Madrid has always been a city with an intense cultural life. Sometimes with more visible manifestations than others, but that heart related to the arts has always beaten. A particularly relevant phenomenon was its literary cafes, cafes where literary gatherings met and that for years were the driving force of that cultural life, authentic cultural institutions.
There are not many of those cafes that made history, like the Café Gijón. It was founded in the spring of 1888 on Paseo de Recoletos 21 by Gumersindo García, who gave it the name of his hometown. The business changed hands in 1914. It seems that Benigno López, the new owner, agreed to a request from Don Gumersindo, to keep the name. In 1925 the architect Laorga makes a renovation, installs a revolving door and decorates the façade.

By then there were already many illustrious parishioners: Jose Canalejas, Ramón y Cajal, Pio Baroja, Perez Galdos, severo ochoa, Gomez de la Serna or the doctor Gregorio Marañón. Also the 27 Generation He chose coffee for his meetings. Behind the Civil War, another group of intellectuals, the Creative Youth, decided to hold his literary gatherings here. It is assumed that this is where it was inspired Camilo José Cela, a regular from Gijón, to write one of his most important works, La Colmena.

Its good moment continued in the 50s of the XNUMXth century, its golden age. Artists, politicians and anyone who wanted to stand out in intellectual circles joined the gatherings. You had to be seen at Café Gijón. There are still gatherings, some of them daily, actors, artists, journalists and writers meet: it is not unusual to see  Juan Cruz, they have passed here too Álvaro de Luna o Arturo Perez Reverte.

Fernán Gómez, Manuel Alexandre, Juan Luis Gallardo o Sancho grace They were also common, now gone. The list would be very long so we will stop.

Very close to the triangle of art galleries of Madrid It is an ideal place to let yourself be imbued with that nostalgia for the past full of culture.

A abrazo.