Club entertainment in Spain
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Liquid
Guys and gals board their metal steeds on hot summer nights to bear down on one of the top outdoor club scenes in town (or rather out of town, since it’s in neighbouring L’Hospitalet de Llobregat). Liquid says what it is. A palm-studded islet is surrounded by a bottom-lit azure moat that tempts surprisingly few folks to plunge in while dancing the night away in this megaclub. Local and foreign DJs keep the punters, a mixed crowd from all over town, in the groove in a series of different internal spaces, as well as poolside.
reviewed
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El Son
If you’re looking for salsa, merengue or some sexy tangos, look no further than El Son. This is the top place in town for Latin music and it’s very popular with Madrid’s South and Central American population. Live concerts Monday through Thursday keep the place packed all week long.
reviewed
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Granada 10
A glittery converted cinema is now Granada’s top club for the glam crowd, who recline on the gold sofas and go crazy to cheesy Spanish pop tunes.
reviewed
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Metro
Metro attracts a casual gay crowd with its two dance floors, three bars and very dark room. Keep an eye out for shows and parties, which can range from parades of models to bingo nights (on Thursday nights, with sometimes-interesting prizes). On Wednesday nights there’s a live sex show.
reviewed
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E
Lechuguita
A modest nightlife zone centres on Calle Los Remedios with the ever-popular tapas bar Lechuguita .
reviewed
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Bar Corto Maltés
Calle del Temple, southwest of Plaza del Pilar, is the spiritual home of Zaragoza’s roaring nightlife. This is where the city’s considerable student population heads out to drink and there are more bars lined up along this street than anywhere else in Aragón. It’s the sort of street that you can wander down as late as 11pm and wonder if the action has moved elsewhere – no, it hasn’t yet arrived and doesn’t really get going until well after midnight. On this street, Bar Corto Maltés is always full and one of the favourites.
reviewed
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The One
A new name for a classic dance place inside the fantasy land of Poble Espanyol has come with a new look. The main dance floor, with the latest in lighting effects and video screens, gets jammed with people from all over town as the night wears on. Friday nights has a house-Ibiza flavour, while Saturday nights tend to be more raucous. A lift and stairs lead up to a more chilled area with several VIP sections. Shuttle buses run from Plaça de Catalunya and Plaça d’Espanya from midnight to 3.30am and back down into town from 5am to 6.30am.
reviewed
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Dboy
With pink laser lights and dense crowds of fit young lads, this is one of the big dance-club locations on a Saturday night. Electronic music dominates the dance nights here and, in spite of the 6am finish, for many this is only the start of the ‘evening’. From 5am on, buses line up to ferry punters to the suburb of Viladecans, where the party continues at Souvenir until 3.30pm on Sunday afternoon, which just leaves time for a snooze at the beach afterwards.
reviewed
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Ommsession Club
Hanging out in certain hotel bars has become cool in Barcelona. So much so that locals like to hang out in some of them too! The ground-floor lounge Bar Moodern in Hotel Omm is one of the places for beautiful people to preen and be seen. When you’re finished lounging around upstairs, you can head into the basement Ommsession Club, a smallish but fashion dance venue, straight downstairs from Bar Moodern.
reviewed
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Rosebud
Inspired in name only by the film Citizen Kane, Rosebud is an assault on the senses, with blaring music (mostly ʼ80s and ʼ90s) and flashing lights. Go-go dancers keep punters in rhythm and three bars operate inside downstairs, with another upstairs on the balcony and bar service in the garden. Those under 30-something may find it a little, well, ‘old’. From Tibidabo it looks like an enormous glasshouse.
reviewed
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Blvd
Flanked by striptease bars (in the true spirit of the lower Rambla’s old days), this place has undergone countless reincarnations. The culture in this club is what a long line-up of DJs brings to the (turn) table. With three different dance spaces, one of them upstairs, it has a deliciously tacky feel, pumping out anything from 1980s hits to house (especially on Saturdays in the main room). There’s no particular dress code.
