The traditional Spanish bar 
disappears from downtown Madrid, Spain. 
Owners look for the reason why. 
NOVICIADO BAR
SANDWICHES
My grandfather got this place in 1947
Then, my father took over 
and then in 2000 I did. 
I've been working here since I was 18.
THE DEATH OF THE SPANISH BAR
(AND THE INVASION OF THE SQUARE PLATES)
A traditional Spanish bar is a place where
you have cañitas [small glasses of beer],
Wine, Spanish omelettes,
pinchitos [small portions of food], sandwiches... 
LOZANO BAR
My family came here and
we've been working at the bar since.
Then we got another bar,
the family divided up,
And I stayed here. 
There's no older people here anymore.
The young people have pushed
the old out, to the suburbs,
Or maybe they're old
and don’t drink anymore.
My work here is now
centered around young people.
We’ve been running it
for 57 years,
And it has been open for 70.
It’s always been
in the hands of families,
And it still is.
IN THIS BAR, THE ANCHOVIES
HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FROZEN
Quality, price and treating people right
are important to us.
This was a store for products from Galicia.
Then, around 1960,
it became a bar and restaurant. 
The Chueca neighborhood has changed
a lot in the last eight years.
Now it has a lot more trendy restaurants...
In the last three or four years
there are more restaurants,
Before there wasn't even
half the number you find now.
HOT COFFEE WITH FRENCH TOAST,
CROISSANT, CHURROS OR MUFFIN
TASTE OUR CAKES OF
CARROTS, BROWNIE, LEMON, POPPY, APPLE
TOASTS OF CHEESE & NUTS,
TUNA & ROASTED PEPPER, ALIOLI & CHICKEN
You can open a traditional Spanish bar,
with Spanish products,
but if you want it to succeed
you’d have to use "square plates".
Big, big plates.
That's what they’ve got now.
Now there are these cooks that
prepare these plates with nothing on them,
And you have to pay 10€ to 12€
just for the first dish.
They charge you the same price for the second
And you leave hungrier
than you went in.
In one of those places you'll pay
20€ for a portion of cured ham.
An Iberian one…
And here it costs 11€
and it's the same ham,
but since the plate is square,
well, it’s "cool".
Yes, there's an
invasion of "square" plates.
99% like the Spanish omelet...
Here you have octupus,
ham with turnip greens,
Seafood, grill,
cod, sole, hake...
Some people do not dare
to go in these bars
Because they consider them
to be old.
But old doesn't mean
that it’s crappy.
This one isn’t.
In the 80s there were usually
married couples here.
They came and had wine and cañas,
they’d come at midday
and in the afternoon.
But when the young people came,
I started to do hamburgers,
to serve minis [liters of beer]
And that was what
they were looking for.
There were parents who used to come,
but not anymore,
Because they’re dead,
but their children keep coming.
Once I went to a hospital and 
was attended by a doctor I didn't know.
The guy told me:
“I know you from somewhere...”
And he was trying to figure it out,
from this or that place.
“I have a bar called Lozano”.
“Oh, sure, 
we went there when we were young.”
When my father worked here,
when he was young,
There were a lot of artists here:
Fernando Esteso, the Reyes Brothers,
El Chato de la Isla...
a lot of flamenco singers.
There was a flamenco bar
nearby too.
And lots of actors:
Tip and Coll.
I saw them
when I was a child. 
There were two weeks when 
Fernando Fernán Gómez was filming here
And they ordered
sandwiches, beer, Coca Cola...
I did good business
those two weeks. 
Some journalists, some folks 
from television, singers,
Some Spanish actors that
appear on film or on TV series...
They’re also looking for a way
to run their businesses.
I suppose it’ll be about
who is strongest.
They’ll open more,
I suppose.
Because everyone
that has these old bars,
unless they’re like me,
I’m relatively young,
but how many will retire and then
that will be the end of their business?
The ones that go 
from fathers to sons will continue,
The ones that don’t
will disappear.
THE DEATH OF THE SPANISH BAR 
(AND THE INVASION OF THE SQUARE PLATES)
