Madrid
Madrid Barajas is split across four terminals, and which one you're flying out of changes the entire drinking story. Terminal 4S — the Iberia long-haul satellite — is the only one with a serious drinking programme: the Iberia Velázquez Lounge, the airline's premium-cabin business lounge, runs a respectable cabaret of Rioja and Ribera by the glass plus a working cured-jamón slicer in the corner. The Sala VIP Cibeles in T4 is the equivalent for European premium-cabin pax. T1 and T2 (Schengen and non-Schengen low-cost) are functional rather than memorable.
City centre · $$
1862 by Night is the upstairs late-night room of 1862 Dry Bar — opened in 2017 with a separate cocktail program built around late-night classics. Open until 4am
City centre · $$
1862 Dry Bar opened in Malasaña and is committed to classical cocktail discipline. The bar is named for an 1862 cocktail manual and the programme follows pre-pr
City centre · $$$
Angelita is Chueca's most precise natural wine and cocktail bar — opened in 2018 by former Salmon Guru bartenders. The 36-seat room is candlelit with leather ba
Centro · $$
Bodegas Ricla draws a steady local crowd in Centro. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening.
The cheat code at MAD is the Hilton Madrid Airport, two minutes by free shuttle from any terminal. Bar 360 on the lobby level pours competent gin-and-tonics on the modern Spanish spec (real tonic, real gin, large goblet glass, ice mountain) and serves them at a fraction of post-security pricing. If you've got 60 minutes pre-airport, the metro from Aeropuerto T4 to Nuevos Ministerios takes 20 minutes; Salmón Gurú in Letras is one of the world's great cocktail bars and a 15-minute walk from there.
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