{"id":554,"date":"2025-05-26T15:38:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T15:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/?p=554"},"modified":"2025-05-26T15:38:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T15:38:13","slug":"madrids-cafe-culture-evolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/2025\/05\/26\/madrids-cafe-culture-evolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Madrid\u2019s Cafe Culture Evolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In January, a week after beginning his semester abroad in Madrid, NYU student Elliot
Guiness headed to his local cafe, laptop in hand, hoping to get some homework done. After
ordering his latte he asked the barista in proficient Spanish \u201cTienes wifi?\u201d She politely replied in
English, \u201cWe do not give out the wifi. You are not allowed to use laptop\u2019s at this cafe\u201d.
Guinness has learned to double check whether a cafe allows the use of laptops before he
begins each study session. \u201cIt feels almost rude to pull out my laptop and do work when
everyone is sitting around and relaxing,\u201d he said.
Unlike the U.S. \u201cEurope is not a \u201ccoffee-to-go\u201d culture. Europeans consider their coffee
consumption to be more of \u201ca sit-down experience,\u201d notes the Culinary Travel Guide . Spain\u2019s
coffee shops historically follow this unspoken rule. The sidewalks are filled with cafeterias
(traditional Spanish coffee shops) where everyone from mothers and children to business people
in professional wear enjoy their afternoon coffee.
However, post-pandemic a number of work-friendly coffee shops are popping up.
According to guidepost, more cafes are opening in Madrid that are set up with work areas where
you can use your laptop as well as wifi.
Mora Cafe in Malasa\u00f1a, run by an American from Kansas City offers wifi for customers
with laptops. \u201cTraditional Spanish bars are places people go to talk and have a coffee,\u201d said
Mora cafe owner Alex Stocker. \u201cBut a lot of the young people in Spain who have seen coffee
shops being used as workspaces elsewhere and have created these same study havens here in
Madrid.\u201d Stocker opened Mora cafe in Malasana with the intention of creating a space that
welcomes both locals and foreigners.
Another coffee shop, Acid Cafe in Chueca, combines the original Spanish social area
with the modern concept of a workplace by only allowing laptops on weekends. Madrid resident
and barista at Acid cafe, George, says, \u201cCafes in Spain come from bar culture, which is why they
should remain as a place of socialization for Spaniards.\u201d
Twenty-five year old Julia Basante, who grew up in Madrid, accompanying her parents to
traditional cafes, now looks for places that allow wifi. \u201cJust because I use my laptop does not
mean other people can\u2019t still enjoy the atmosphere of the cafe.\u201d Julia thinks less emphasis should
be placed on how people spend their time at coffee shops. While sipping her specialty pistachio
latte at Noviciado Coffeeshop she said, \u201cThe Spanish are friendly and welcoming people. So
why not be welcoming to new business ideas?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In January, a week after beginning his semester abroad in Madrid, NYU student ElliotGuiness headed to his local cafe, laptop in hand, hoping to get some homework done. Afterordering his latte he asked the barista in proficient Spanish \u201cTienes wifi?\u201d She politely replied inEnglish, \u201cWe do not give out the wifi. You are not allowed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":587,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554\/revisions\/587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}