Madrid's most genuinely multicultural neighbourhood, spread across the slopes south of the Rastro flea market and east of La Latina. Lavapiés has been the city's immigrant quarter for centuries — first Jewish, then later absorbing successive waves from North Africa, South Asia, China, and Latin America. The result is a dense, energetic mix of tablaos, Indian restaurants, Bangladeshi grocers, and old-school Spanish bodegas all sharing the same steep, narrow streets.
The neighbourhood centres on Plaza de Lavapiés, a sunny square flanked by a mix of old pensiones and new bars. The surrounding streets — Calle de la Fe, Calle del Olivar, Calle de Argumosa — are where young Madrileños come to find cheap drinks and tables on the pavement until late. The Centro de Arte Reina Sofía anchors the northern edge, and the Filmoteca Española on Calle Santa Isabel screens classic and international films almost nightly.