We Spent an Afternoon in Madrid's Poshest Neighbourhood

All images by Bego Solis

This article originally appeared on VICE Spain

In Madrid, the exclusive Salamanca neighbourhood is the most expensive per square metre in the entire city. Here, you'll find the highest concentration of fancy restaurants, building concierges, luxury shops, shiny Porches, celebrities, nobility and other people who can afford to buy watches of roughly the same price as a mid-size car. The shopping street is nicknamed the "Milla de Oro" – or "Golden Mile" – and if you have money to burn, you can buy basically anything here.

To see how the area is faring these days, we went to the Golden Mile and strolled around for a bit during lunchtime – when people working in the area come together with the neighbourhood's locals.

"I've been living in this neighbourhood for quite some time and I love it. It's just like a small town – everyone knows each other here. Because of my husband's job, I have also lived outside of Spain – in Russia, England and Germany. I've had many different jobs in my life: I've been a model, head of flight attendants for Iberia, while up until recently I ran an estate agency. There's a lot of money in this area but a lot of us also have had to adapt to the crisis. Just look at these Chanel shoes I'm wearing – they're 25 years old."

"We used to have a part of the famous actress Sara Montiel's private collection which included paintings, furniture and decorative pieces. Marujita Díaz – another famous actress – left everything she had to us after her death, so her things could be auctioned off for charity. That included between 80 and 100 of her dresses," says David Cuevas, the owner of the Molina Cuevas Gallery.

"This area is good for business – crisis or no crisis. Of course we can feel the crisis but we're always making sales – be that of jewellery, paintings or property developments."

"I've been working in this building for three years – I used to make furniture. The truth is that this is a great neighbourhood to work in, and I get on really well with my colleagues in other buildings. You can tell that the people in the street have great spending power and I sometimes get to see artists, politicians and footballers here. Just last week I saw Real Madrid players Keylor Navas and James Rodríguez buying clothes in a shop across the street."

"On weekdays like today almost all of our of clients are executives, but we have mostly families dining here on weekends. We don't have a set menu in our restaurant but the waiters are supposed to personally recommend dishes.

The people who come here for lunch on a daily basis generally just want something quick so they can get back to work as soon as possible. Small fried fish and bulls' tails are our best and most popular dishes."

Francisco lives in New York but he's in Madrid for a real estate deal. "I'm originally from Madrid – from the Chamberí area. But when I'm in town for business, I stay in a hotel anyway."

Ana has been working in the Valentino boutique for 12 years. "I'm not from around here and I come in only for work, but I like the area. We can't feel the crisis in a boutique like ours. What helps this neighbourhood commercially is that our type of business is maintained thanks to tourists with a lot of money."

Sofía is from Ecuador but has lived in Madrid for four years. She doesn't live in the area, but she works here. "I like this neighbourhood. I don't really think that Madrid is that expensive and it's cheaper than Ecuador in some respects, like the price of food." She's making the most of her two hour lunch break by trying to raise funds for people affected by last April's earthquake in Ecuador.

More images below.

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