reviewed
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Up & Down
An uptown club that has its moments, Up & Down attracts a mixed crowd, tending more to 30s and above. Upstairs is for drinking and revival music while downstairs you can dance to a mainstream mix of international tracks. Leather sofas and even leather padding on the pillars recalls an age when clubs were called discos. Although it can feel passé, this place gets packed early in the week when other venues can be limp.
reviewed
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Oshum Club
This concept club has moved in to replace what for years was the Ibiza-inspired Pachá, becoming one of the city’s most coveted club nights out. The main, ground floor is enormous, with a stage and several separate VIP sections. Upstairs, the Avantlounge room is a more intimate space, bathed in shimmering light and a strange, bloblike seating arrangement in the middle.
reviewed
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Pacha
In business on the northern side of Ibiza City's port since 1973, Pacha has 15 bars (!) and various dance spaces that can hold 3000 people. The main dance floor, a sea of colour, mirror balls and veils draped from the ceiling, heaves to deep techno. On the terrace, sounds are more gentle and relaxing.
reviewed
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Privilege
One kilometre from Amnesia, this club, with its 20 bars, interior pool and capacity for 10,000 clubbers, claims to be the world's largest. The main domed dance temple is an enormous, pulsating area, where the DJ's cabin is suspended above the pool.
reviewed
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Aire
A popular locale for lesbians, the dance floor is spacious and there is usually a DJ in command of the tunes, which range from hits of the ’80s and ’90s to techno. As a rule, only male friends of the girls are allowed entry, although in practice the crowd tends to be fairly mixed. Things can heat up on Thursday nights with live music.
reviewed
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Space
In Platja d'en Bossa, aptly named Space can pack in as many as 40 DJs and up to 12,000 clubbers. Action here starts mid-afternoon and regular daytime boats make the trip between Platja d'en Bossa and Ibiza City (€6 return).
reviewed
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Opium Cinema
Reds, roses and yellows dominate the colour scheme in this wonderful former cinema. Barcelona’s beautiful people, from a broad range of ages, gather to drink around the central rectangular bar, dance a little and eye one another up. Some come earlier for a bite. Wednesday nights are for R&B and Brazilian music.
reviewed
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Q
La Paloma
The 100-year-old La Paloma is a unique local institution and an essential night out. The evening starts early with the band playing cha-chas and tangos to a chirpy crowd of middle-aged and retired couples. From midnight it sheds its nostalgia skin to become one of the hippest, hoppiest dance dives in town.
reviewed
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La Macarena
You simply won’t believe this was once a tile-lined Andalucian flamenco musos’ bar. Now it is a dark dance space, of the kind where it is possible to sit at the bar, meet people around you and then stand up for a bit of a shake to the DJ’s electro and house offerings, all within a couple of square metres.
reviewed
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Antique Teatro
Notorious for turning foreigners away, get your hair slicked back Sevilla-style, if you're a man, and look drop-dead gorgeous if you're a woman, and try getting into this top club, located at the Expo '92 Olympic Pavillion. In the summer, there's a torch-lit garden and cocktail sipping under the stars.
reviewed
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The Roxy Blue
Blue is indeed the predominant colour in this split-level miniclub. Tastes in music swing from New York beats to Brazil night on Sunday. On weekends you are likely to find queues of 20-somethings waiting to pile in. Sit out the music on long leather lounges or investigate the couple of different bars.
reviewed
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T
Baja Beach Club
Go-go girls and boys, thundering dance music, bleary eyes - this is an unabashed, unpretentious seaside dancing and pick-up joint. All good fun really and with a high component of out-of-towners among the mostly unsteady punters. In the afternoon it's not a bad spot for a beer overlooking the beach.
reviewed
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Distrito Diagonal
It's hard to categorise this narrow, red-lit bar with the dance space up the back, but it's hard to resist a place that stays up so late on weekends, and for free if you're in before 4am! To move your booty to deep house and garage, slide past the long bar to the raised dance area out the back.
reviewed
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Discotheque
This is one of Barcelona’s big hitters. House is the main baseline in this sprawling designer club, where the nights can get rather hot and scantily clad. The Sunday Café Olé session is a mix of chill, dance music and suggestive stage dance shows to accompany DJs on the end-of-weekend blast.
reviewed
