Outside the M-30 there is life. Perhaps you are one of those who mistrust industrial estates. The same even generate insecurity when the doors of their ships are closed and their streets are lifeless. You will believe that a polygon is an urban space ready for work. And it certainly is. But in Julián Camarillo (Ciudad Lineal and Suanzes subways) you have a unique opportunity to witness an urban transformation in record time. If you want to know how dynamic Madrid is, come here. Its almost 200 hectares comprise dozens of abandoned spaces, dozens under construction, dozens in operation and a multitude of catering establishments with surprising proposals. All at breakneck speed for what the construction parameters are.
An area that, if it is not already fashionable, will be in a few months, as happened with its parallels in other cities, from Silicon Docks (Dublin) to Shoreditch (London) or the closest District 22 @ of Barcelona.
If you walk along Julián Camarillo and Albasanz streets, the two roads that connect the polygon, you will find a long list of buildings sentenced to the pickaxe and in which perhaps it would be appropriate to establish some protection. They correspond to factory and workshop architecture from the 50s, 60s and 70s of the last century. Facades wounded by time and vandalism that the passerby will recognize in his memory because all the cities of this country had them until the pickaxe transformed them. Here it is destroyed almost by surprise, from one day to the next, as has recently happened in Julián Camarillo with the National Pharmaceutical Center, adjacent to two brilliant examples of seventies and eighties architecture, such as the Rovi Laboratories and the Railway Interoperability Laboratory. And nearby, one block away, with the modernity of new buildings, such as the Rioja.
If you go along Julián Camarillo towards Hermanos García Noblejas (or Institución Libre de Enseñanza… after changes in the nomenclator) you will find at number 19 and well hidden one of the great surprises of the estate, in its hotel face: Mad Brewing, the riskiest bet and with projection of all the open ones in the area. At the end of a grimy New York alley, the passerby finds a brewery where he wouldn’t expect to find more than the Construction Platform’s loading docks and a car wash. It is a place as surprising as it is extreme on the outside. It houses a bar, restaurant and brewery inside, with guided tours included. Everything stands out. Its craft beers, from lagers to IPAs, among other varieties. Accompanied by the rediscovered banderillas (gildas, of course), sandwiches or the surprising low-temperature roast pork ribs. Mad Brewing also develops a program of monologues and micro theater, in addition to other shows.
The entire poligonero neighborhood is now immersed in a transformation worthy of contemplation. It is feverish Madrid in its purest form. In a matter of months, old mechanical workshops, printing presses or textile factories disappear to house new industrial proposals, hotels and technological services. Pickaxe and brick in equal parts, to respond to some streets through which, in their guts, already circulates 65% of the data that moves through Spain and Portugal, including those originating from the servers of Google, Facebook, Telefónica and Netflix. Because there are even protected industrial buildings, such as the warehouses originating from the Bosch factory, the most important factory block in the area (García Noblejas, 19).
In those same streets other gastronomic bets stand out. Most of them close on weekends, but a minimum remains open to serve the few inhabitants of this semi-industrial area or for walkers who walk through almost empty streets, where the absence of traffic becomes an incentive for the walk. If you want rice, you have it at Mar y Tierra (Albasanz, 68). If you prefer simple dishes or tapas, you can choose Rosq (Julián Camarillo, 32), which also has a simple but very quiet terrace with very long hours. Or if you just want to have breakfast, go to the Horno (Julián Camarillo, 29). And if meat is your thing, you have the Guanabara buffet by El Rodizio (Medea, 4), as a safe and cheap bet. For having, he even has a trusted Asian, the Ichibanya (Cronos, 6). There are five examples in a list that does not stop growing on weekends.
When you get fed up with the industrial fabric you can approach two great historical parks. First, the Quinta de los Molinos, at the foot of the Suanzes metro station. A farm that originally successfully combined agricultural planning (hence its almond tree fields) with a palatial one at the beginning of the last century and that takes its name from the mills that in its northern area were used to raise the water from the area’s groundwater. . You can even take your children to the activities of the Open Space, located in the palace (entrance through the park or, directly, through Juan Ignacio Luca de Tena, 20) and enjoy the offer of its bar in one of the the best terraces in the city… although on weekends it is in high demand, to the desperation of the residents of the area. Second, the Quinta de Torre Arias, with a similar conception to the previous one and located next to the Metro line 5 stop with the same name. A smaller space than the Quinta de los Molinos and that is still in the process of monumental and landscape recovery. Notice: dogs are not allowed.
And if you still have time and desire, and direct your steps towards Canillejas, you still have two more options, both in the Villa de Canillejas square. The first is the modest religious architecture of the Church of Santa María la Blanca in Canillejas, with a brick factory from the 15th and 16th centuries and its great surprise: a magnificent Mudejar coffered ceiling, the best of all those with a bow in the city. And the second alternative is gastronomy, with the El Llagar cider house, an Asturian restaurant with a long history in the neighborhood with a good offer of fish and meat both inside and on its large terrace.
