Shop local: 15 Madrid gift shops to find the perfect presents this holiday season

At Naked Madrid, we love supporting the city’s local, independent businesses. And fortunately, the holiday season is a wonderful way to give our favorite shops a shoutout and also let you know where to find the perfect items for your loved ones.

Check out these 15 small shops in Madrid where you can find one-of-a-kind gifts, from clothing to jewelry, craft beer and wine, artisan coffee, and much more.

1. peSeta

A fan-favorite located in Barrio de Las Letras (formerly located in Malasaña), here you’ll find an array of unique gifts made from fabrics from all around the world, transformed into one-of-a-kind products including bags, garments and accessories.

  • Address: C. de las Huertas, 37, 28014 Madrid
  • Website
  • Instagram: @pesetaofficial

2. ANCLADEMAR

One of Madrid’s standout concept stores located in the heart of Chueca, here you’ll find all sorts of high-quality odds and ends including candles, vases, decorative dishes, and much more.

  • Address: C. del Barquillo, 37, 28004 Madrid
  • Instagram: @anclademar

3. DESPACIO CONCEPT STORE

Another concept store in Chueca, here you’ll find an assortment of items for everyday living such as backpacks, journals, organizing trays and other pretty yet functional items.

  • Address: C. de Belén, 10, 28004 Madrid
  • Website
  • Instagram: @_despacio_

4. Folklores

Located in Lavapiés, here you can find all sorts of eco-friendly, handmade garments created from 100% cotton that feature stunning African prints.

  • Address: C. Meson de Paredes 20 , esquina Calle Dos Hermanas, 28012 Madrid
  • Website
  • @folklores.es

5. Lefrik

Located right off of Calle Fuencarral in Malasaña, here you’ll stumble upon bags, backpacks, and other smaller items made entirely of recycled plastic bottles which are lightweight, sustainable and sleek.

  • Address: C. de Colón, 4, 28004 Madrid
  • Instagram: @lefrik

6. Gracias Mamá

Located just behind Plaza Mayor, this shop has an eclectic mix of household goods, knick knacks and souvenirs, including a variety of Spanish olive oils, seasonings, and sweets, plus other odds and ends.

  • Address: C. Mayor, 32, 28013 Madrid
  • Instagram: @gracias_mama

7. La Mary

Funky, handmade earrings in bright colors and bold designs. Frequently found in weekend pop-up markets in La Plaza de San Ildefonso and Dos de Mayo, or at the Malasaña brick-and-mortar location on Calle San Andrés.

  • Address: C. San Andrés, 30, 28004 Madrid
  • Website
  • @lamary_shop

8. Eturel Madrid

Located in the heart of La Latina, a collection of household goods and accessories—from blankets to bags to totes—handcrafted in Spain with beautiful patterned textiles.

  • Address: C. de la Ruda, 8, 28005 Madrid
  • Instagram: @eturelmadrid

9. La Positiva Concept Store

Located in Lavapiés, this concept store describes itself as “art and magic.” It offers a beautifully curated selection of jewelry, clothing, accessories and home decor.

  • Address: C. del Ave María, 27, 28012 Madrid
  • Website
  • @lapositivashop

10. La oficial

One of Madrid’s dreamy ceramic shops, with a range of traditional items and other rare handcrafted pieces.

  • Addresses: C. de Sta. Ana, 6, 28005 & C/ Pelayo 43, 28004 Madrid
  • Website
  • @laoficialceramica

11. La Fiambrera

A pint-sized Malasaña-based art gallery and shop that features works by both Spanish and international artists who specialize in surrealism, urban art and other genres. Prints for sale, plus other amusing items!

  • Address: C. del Pez, 7, 28004 Madrid
  • Website
  • @lafiambrera

12. Desperate Literature

An international bookseller smack dab in the center of the city offering new, used, and hard-to-find works in Spanish, English, and French.

  • Address: C. de Campomanes, 13, 28013 Madrid
  • Website
  • @desperateliterature

13. Labirratorium

Craft beer bottle shop (and brewery!) in Chamberí with a large assortment of domestic and imported beers, home brewing kits, and gift boxes.

