variety, and is located in the midst of the most exclusive boutiques in the city.

The shop has an exotic fruit and vegetables section, as well as Spanish varieties such as asparagus and strawberries from Aranjuez.

This greengrocer's usually supplies its products to members of the Royal House and other well-known personalities.

Calle de Ayala, 11. Metro Serrano

JOSE RAMIREZ

José Ramírez is a shop in Madrid which specialises in guitars. The Ramírez family have been making Spanish guitars since 1882 and José Ramírez guitars are still constructed from aged woods of the finest quality.

Nowadays the family continues to closely follow the standards of traditional crafts workshops, where the highest authority is that of the Maestro, who designs, controls the work of its workers and apprentices and signs the guitars that obtain his approval.

Part of the collection of guitars held by the Ramírez family is exhibited in the shop, so visitors can delight in the perfect finishes and the beauty of the materials used.

Calle de la Paz, 8. Metro Sol

LA DUQUESITA

La Duquesita is a shop in Madrid which specialises in cakes. La Duquesita, one of the most famous cake shops in Madrid in the early 20th century, is located in Fernando VI street, just a few metres away from one of the best architectural works in the modernistic style, the Longoria palace. This cake shop, open since 1914, has kept the charm of the times when it was founded, with its wooden façade and a warm and traditional interior presided over by an alabaster doll. Roscones de Reyes (ring-shaped sponge cake with sugar and glazed fruit), traditionally eaten around Christmas time, and especially for the 'Día de Reyes' or Epiphany, and other large cakes are part of its specialities.

Fernando VI, 2. Metro Alonso Martinez

LA FAVORITA

La Favorita is a shop in Madrid which specialises in hats. La Favorita is found on Plaza Mayor, Madrid's expansive central plaza, just to the left of the Casa de la Panaderia. Founded in 1894, it is the oldest hat shop in Madrid and sells all types of felt hats, top hats, bowler hats, caps and berets. Essential accessories at the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century, these items are still particularly attractive and never go out of fashion.

Plaza Mayor, 25. Metrol Sol

LA MALLORQUINA

La Mallorquina is a shop in Madrid which specialises in cakes. Founded in 1894 by Juan Ripio from Majorca, the Pastelería La Mallorquina is located in one of Madrid's most privileged spots: La Puerta del Sol. Its specialities are napolitanas (flaky buns filled with custard or chocolate), rosquillas (small ring-shaped sweet buns) and truffles, which can be eaten at the counter or in the tea room. Every day there are crowds of people at the counters, buying or eating the excellent products offered. Other delights on sale are the pastries, shortbread, croissants, cream buns, chocolate cakes and a hundred other varieties on display, all homemade and fresh from the oven in the back store.

Plaza de la Puerta del Sol, 2. Metro Sol

LA VIOLETA

La Violeta is a shop in Madrid which specialises in violet sweets. Open since 1915, this elegant confectioner's shop owes its fame to a very particular product: violet sweets, whose name is due to their shape, their colour and that the essence of the flower is part of their ingredients.

This establishment, not far away from the Puerta del Sol Square, has kept its original wooden façade and its jars and little boxes of sweets have always had loyal and illustrious customers, like Jacinto Benavente or Queen Victoria Eugenia.

Other typical products of this confectioner's shop are natural violets glazed with sugar, glazed fruit, chocolates and marrons glacés.

Plaza de Canalejas, 6. Metro Sol

LHARDY

One of the oldest delicatessens in Madrid, Lhardy was founded in 1839 by Emilio Lhardy (also known as Huguenin) from Switzerland and it soon became a meeting spot for the aristocrats of the time. The shop is associated with a restaurant of the same name and it maintains the elegant aspect of former times. Here you can purchase an endless number of gastronomic specialities such as 'callos a la madrileña' (tripe casserole with chorizo and chillies), wild boar's head, sole in champagne, gazpacho or orange pudding.

Carrera de San Jerónimo, 8. Metro Sol

LIBRERIA SAN GINES

This bookshop became very popular in the early 20th century because a great many personalities from the literary, arts and politics environments used to meet here. At Librería San Ginés we can find old books, second-hand books and bargains.

Pasadizo de San Ginés, 2. Metro Sol/Opera

MARIANO MADRUEÑO

The Mariano Madrueño distillery was founded in 1895 and it still keeps its original decoration, with wooden shelves, stills and barrels. Today it is the most famous cellar in Madrid, with a selection of Spanish wines, regional liqueurs and their own homemade products.

Postigo de San Martín, 3. Metro Callao

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MERCERIA COMERCIAL AMPARO

Mercería Comercial Amparo is a shop in Madrid which specialises in sewing items. This haberdashery is very popular for people in search of cotton threads, buttons, zips, bands or any other item related to sewing that may seem impossible to find.

