Salón Málaga has stood on Carrera 51 in the centro of Medellín since 1957. The walls are covered in framed black-and-white photographs of Carlos Gardel — the Argentine tango singer who died in a 1935 plane crash at the Medellín airport, and who, more than any other single figure, made Antioquia's second city the unlikely tango capital of the Americas outside Buenos Aires. The bar is part-museum, part-dance-floor, part-bar; the music is exclusively tango and bolero, played from a working collection of vinyl behind the counter. A regular Friday night at Salón Málaga runs by the music. Six standing songs from the working set.
The right Salón Málaga visit takes a small table at the back, orders a half-bottle of aguardiente antioqueño (the local anise spirit, around 30,000 pesos for a small bottle), a plate of chicharrón and arepa, and stays for two hours. The bar is busy on Friday and Saturday nights and quieter mid-week. The dance floor is for actual tango dancers; tourists who want to dance should take a lesson at the bar earlier in the evening (the bar offers them on Wednesdays). Open daily.