Santa Bárbara Brewery

On October 17, 1815, the Count of Moctezuma de Tula y de Tulengo signed the license to open the Santa Bárbara brewery on Hortaleza Street, but it was in 1966 that the Santa Bárbara brewery was opened, after the previous brewery, which dated from 1900, had been remodeled. Today it is preserved in the Plaza de Santa Bárbara, just as it was remodelled then.

According to the original licence signed by the Count of Moctezuma de Tula y de Tulengo, the bar opened for the first time in October 17th in 1815 as a beer shop; the brewery opened the same year, in Calle Hortaleza, near Alonso Martínez. The brewery has undergone several moves and changes of ownership, but the bar has always been Santa Bárbara, well-known for its good draught beer and for its tapas and individual portions, especially for its prawns.

During the First Republic, Santa Bárbara was mentioned by Benito Pérez Galdós in one of his Episodios Nacionales. Since the 1950s it has become a favourite haunt of students, politicians and intellectuals.

It also serves menus of the day made up of varied dishes of Spanish gastronomy.