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Enduring inclement weather outdoors, be it cold, the heat of this May or rain, exposing yourself to suffering from soreness the day after being on your feet for so long, going hungry and thirsty.
Although according to IAB Spain in Spain, 19% of users acknowledged that in 2020 they made their purchases exclusively online, there are still stores, shops and shows where people queue.
And it is that the immediacy and comfort of consuming at the click of a button is not always everything.
Waiting can sometimes be a worthwhile experience.
Loyalty to a store, personal treatment, maintaining a family tradition... Many people from Madrid have a compelling reason that justifies waiting in line.
They won't see Alcaraz beating Nadal or Chanel live in Turin.
They are looking for something much simpler, like a tenth lottery ticket or a little boat with which to walk around El Retiro.
Even a sweet in the shape of a penis is worth half an hour in a queue.
This is the Madrid that still has patience.
BON APPETIT
Since 2018 they appeared in the capital and now have more than 20 stores throughout Spain.
120 pounds of croissants is the equivalent of the weight of a 16-year-old, according to Stanford Children's Health.
And it is the amount that they requested a month and a half ago from IFEMA.
"They were ordering from us, for a week, four large boxes of manolitos a day"
, says Natha, in charge of Manolo Bakes at the Gran Vía Hortaleza Shopping Center.
If Manolo Bakes has managed to pulverize all sales with something as simple as a croissant, the following example broke the barrier of the classic to succeed.
And it is that sometimes the form is everything: "Hot chocolate drips from the delicious pollofre [penis-shaped waffles]," says its Communications manager, María Barón.
At number 3 Gravina they sell an experience "hard to forget".
Thus, she assures that they have queued from Lola Índigo to teacher Joao and Lali Espósito.
"Not only do we say it, all the people who pass by La pollería leave smiling, both for the attention of our polleros and for the delicious pollofre".
The rush hour is 6:30 p.m. and the anecdotes number in the thousands.
"Once a bus came with 50 seniors from Imserso, as if this were Benidorm
, and the 50 yayas got off one by one for theirs."
In Panem, Pablo Rodríguez, 66, affirms that
"they make the best bread in Madrid"
.
Pablo compares the wait for bread in this establishment with that of the doctors.
"When you go to the doctor and you see that you have to wait a long time, you don't like it, but, later, you do like being treated."
Because of the way they do it: "They have sourdough and use good flours."
And its duration: it lasts up to three days in the pantry.
The co-founder of Panem, Marta García, says that "it has been fermenting for 24 hours."
But not only bread has made this place famous;
also
their roscones, which in the Three Kings season cause the tail to surround the apple
.
WITH A LOT OF ART
The Prado Museum is, in its own right, the jewel in the crown of Madrid's cultural heritage.
No one who visits the city can fail to go to what is considered one of the best art galleries in the world.
All the more reason, two hours before closing, when access to the gallery is free
.
Its head of Communication, Virginia Garde, refers to the queues as something problematic, despite the fact that they denote a notable interest in the world of painting: "During the pandemic we have had controls at the entrance and it was more normal for them to form. Now those controls are no longer there and we are trying to minimize waiting times, because they are still a nuisance. There are four entrances to reduce them and we have very well studied the flows. Precisely to speed up visits, there is the digital entrance, and although it is usual in all museums is that people come more to the box office, a significant percentage of purchases, which is also increasing, is online. It is a matter of habit", he acknowledges.
Garde says that young people "between 18 and 34 years old are the majority of the public" that the Museum has.
"When you are 18 years old, you come with your family, then with your partner and then with your children," he says
.
Visiting El Prado thus becomes an intergenerational practice.
NEON LIGHTS
When night falls, the best-known street in Madrid is filled with fluorescent tubes, interpretation and music on its facades.
At number 66 on Madrid's Broadway is the EDP Theater, where the musical Fama has been playing since March
.
They explain on their website that "inspired generations to strive for success."
And since there is no success without sacrifice, on Saturdays after 8:00 p.m., reaching the stalls is not a mission for the impatient.
Gran Vía is also terraces and rooftops. "One Saturday at 9:00 p.m., no one fits in the Riu hotel"
.
But some are already so well known that queues form to go up even on Mondays.
Mariam Armiñana, 23, was last Monday "doing the route", something very common on weekends but not on working days.
"We just asked the guy at the entrance how long we could wait to go up to Círculo de Bellas Artes and he told us that it would be close to 40 minutes."
They left.
The young woman assures that
"at 8:00 p.m. on a Monday afternoon, the queue went around the block; we freaked out
. "
the sweet life
Leisure activities do not escape this custom either.
In
the boats of El Retiro Park
, despite having enabled the option to buy tickets online, the queues are huge.
The person in charge of the service, Rafael Calleja de la Cruz, confirms it: "People usually get information here, at the entrance. We have a large influx of both national and international public.
We have joined the train of technologies to facilitate access
: the user is given the option of being able to reserve it through the website or in Madrid Móvil and once they arrive at the pool they find the resources we have, which are what they are, an entrance with three rows in which generates a queue, although priority is given to online reservations".
Renting a boat costs six euros and entitles a maximum of four people to a 45-minute ride.
Rafael says that "on a Saturday the tickets run out around 1:00 p.m.
When we report that we can no longer sell more, people leave, but others come and the queue forms again
.
It is irremediable.
But when we did not offer online booking, the queues occupied the entire curve of El Retiro.
There are people who, with all our regret, are left without embarking, and many, out of frustration, pay for it with the workers". The manager of the pond, which celebrates days such as Mother's Day, in which some 875 boats left (which means that some 3,500 people walked that day), acknowledges that there are other less fortunate moments: "Last Saturday an older couple was waiting in line but when they got to ride the tickets had run out.
You feel sorry for those people, "he laments while a violin plays
Hallelujah
in the background .
And there are those who, in addition to waiting, are willing to spend real fortunes.
In the heart of Chueca,
the Chucky Sneakers store sells a model of sports shoes, the Off-White, which are close to 500 euros
.
Sandra, a store clerk, explains that "when they came out they didn't cost as much as they do now, but when their creator, Virgil Abloh, passed away, those who come form queues before opening, precisely looking for that type of luxury shoe."
Because sometimes, waiting also has a price.
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