If you walk past the old Café Central building in Plaza del Ángel, you are likely to see a sad empty building. In the future, you may see a hotel or another international chain. Since April, after the landlords naturally believed there was more money to extract by turfing them out , the Jazz club which had hosted over a million audience members had to find a new home.
That home is just down the road in Ateneo, itself a prestigious cultural centre which has been in place over 200 years and unlike Central, has protected status. Over the 15th/16th April , we were lucky enough to be at the final and first shows for the life, death and resurrection of Café Central.
“It should be here , still” – Miguel Malla
The last band to have the honour to perform at the old Central was Racalmuto . Performing two shows on the evening on the saxophone and as frontman was Miguel Malla, there were times when emotions almost got the better of him and the audience. As the encore ended and people slowly started to drift away into the night for the last time, he admitted it was “mixed feelings.”
On one hand “It was amazing. When Javi (the director of Central) told us we want you to be the last band to play. I mean, they´ve been here for 45 years. I came here many many times and I dreamt that maybe , one day, I´d play here. Now I´ve played here, I don´t know , 200 times.”
Still, it was clear Miguel was forlorn in many ways “If I think about it, it´s the way of the world. Old places close down for hotels. It´s been an amazing place for me and it´s gone now. It should be, still here, but it´s gone.”
Nor did the sadness come just from misty eyed nostalgics of a certain age. Three of the more youthful audience members in Inés , Pablo and Sergio had nabbed tickets and in Ines´ words “You need to be here. To say goodbye , to see the last concert.” There were stronger words from the lads who openly called it “a failure of the city. The public administration should be doing something to protect it. “
As younger people from Madrid, do they think something is being lost? Ines was clear. “Obviously there are benefits (to tourism) but you need to put a limit to it otherwise you lose your soul, as a city.”
🎷 El Café Central, mítico templo del jazz de la capital, celebra su funeral con un cortejo festivo con amigos y clientes hacia su nueva ubicación en el Ateneo de Madrid pic.twitter.com/pHI1UctpTL
— El Periódico de España (@ElPeriodico_Esp) April 16, 2026
A funeral and resurrection of Café Central
The morning after the night before and the day of the opening of the new Central Ateneo, a small digified procession was planned for 4:30 – 5:00. A few people would come, play some jazz outside the now locked old building, (whose terrace and parasols were sadly still in place) and a five minute walk over to the new building before the night´s concert. Well, that was the plan.
The reality was an ocean of people lining the streets from Plaza del Ángel down to Ateneo en Calle del Prado 21. People were hanging off lamps to get a glimpse and it may be the only ever Jazz move that needed a police presence to keep the road clear, such were the number of people who were attracted like moths to a lamp to see the commotion. The story quickly spread and what was meant to be a quiet ceremony turned into a viral sensation, with every Spanish media site big and small swarming to the location. A better advertisement for the opening you couldn´t ask for.
Still, there was a concert to perform. Although the location was smaller and kinks were being worked out (including a door falling off the hinge mid -concert), it was overwhelmingly a success. But we´ve only heard one part of the move. We know the old Central was gone but what about the man behind helping Central find a new home? Luckily , we got to sit down with El Ateneo President Luis Arroyo on his role in keeping this institution alive.
“We know the historical centres of cities are becoming theme parks” – Luis Arroyo
The day after the opening concert and slightly worse for wear, we headed back to the high liberal opulence of Ateneo and managed to grab Luis before he sat down for lunch. Luis was himself modest about his role in the story, “I don´t feel like I was the ‘saviour’ of Café Central , I hope someone would come along. Anyway, I saw a news story they were closing and told them we had a space.” The space in question was a restaurant which has now been converted into a tight jazz space, with a few tables for food. Thankfully, the Ateneo members bar remains untouched.
Nor was this a commercial decision, but a sharing of objectives from one cultural institution to another. “It´s music , it´s art . The Ateneo has a long tradition of music and we are 150 metres from them (the old Central). This is not a marketing opportunity , this is just for fun and the sake of art. It´s beautiful to have them here.”
In a time of rising rental prices and maybe a cheapening of the culture, how important does Luis feel it is to maintain places like Ateneo and Central? “It´s obvious that it is happening all over the world. That the historical centres of the city are becoming theme parks. I don´t like that way of living. I think that our places should be protected and we feel very happy to protect the essence of Central.”
Thanking Luis , we head back out and walk inevitably past the old Central, silent in the sunshine when before it would´ve been a riot of noise. Now a man playing music on a stool for coins outside is the only sign of any musical connection.
Thankfully, the new Central has been a roaring success. Shows are consistently sold out and getting a ticket has become harder than ever. Both sides are in the honeymoon phase and maybe in the future Café Central might be lucky enough to find a bigger home and spread its legs, but at least they have one.
For now , the old Café Central has only one function, which is to be a useful example of changes to the wider city of Madrid: The facade is still there but it is now a hollow shell.
Tickets for Café Central Ateneo are available here. Café Central – El templo del jazz desde 1982 | Café Central Ateneo
Featured image is the property of MetinMadrid
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