Sala Equis

Sala Equis occupies the carcass of the Cine Alba at Calle del Duque de Alba 4, between La Latina and Tirso de Molina. The building opened as a conventional cinema in 1941 and spent its last three decades as Madrid's final X rated movie house before closing in 2015.

Plantea Estudio handled the conversion, and Metalocus documented how the design kept the bones, a triple height hall now lit by festoon lights, with tiered seating, sofas and swing seats hanging over the bar floor. The result reads as a covered plaza more than a bar.

Drinks stay deliberately simple, vermouth on tap, beer, wine and a short cocktail list at neighborhood prices. The point is the room, and Guia del Ocio files it as the most alternative cultural space of its kind in the city center.

Upstairs, a 55 seat cinema with table service screens classics in original version, and the program rotates weekly. Tripadvisor reviewers love the originality and repeat one warning, the hall packs dense on weekend nights with a young local crowd.

Go on a weekday at 5:30pm for a swing seat and stay for the early screening. For more of the city, see our Madrid hidden gems guide, the best bars in Madrid, and the Madrid cocktail bars list.

Weekday openings at 5:30pm are the calm window, when the swing seats are free and the hall feels like the covered plaza it was designed to be.

Saturdays open at 12:30pm, and the early afternoon vermouth hours are the local secret. From 9pm on weekends expect a queue and a dense floor.