  • Address: C. de Vallehermoso, 34, 28015 Madrid
  • Website
  • Instagram: @labirratorium

14. Super by Dot (by Dot Café Bar)

A micro supermercado located in Legazpi with household decor such as pottery, candles, silverware, tablecloths and napkins, plus a variety of artisanal products including natural wines, craft beers, and more.

  • Address: C. de Eugenio Sellés, 6, 28045 Madrid
  • Instagram: @super_by_dot

15. Specialty coffee

If there’s one thing Madrid isn’t lacking, it’s specialty coffee shops. Grab a loved one a bag of artisanal coffee from any of these shops sprinkled around the center of the city:

  • Toma Café | C. de la Palma, 49, 28004 Madrid | C. de Sta. Feliciana, 5, 28010 Madrid | C. de Raimundo Lulio, 16, 28010 Madrid
  • Hola Coffee Roasters | C. del Dr. Fourquet, 33, 28012 Madrid
  • Misión Café | C. de los Reyes, 5, Local Izquierdo, 28015 Madrid
  • Pastora – Specialty coffee and natural wines | Carrera de San Francisco, 12, 28005 Madrid
  • Randall Coffee | C. de Vallehermoso, 36, 28015 Madrid
  • Naji Specialty Coffee | C. del Cardenal Cisneros, 39, 28010 Madrid
  • HanSo Café | C. del Pez, 20, 28004 Madrid

What are your favorite independent shops in Madrid? Drop your suggestions in the comments below!

Need even more holiday gift guide inspiration? Also check out Nest Boutique Gift Shop



La Pollería: Madrid’s phallic-shaped pop shop that’s on everyone’s mind (and lips)

If you’ve ever taken a stroll through Chueca, one of Madrid’s trendiest neighborhoods—and headquarters for the LGBTQ+ community—then you’ve most likely stumbled upon the buzzing street corner where Calle Gravina meets Calle Pelayo, seen a massive crowd of people, and wondered: “What’s all the fuss about?”

La Pollería is a very popular dessert shop in Madrid's Chueca neighborhod, serving penis-shaped ice cream on a stick. Its sister location is La Coñería.

Nearing closer, and noticing the sweet, sugary scent wafting through the air, you’ll see that people are waiting in line for a dessert shop. However, upon further inspection, you’ll realize this isn’t your typical confection spot, but rather one of Madrid’s most iconic shops: La Pollería.

Passion for #pollofre

La Pollería—a combination of a slang word for penis mixed with -ería, a suffix used to indicate the name of a shop in Spanish—is very unique and popular. It’s rare to walk past and not see a line of people happily waiting to get their hands on a #pollofre, their signature item: a penis-shaped waffle on a stick, with customizable flavors.

Since their opening in late 2019, they’ve gained massive popularity, not only because their penis-shaped gofres are both emblematic and delicious, but also because they’ve gone viral on social media, with an amassed following of nearly 100,000 on Instagram alone, thanks to their fans eagerly snapping pics of their pops before they even leave the shop.

La Pollería is a very popular dessert shop in Madrid's Chueca neighborhod, serving penis-shaped ice cream on a stick. Its sister location is La Coñería.
Box captions read: “This box holds what you really deserve” (left) “How about you? How do you like to eat it?” (right)

Navigating ups and downs (but mostly ups)

Opening mere months before the pandemic turned the world upside down, La Pollería has had its share of uphill battles. With a growing popularity comes not only more fans, but also those eager to imitate their work. They’ve also had to deal with criticism from those who aren’t in favor of the concept of their product—even being turned away from renting out certain locations when it was revealed what they would be selling.

However, it’s clear there are far more lovers than haters of these phallic-shaped desserts, with no signs of their following slowing down anytime soon. And with an ever-increasing popularity comes room for more opportunities. Last summer, they saw the opening of their second shop in Chueca, La Coñería, dedicated to vagina-shaped waffles.

La Coñería is a very popular dessert shop in Madrid's Chueca neighborhod, serving vagina-shaped ice cream on a stick. Its original, sister location is La Pollería.

They’ve also opened up more stores across Spain and are planning to open in London and other cities. You can see all their locations here.

