My pick
My tip“Best time: daytime and early evening. The easiest neighborhood in Madrid for finding halal food (Indian, Bangladeshi and Moroccan restaurants and halal butchers). At night, be alert to pickpockets in the square and side streets, and do not show your phone or wallet.”
Madrid’s most culturally diverse neighborhood, home to migrants from Morocco, Bangladesh, Senegal and India as well as artists and students. You will find halal butchers, Arab and Asian shops, small mosques and Indian restaurants side by side on Calle de Lavapiés. Its character is bohemian and different from the orderly city center. It is a real local neighborhood, not a tourist one.
What to see
Calle de Lavapiés and its Indian restaurants · the Centro Cultural Tabacalera (the old tobacco factory) · the Teatro Valle-Inclán · the Casino de la Reina garden · the “corrala”, the traditional building with galleries · spice shops and halal butchers on Mesón de Paredes
Address
Plaza de Lavapiés