A walk through the most beautiful bookstores in Madrid

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The city can also be wild, an excessive jungle of

bags that fight for sidewalks and zebra crossings.

Taxis, ubers,

men on wheels, skaters who don't rest, tourists shocked by so much lighting.

It's time to go to Google Maps to seek refuge in one of the capital's bookstores, oasis of letters, lots of books and peace.

"Bookstores are wonderful spaces and, above all, necessary. In big cities they are welcoming meeting places, where beyond the bookseller's recommendations you feel part of a community. While in small towns, a bookstore opens you up the doors to other possible worlds", says the journalist and entrepreneur

.

The Madrid native is the founder of Greta Libros con Garbo, a

passionate, curious and traveling women.

For women like her, in short, incapable of going into a bookstore and leaving empty-handed.

"What's more, I'm incapable of going out with just one book. Three and up is my average."

The entrepreneur knows that in Madrid the list of proposals related to literature is immense.

She knows it because she has traveled the city in search of those shelters where she can chat with Greta's readers.

"How difficult it is to stay with just one. I love Machado, Pasajes, Panta Rhei, El Dragón lector for children's literature and the most recent Cafebrería ad hoc and La Mistral, which is truly precious."

This is a route "with panache", his, through the most exciting bookstores in Villa y Corte.

Ad hoc cafeteria

We started on Buen Suceso street.

What can go wrong in an artery with that name, right?

Nothing, of course, is going to go wrong at number 14, the address of the Cafebrería ad Hoc.

This cultural space has been combining good books with homemade cakes, infusions and good wines in the Argüelles neighborhood since 2017.

La Cafebrería could not be prettier or more versatile.

Its founder, the writer, artist and designer

, has created a meeting place with an exhibition hall, corners for social gatherings, a cafeteria and, of course, a two-level bookstore with editorial novelties that are hard to resist.

the mistral

It is the project of three Argentines united by friendship and love for books: Andrea Stefanoni, Carla D'Elia and Julián de Dios.

The three of them have extensive backgrounds as publishers and booksellers (Andrea herself is a writer and former manager of El Ateneo Grand Splendid, listed as the most beautiful bookstore in the world).

Opened just over a year ago at kilometer zero in Madrid, La Mistral oozes elegance, attention to detail and an unquestionable love for good literature.

Don't be surprised to find familiar faces in front of its shelves because the most prominent brands are passing through here, from Rosa Montero to Virginia Feito, Gioconda Belli or Amor Towles.

The Mistral.

Altamarea Bookstore

Newly made, the Altamarea Bookstore is hidden in Arganzuela.

The owners, Alfonso Zuriaga and Giuseppe Grosso, also have quite a few tables in the sector because they are publishers before being booksellers: theirs is the

label , with a sensational catalog specializing in (good) Italian literature.

The Bookstore is a natural extension of the publishing house, although its shelves offer all kinds of genres and titles, with special emphasis on independent labels and children's literature (its children's corner is great).

the fabulous

Also with an independent spirit, he opened a bookstore "for fabulous people" just five months ago on Calle del Barco with the firm purpose of promoting cultural encounters.

La Fabulosa's specialty is narrative and graphic novels (one of the passions of its owner, the Lithuanian illustrator

).

We must not lose sight of their book presentations or their

, where they give courses and workshops on creative writing, illustrations,

, comics...

Crazy Mary

Near the Ateneo, the Casa de Cervantes and the Casa de Lope de Vega (in the heart of the Literary neighborhood) is Crazy Mary, a cozy bookstore opened in April 2021. Here we can have a coffee, sit comfortably on your sofa , browse the latest publishing news and talk about good literature with its owner, the fascinating

, who now adds that of a bookseller to her curriculum as a journalist and interior designer.

Crazy Mary.

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