Sala Equis occupies a former cinema in Lavapiés — the type of cinema that existed in Madrid's working-class neighbourhoods until the 1990s and that did not survive the renovation of the barrio in its original form. The renovation here has kept the building's bones intact: the partially roofless courtyard, the exposed brick, the projection capability, the proportions of a room designed for collective viewing. It operates now as a bar and cultural programme space, with evening screenings, music, and the kind of late-night gathering that Lavapiés does better than most neighbourhoods in Madrid. The neon and the deliberate aesthetic of productive decay are part of the register — a conscious choice rather than neglect. The outdoor section, open to the sky, is the most useful space: there are enough such places in Madrid but few that have this combination of architectural quality and genuine neighbourhood rootedness. Arrive after ten.
Lavapiés, Madrid, Spain