The drama of being a surfer and living in Madrid
Life situations have brought many surfers to Madrid: **work, studies... love**. Arriving in the capital, you grasp at straws, that is, to the good connections of Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez Airport with the paradisiacal coasts of the world.
However, there are inexorable realities you can't escape living indoors: your skin color turns gray, your hair falls out, and your belly grows. The beach does not exist, pleasure is another... and the bars the remedy . You remain optimistic, embracing with all your soul that quality leisure offer which the capital enjoys. You are very aware of all those offers of culture, fashion, gastronomy... BUT OH, THE BEACH.
You've done everything to not think about it: you make an effort to go to the gym (always thinking about that moment when you catch a wave again), you taste organic coffee, you wear casual socks and you eat sourdough bread... but no you breathe clean air and, looking at the horizon from some terrace, you think "there are no waves, it doesn't smell like the sea, where are the seagulls?".
Joaquín Cotta, founder of La Madrileña de Surf
** IN MADRID YOU "SURF" (WITH QUOTATION MARKS, BUT YOU SURF) **
There is a project, a great project, that will not fly until 2017 : this is the famous wave pool from **Wet Madrid**. In data: 100,000 m2 of surface, 20,000 m2 of beach, 48,000 m2 of lagoon and 25,000 m2 of green areas. All this at the height of the Mar de Cristal metro. But we can't wait. What can we do now to get rid of the surfer monkey, what should we do NOW?
Enough of pitying. If you want to feel the water under your feet, the slide of the board and that feeling of "no one tells me", make your way to the Pinilla reservoir (you will not see how the sun sets behind the waters of the Atlantic, for example, but you will see behind the Sierra de Guadarrama) and accept that the paddle surfing it is better not to surf at all. The Meridiano Raid company, for example, provides you with the necessary equipment to practice your balance in fresh water; Sup Club Madrid, on the other hand, will teach you the philosophy of the paddlesurfer in the Pantano de Valmayor and in the Pantano del Atazar.
Is paddle surfing not enough? how about a little wake surfing ? Cableski Madrid is the closest thing to a surf camp that you will find in the capital... but in The Angels of San Rafael . Fun, a good bar to comment on how things went in the different modules... and a lot of wake up.
The closest thing to a surf camp in Madrid
TRAIN AND LEARN IN FRESH WATER AND ASPHALT
Do we train a little to stay in shape? If you are already very hooked on flow and you want to keep in shape, sign up for a **Specific Surf Training in Madrid**! As you hear it: it is a monthly training program offered by Up Surf Club in the gym of the Hilton Madrid Barajas hotel. A very complete plan that combines dry exercises (to work on balance, power, strength or agility), with pool exercises (strengthen your resistance and get back in contact with the water).
Specific surf training at the Hilton Madrid Barajas
SURF THE ASPHALT
What we needed! Well, yes: Madrid will lack saltpeter, but it has plenty of asphalt. And a lot. For this reason, companies like ** Up Surf Club ** or ** Carving Social Club ** organize skatesurfing meetups... and what is this? The perfect mix between the movements that you will have to do in the water when you practice surfing and the asphalt of the city. practicing skateboarding you will strengthen your muscles, you will recover that balance that is lost between bath and bath and... you will have a good time.
MAKE COMMUNE: SURFER WAY OF LIFE... THE MADRILEÑA
You're not alone . The surf schools have also arrived in the city, so that you can organize with them the trips to the coast that you long for so much... or so that you dare to get on a board for the first time: "80% of the people who comes looking to start in this world: they have never surfed or once two years ago... ”, exposes Joaquín Cotta , the founder of The Madrilenian of Surf (or Madrid Surf School). At the school they organize _ surf camps _ in summer or Easter and getaways on long weekends or weekends to experience, first-hand, why hook a board and the sea.
With so much on offer, you only need to get one board, a set of fins, a wetsuit and sunscreen. Nightlife and shopping will always be very present in Madrid: you can go for material to ** Toxic World ** (Calle Segovia, 67) to the mythical (quasi-historic in Madrid, we will say) ** Caribbean ** (Calle Ayala 110 ) or ** Dak Tak 44 ** (Calle Hilarion Eslava, 51), are the only stores where you can find technical material and surf clothing, without having to go to the outlets on the outskirts of Madrid.
At night, a bit of a surfer atmosphere at Bentley's _(Calle de Alcalá, 105) _ with a good burger, maybe something lighter in Magasand or letting yourself be carried away by a surfer owner in Pico de Gallo with all the flavor of Mexico.
Very healthy sandwiches
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO COMPETE?
Yes, the pool at the Hilton is too small for us, but... it's already possible. Madrid celebrates its second Madrilenian Surf Championship on September 10 and 11 in Ribadesella . There are different categories and you must be registered in the capital, habitually residing in the city. In this championship, even if you don't compete, you will realize that Madrid is full of surfers and professionals who work between the coast and the city to feed your summer dreams.
Catching waves on Gran Vía
EVENTS FOR SURFERS IN MADRID
Surf life in the capital moves and never stops. There are many events for those affected by the plateau. The same goes for surfer Kepa Acero to present his latest film, just as a social network such as Surfergarage or Aitor Francesena “Gallo” presents his book is released. The next event you should put on your agenda is the ** Madrid Surf Film Festival **, which will take place at the Cineteca de Matadero between May 27 and 29. An event for lovers of cinema, travel and the obvious: SURFING. You can watch vindictive films like flux (about women and this sport), more techniques like Freedom of the fish , on a near-impossible right in the city of Safi... The Madrid surfing event of the year.
For lovers of surfing, cinema and travel
We hope that all of the above will be of great help to you, dear asphalt surfer. Anyway, we understand you, and we know that you are alone without sea views. Only without being able to take a bath first thing in the morning, at noon or at the last minute. You're in Madrid and it's worth nothing to see the part of waves... but not for that you will stop enjoying this great city.
Follow @cervezasalada