Breaking taboos

Before the birth of La Pollería and La Coñería, owner Pedro Buerbaum—originally from Tenerife and the CEO of Viral Projects, its parent company known for living up to its name and churning out viral businesses—also spearheaded another former Madrid sweets shop, Ice & Dreams. The unique ice cream spot in the heart of Malasaña was known for its dreamy Instagram-friendly decor and famous cotton candy ice cream creations.

While Ice & Dreams was far from your average run-of-the-mill ice cream spot, La Pollería and La Coñería are pushing the boundaries even further, aiming to sell a memorable, out-of-the-box (and delicious) product, while breaking taboos and further opening people’s minds in the process.

La Pollería is a very popular dessert shop in Madrid's Chueca neighborhod, serving penis-shaped ice cream on a stick. Its sister location is La Coñería.

*All of these images are from La Pollería’s Instagram

La Pollería and La Coñería’s info:

La Pollería

La Coñería

  • Address: Pl. de Chueca, 5, 28004 Madrid
  • Hours: 15:00-22:00
  • Follow them: Instagram, Facebook
  • Metro: Chueca

See all of their locations here.

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Against all odds: How 4 new small businesses in Madrid are staying afloat

Small businesses in Madrid are more at risk than ever of having to shut their doors. And perhaps the most unlucky of all are the ones that opened up just a short time before the lockdown—some only a week before.

Despite having the odds against them, these four newly-opened businesses are putting on a brave face and determined to keep their shops open and their dreams alive. Here are their stories on how they’ve managed to stay afloat throughout the lockdown and how they’re continuing to fight the good fight. They also offer sage advice for other businesses on how to survive a global pandemic.

1. Naji Specialty Coffee

After working in the hospitality industry for 20 years—mainly in cafes as a barista—Naji Alasil dreamed of one day owning his own coffee shop. After spending months searching for the perfect place and doing extensive renovations, his dream came true when he opened Naji Specialty Coffee in the charming central neighborhood of Chamberí in January 2020.

Naji quickly grew popular with people flocking to the beautifully adorned shop to sip on delicious coffee and unique concoctions, such as lime espresso and Naji’s famous pistachio latte.

Naji was only open for 40 days when Madrid went into lockdown. Obviously, this was a devastating blow after all of the time, money, and effort Naji spent to open up his dream cafe. However, he didn’t lose hope.

“Of course I was sad that we went into lockdown straight away after I had opened. Nevertheless I was very happy that I managed to open the cafe prior to the lockdown—at least I saw my dream realised. And I knew once the lockdown [was] lifted, my customers would come back. I just kept a very positive outlook altogether.”

As soon as businesses could start operating again, Naji jumped into full swing, serving takeaway coffee from 9am-9pm most days. He was one of the first coffee shops to reopen on a full-time schedule because he wanted to make up for time lost during the lockdown. Slowly but surely he’s rebuilding the momentum he had before the lockdown began. 

Undoubtedly, his positive attitude and hustle were his biggest tools for getting through the lockdown and helping see Naji Specialty Coffee through to the new world. 

His advice for small businesses?

Prioritize your customers and their safety, be patient, take each day as it comes, and never give up no matter the obstacle at hand (even a global pandemic!)

2. Tidbit

Canadian business partners Shawn and Arthur had successfully been running a North American-style coffee and dessert shop in Alicante for five years when they decided to pack up and head for the big city. They moved to Madrid, rebranded their business from Canada Cupcake Café to Tidbit, and opened shop in Fall 2019.

They began acquiring a loyal customer base who would come to enjoy their array of delicious treats—largely vegan—including cookies, cakes, ice cream, brownies, and cinnamon rolls as well as specialty coffee and teas. Their reputation for being one of Madrid’s best suppliers of treats (vegan and regular) was swiftly growing, and then COVID-19 brought momentum to a halt.

Arthur and Shawn were greatly concerned about their business and the economy in general, but tried to focus on moving forward instead of on fear. They shifted their focus to the takeaway part of the business and polished their online ordering system to accommodate the lack of walk-ins due to the lockdown. They also offered their products through popular takeaway services such as UberEats and Deliveroo, and in the later quarantine phases began to start up takeaway service.

Now that Madrid is no longer under lockdown, businesses are slowly coming back to life and Tidbit has once again opened its doors for customers to pop in for a treat in their tiny but cozy interior or call ahead for pick-up or an eco-friendly bike delivery.

