Alexandra Cardena, from El Mono de la Pila
“We owed it to them,” says María Esteban, president of the Lavapiés District 12 Merchants Association, when referring to the leading role that women will have in Tapapiés 2019, the ninth edition of the Lavapiés multicultural tapas and music festival.
“They were owed this recognition in the hotel industry because it is one of the sectors with the highest gender parity, although women are not always directing”. Thus, of the 138 caps created for Tapapiés, 58 of them have been conceived by women. This is 42.6% of the total.
That total for this edition of Tapapiés, which breaks participation records again, is made up of 108 bars and restaurants (13 more than in 2018) and 30 local and gourmet shops in the markets of San Fernando and Antón Martín.
Tamarind delicacy from La Tentación
“What is happening is that almost everyone in the Lavapiés center is signed up and we are growing in other areas that there are people who do not associate with Lavapiés, but they really belong to the neighborhood. We are growing wide. We want it to be less centrist and that areas like above Cascorro, Santa Isabel or Magdalena street are important”, explains Esteban.
More or less central from Thursday 17 to Sunday 27 October will offer the tapas they have devised for this festival to the price of 1.50 euros (2.50 euros if accompanied by a beer or a third of Estrella Damm beer).
Regulars at this celebration are aware that distant flavors come as standard And this year was going to be no different. India, Italy, Mexico, Senegal, Bolivia, Chile, China, Syria... are some of the cuisines that will be represented in the 81 international tapas of a Tapapiés that evolves at the rhythm of society's sensitivities, offering, for example, “more prominence of vegan tapas”.
From there, from the shashi kebab from Maisha _(Doctor Piga, 21) _ to 'tamarind delicacy' of La Tentación _(San Fernando Market) _, passing through the 'mbeggtee' of Africa Fusion _(Argumosa, 15) _ and without, of course, forgetting the regional home cooking in the form, for example, of the Extremadura crumbs with mojo picón of the Rebel Rebel Bar _(Rodas, 28) _ or the mini vegetarian croquettes of La Coqreta _(La Fe, 6) _. "The tapas have more and more quality," says Esteban.
Cold melon heart soup from the Automático bar
Renewed or die. “When it was born we did not expect it to have so much repercussion and participants. Every year it has been growing and Music was incorporated, gaining prominence that makes it different from other tapas festivals. It is a tapas festival with music”.
Rock'n roll, soul, swing, jazz, flamenco or reggae are just a small example of the soundtrack that 28 national and international ensembles will put Tapapiés 2019, which plans to schedule 54 concerts and theatrical performances at street level during the weekends from 18 to 20 and from 25 to 27, at noon and at night. The Argumosa, Ave María, Embajadores, Lavapiés and Santa Isabel streets and Plaza de Cascorro These are the places chosen to keep pace with this edition.
Diversity of tapas, high quality and performances for the whole family. “I think it is to make known another face of Lavapiés that is not always the negative that appears in the news, that there is a much more interesting Lavapiés than the one that appears reflected in the media. Also, it serves to make more hidden bars visible to which you normally do not go and that is fundamental for the neighborhood and the commercial fabric”, explains Esteban.
You can consult all the participating establishments, the tapas to taste and the schedules of the performances through the website of Tapapiés .
Batucada of Hakuna Ma Samba in Tapapiés 2017