Marqués Viudo de Pontejos, 5. Metro Sol

SANTA

This small and traditional confectioner's of golden walls is paradise for chocolate lovers.

This is where Evita Perón used to come when she was in Spain to buy lenguas de gato (literally, cat's tongues), one of the most traditional Spanish chocolates.

You can also try their 'santas', made of marzipan and pistachio, pralines, truffles or 'leña vieja' (uneven trunk-shaped milk chocolate that truly melts in your mouth). Other specialities include bonbons, naranjines (oranges covered in chocolate), marrón glaçé (sugar-glazed chestnuts) and giant 50-gram bonbons.

Calle de Serrano, 56. Metro Serrano

TEA TIME

Tea Time is a shop in Madrid which specialises in tea. Situated right opposite the well-known Chocolateria San Ginés, this lovely establishment stocks almost one hundred different types of tea in tin boxes kept on the shelves. It also sells multicoloured tins, cups, teapots and other accessories to enjoy this exquisite drink.

Plazuela de San Ginés,3 . Metro Sol

EL RIOJANO

El Riojano is a shop in Madrid which specialises in biscuits. Among the specialities here are the azucarillos, small delicacies traditionally taken with aguardiente, and the so-called 'pastas del Consejo', biscuits which were originally made to be served at Cabinet meetings (Consejos). The cake shop has a small tea room where these delights may be enjoyed.

Calle Mayor,10 . Metro Sol

CONVENTO DE CORPUS CRISTI

Founded in the 17th century, El Convento de Corpus Christi, is a convent located in the heart of the historic Madrid of the Habsburgs.

It is popularly known as 'El Convento de Las Carboneras' because of a painting representing the Virgen de la Inmaculada that was found by some children in a pile of charcoal, and which was presented to the church.

In this convent, the Hieronimus nuns make delicious traditional sweets such as almond biscuits, tocinillos de cielo (creamy egg yolk and sugar dessert, topped with caramel), Sherry mantecados (soft lard biscuits) or naranjines (orange sweets).

On the left of the convent is an old wooden door (see photo). You have to ring the bell, tell them what you want and they will open the door for you. The sell their pastries from 09:30 to 13:00 and from 16:00 to 18:30

Plazuela del Conde de Miranda, 3. Metro Opera

CASA POSTAL

Located in the Chueca neighbourhood, this shop is a must if you are interested in learning about the Madrid of the past.

Here, you can find over 250,000 different postcards, all classified by country, city and topic.

You can also find original photos of the city, old posters classified by topic such as Bullfights, Feast Days, Tourism in Spain or Football, and many different collectable items such as toys, porcelain figures, music boxes, tin boxes, etc.

Calle de la Libertad, 37. Metro Chueca

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CASA MIRA

This traditional cake shop, open since 1855, is well-known for its Spanish nougat or 'turrón', traditional in Spain during the Christmas period, but which is sold in this establishment all year round.

The nougat comes in all sorts of varieties, from the classic Jijona and Alicante to toasted egg yolk or chocolate.

Among the specialities there are also other Christmas sweets, such as marzipan, polvorones (flaky biscuits) and yemas de nuez (walnut and egg-yolk pastries). All the products are handmade using the finest ingredients in the old-fashioned way with no preservatives or artificial colourings.

This establishment is also known for being a supplier to the Royal Household.

Carrera de San Jerónimo, 30. Metro Sol

CASA JIMENEZ

Casa Jiménez is an establishment in the centre of Madrid where you can find two traditional Spanish items: shawls and embroidered veils. Its Manila shawls, hand-embroidered in natural silk, are true works of art.

Calle de Preciados, 42. Metro Santo Domingo

CASA DE DIEGO

This is a speciality shop for typical Spanish fans or 'abanicos', shawls, walking sticks and umbrellas and is located right on Madrid's main plaza, the Puerta del Sol Square.


Puerta del Sol, 12. Metro Sol

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CARAMELOS PACO

Caramelos Paco is a shop in Madrid which specialises in sweets. Every kind of sweet may be found here: from champagne or ginseng flavoured sweets to jelly sweets in the shape of cold meats, and the latest items on the market such as sugarless sweets in all sorts of flavours or special items for smokers.

If you like sweets, you'll go crazy just looking at the shop window of Caramelos Paco.

Calle de Toledo, 55. Metro La Latina

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ANTIGUA CASA TALAVERA

This establishment, located in the centre of Madrid, is over 100 years old.

Visitors here can find genuine works of art in quality ceramic, both handcrafted and hand-painted, such as sangria pitchers, dinnerware, tea sets, plates, and vases. The shop has original designs and also replicas of models created from the 10th to the 18th century.

The pieces come from the locations in Spain famous for their ceramic and potteries such as Talavera, Toledo, Manises, Valencia, Puente del Arzobispo, Alcora, Granada, and Seville.

Isabel la Católica, 2. Metro Santo Domingo