Shawn and Arthur hope the love and support for small businesses only gets stronger, especially now when these shops that make our cities so special need it more than ever. 

Their advice to other businesses during these trying times?

“Plan ahead, be aware of the time needed to recover, focus on the offer and demand in your area. This is the ‘chair swap’ game, when all businesses close, relocate or rebrand.”

3. EatMyTrip

After finding success opening her first restaurant in Barcelona two years ago, Evgeniya Sukhacheva decided to branch out and open the second location of her trendy brunch spot, EatMyTrip, in Madrid. Evgeniya announced the opening of the second location in the beginning of March 2020—days before coronavirus sent Madrid and Barcelona into an indefinite lockdown.

Like many people, Evgeniya initially thought that the media was blowing the situation out of proportion and that normal life would soon resume. However, when it became apparent that the situation was serious and that the city would be locked down for a while, Evgeniya and her husband started to think of creative ways they could keep their business afloat. 

The first idea they came up with was to start an online shop with delivery options for their Barcelona location which already had a following. Then they shifted to takeaway options before being allowed to reopen with limited capacity, a smaller menu, and a two-person staff (just them). Now, EatMyTrip’s employees who were under ERTE (furlough) are slowly being incorporated back into the Barcelona business while Evgeniya is trying to figure out how they’ll be able to open Madrid location and get it off the ground, (while also focusing on paying the rent, bills, and the loans for both locations).

Although the Madrid location remains closed indefinitely, Evgeniya hopes to be able to open it one day soon. In the meantime, the Barcelona location (C. del Consell de Cent, 378) is back to 70% capacity with more customers returning everyday. 

Despite all of the adversities, Evgeniya remains positive and offers wisdom for other businesses in similar situations:

“Nothing lasts forever. We can plan something, but life can change everything. It’s [best to] take everything as it is, and try to smile at it, otherwise you will go mad. If you already created a successful business you’ll be able to do it again in the future. Just don’t lose yourself, and don’t forget about your health—it’s the most important thing.”

4. Mazál

Tamara Cohen—originally from Philadelphia, USA—moved to Madrid in 2015 to teach English. She soon settled into a side gig baking hard-to-find American treats such as pumpkin pies and bagels and selling them to fellow expatriates before opening up an online shop to the public. Her small shop, Bruja’s Bakery, quickly became the go-to place for American treats—especially bagels, which are hard to find abroad (and of good quality).

After making the spontaneous leap from English teacher to expert at-home bagel maker, she finally turned her side hustle into a full-time business with the opening of Mazál Bagels & Café in the central neighborhood of Chamberí in January 2020. 

The opening of Mazál was highly anticipated and instantly a hit. The cozy brick-interior eatery would fill up fast with people eager to dive into a bagel brunch complete with mimosas and coffee, as well as delicious challah, cookies, and cakes. However, when lockdown fell over Madrid in early March, Mazál was forced to shut its doors and think of a plan B.

Like many people, Tamara initially didn’t think the situation was that serious or would last long. But as the situation quickly became grave, she became worried about her ability to pay the bills and stay above water. 

Mazál was closed for a few days before they jumped into action and hired a delivery driver and started taking orders over social media, which became their saving grace. Their delivery driver, Juan Pablo, was with them for over three months, and proved integral to Mazál’s survival in lockdown, covering over 3300 km doing deliveries during the three months.

Tamara says that before all of this, Mazál was primarily focused on growing as fast as possible, which meant doing as much as they could at once. However, priorities have since shifted—Mazál has now drastically simplified what they do which has helped them to stay organized and reach more people.

Although these circumstances have been anything but ideal for a new business, Tamara has remained positive, upbeat, and grateful:

“This is a strange time for everyone. At times, it’s hard not to think that things might be ‘weird’ like this for a very, very long time. But if we have learned anything, it’s to remember that things are weird for everyone and to take it one day at a time. You’re doing great, we are all doing great, and we will get through it together. And thank you to [everyone] from the bottom of our hearts for [the support].”

A positive attitude, gratitude, and resilience are undoubtedly a recipe for success.

By Mary Kresge (LinkedIn & IG: @marelixb)

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