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We've compiled the best of the best in Malasaña - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Alpargatas, or espadrilles, grace the feet of chic beachgoers from Nantucket to Nevis, but Madrileños have been rocking these rope-soled sandals (in some form or another) for at least six centuries. Antigua Casa Crespo opened in 1863 on what was then the outskirts of town, and it remains the city's most legendary alpargatería, thanks to the breadth of styles, colors, and patterns on offer. Their wares are still made by hand from esparto grass in Spain.
A well-curated selection of vintage threads keeps this boutique packed with cool kids. There's a particularly wide selection of billowy patterned shirts and worn-in Levis. There's another location by Sol at Plaza de Herradores 8. As in all vintage stores, be sure to check garments for stains, tears, and missing buttons before buying.
Owners Juanma and Rigas travel from village to village to source the stunning artisan ceramics, fabrics, glass, and more on display at this sunlight-filled boutique. Don't miss the Níjar ceramics with their cheery colorful splotches and the Caribbean-blue vases of hand-blown Mallorcan glass.
This sleek cheese shop with on-site "caves" for aging is a cheese lover's paradise. Seek out rare treasures like Torrejón, a raw ashed-rind sheep’s cheese from Castile, and snap up a bottle of organic Spanish wine while you're at it. There's a second location in La Latina on Carrera de San Francisco 14.
A block off San Bernardo, this is a charming café and bookstore with a good selection of used books in English. They sell bagels, too—a rarity in Madrid.
The polar opposite of your standard stuffy gallery, La Fiambrera sells colorful pop art at affordable prices. There's also a small bookshop and café.
A fashion temple that screams "Movida Madrileña," the '80s countercultural movement that ushered Madrid into the modern era, this vintage store is decked out with wildly patterned skirts and dresses and fluorescent track jackets.
Time to bust out the big bucks—Sportivo is one of the best menswear boutiques in the city, with two floors of hand-picked garments by the buzziest designers out of Spain, France, Japan, and beyond.
This is a good place for original and inexpensive (less than €200) costume jewelry—mostly made from leather and a silver-plated tin alloy—and accessories by Spanish designer Concha Díaz del Río.
