Salsa at El Son in Madrid

Robert Abrams
September 11, 2004

This being Madrid on a Saturday night, 1 pm was a little early (when I left the Melonera Festival). I headed back up to a Salsa club called El Son that had been recommended by a friend of Lisa Allen's. El Son is located at Calle Victoria, 6, 28012 Madrid, Tel. 91 523 26 09, Metro stop is Sol. The doors open at 9 pm, but it was very empty at that point (I went to check it out before heading down to the Melonera Festival). As with Latin clubs in the US, the action doesn't pick up until much later. They have two dance floors, one upstairs and one downstairs. There doesn't appear to be a cover charge.

The dancing at El Son was enthusiastic. They mostly played Salsa with some Merengue and Bachata. I found a few people to dance with, but it seemed to be the kind of place where most people come in groups of friends. They served two kinds of beer: Corona and Heineken. Unlike in the US, where Corona is usually served with a slice of lime, at El Son it is served with a slice of lemon. When the Corona ran out I switched to Heineken, which frankly didn't taste as good, until I was struck by what passes for inspiration at 4 in the morning and asked for a slice of lemon with the Heineken. This greatly improved the taste of the beer. I left El Son sometime between five and six in the morning and walked back to my hotel. There were quite a few Asians who had set up small tables made out of boxes on top of which they were displaying sandwiches for sale. It is reassuring to know that if you take the full Madrid club district spa treatment and still have the munchies afterwards, there are entrepreneurs available to meet your needs.

Dancing at El Son, a Salsa club in Madrid
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams