Salamanca Dining and Entertainment

Salamanca
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Dining in Salamanca

Salamanca is a city visitors fall in love with, not only because of the incredible beauty of its extremely well-known monuments, but also because of its excellent atmosphere and wealth of gastronomic delights. Salamancas citizens often enjoy some tapas before lunch. There are a lot of well-established places to visit, such as Cervantes, in the Plaza Mayor (main square), famous for their varied tortilla (omelette) snacks and palomas, ensaladilla-filled pork scratchings. Another place where you can try a good local wine, along with an oreja (ear) tapa, or blood sausage, or chanfaina, the local stew, is Cervecería del Comercio in Pozo Amarillo, a street famous for its restaurants including Dulcinea (Don Quijotes love) and El Jamón. In both these places, you can try two Salamanca specialities superb roast suckling pig or kid.

Lunchtime offers a myriad of choices. In Corrillo Square, between the famous Plaza Mayor and the cathedral, you will find the Río Tormes restaurant, once called La Viuda del Fraile (the monks widow). Here you can try delicious onion soup, a dish from the Castilla-Leon region. Another very well-known place is the Mesón La Espada, a small restaurant very close to the Plaza Mayor where the quality is outstanding. You just have to try their famous marujas salad, a dish of their own invention which has become famous in Salamanca and is only available in the spring.

Continuing a gastronomic route in the city centre, it is essential to make a stop at La Bellota Charra, a restaurant where you can try a seemingly endless variety of dishes derived from the Iberian pig, as well as exquisite local wines like those of Sierras de Arribes. One must not forget that some of the wines of Castile and León enjoy an outstanding reputation. Ribera del Duero is one of these, and you will find it in almost all restaurants including the cosy Valencia. This restaurant is located just one minute away from the Plaza Mayor; you have to try their onion-flavoured blood pudding, or tongue with pine nuts.

After lunch there is nothing better than a coffee. A good place to have it is on the sunny open-air terrace of La Platea in Plaza del Corrillo. Other places where having coffee is a real pleasure are Capitán Haddock and La Posada de las Almas. Both places are well worth a visit, if only for their rustic decor and intimate atmosphere. Another great place is the Irish Rover, located just a minute away from the famous façade of the Universidad (university) and decorated in the style of an ancient theatre.

At nightfall, the natives of Salamanca set off again for tapas. There is no better place for this than the district of Van Dyck. The Taberna del Peregrino has great tapas, and those made with barbecued steak, bacon or pork in most places in this district make any outing a pleasure. You will find various restaurants in Van Dyck, including Barbacoa de La Encina, Mesón-Asador Las Estrébedes, and El Bodegón. Their specialities include Iberian sausages, roast suckling pig and grilled veal. You'll also find in Van Dyck Bodega Chicho, well known in Salamanca and famous for its quality Galician cuisine.

Finally, there is no better place for a few drinks than the Gran Vía district. Theres a heap of places where you can throw a party, and they generally have offers to make it more economical. In the Savor you can enjoy the best of Latin music, and in El Callejón you can listen to Spanish music until the wee hours of the morning. In other districts there are also well known places like Versus, Cotton Blue and Morgana, three discos with good music and where the night is always young.

Translated by Gail Tagarro

Entertainment in Salamanca

Salamanca is a city of many faces: cultural, monumental, dedicated to the service industry, university-oriented (with two universities and almost 40,000 students) and home to cattle breeders and matadors alike. With the beauty of its characteristic Villamayor sandstone buildings and plenty of nightlife, the city offers something for everyone at any time of day or night.

Art Exhibits
As a centre of culture, the city is home to many forms of artistic expression exhibited at galleries and museums. The most important of these are San Eloy, which holds the best national and international collections, Garci Grande, La Salina and the exhibition halls found in the Palacio de Abrantes, all well-known for their dedication to promoting art in the city. Other important venues include the Patio de Escuelas and the Varrón, Reyes Católicos and Ateneo galleries. But without doubt, Salamancas greatest works of art can be found along the streets in the Old Quarter, lined with monumental buildings made from golden Villamayor sandstone. You could spend hours just contemplating Plaza Mayor or the domes of either the new cathedral or the old cathedral. Then theres Casa de las Conchas, housing the municipal library, the Clerecía (or Espíritu Santo Church), the famous university façade with its much-sought-after frog, the Torre del Gallo and the Universidad Pontificia.

Other must-visits include the collection of dolls and curious objects found in the Museo de Art Nouveau y Art Decó -housed in the beautiful Casa Lis-, the Masonic Lodge, the collection of clocks found in Colegio Fonseca, personal items and archives belonging to renowned writer and philosopher Miguel de Unamuno in his House and Museum, and, last but not least, the old manuscripts found in the Museo de San Esteban.

The Salamanca Museum or Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes, the Santa Clara Museum and the one dedicated to the citys history house collections narrating Salamancas most important events. The Museo Taurino also features an interesting collection on bullfighting, a very important and deeply-rooted tradition in Salamanca.

Cinema
Salamanca has an increasing number of cinemas for film buffs. Cines Van Dyck is the most well-known, with six screens, and there are an additional four in the Van Dyck Joven cinema, which organises marathon film fests. Multicines Salamanca features blockbuster films on its six screens, while Cines Bretón offers independent and original language movies on four screens. Then theres the Filmoteca and the Teatro Auditorio de Caja Duero, which organise film series on specific directors, actors, documentaries and shorts.

Music
Salamanca does not have a plethora of music venues, but there are a couple of important ones: the Palacio de Congresos, for classic opera and zarzuela (Spanish opera) or pop and rock concerts, and the Auditorio de Caja Duero. But the number of stages found in numerous bars throughout town, including El Corrillo - for jazz and soul - The Irish Rover, for up and coming Irish and Spanish groups, and Camelot, dedicated to Spanish rhythms compensate for the lack of major venues.

Theatre
Salamanca is rapidly growing in terms of theatre space available, especially for new companies. These venues include the La Vega, Pizarrales and Miraltormes cultural centres. For large-scale productions with an international focus, options include Teatro Bretón, the Juan del Enzina theatre and the stage found in the courtyard of Colegio Fonseca.

Nightlife

Bordadores District
This is one of the most central neighbourhoods in the city with a lot of options for going out, ranging from cafés, such as Bécquer or Pub Monumental, to bars, such as Tinos, Camelot (with a fun Medieval ambience), Gatsby, Niebla, or Trastevere (famous for good music).

Gran Via
In just a few years, this avenue has become a popular nightspot. It has everything from quiet and relaxed places, such as España 45 or Siglo I, to more happening places, such as El Callejón (with great theme parties) and Versus, while the citys "beautiful people" tend to gather at Café Musical. You'll also find lots of bars renowned for their tapas, such as Queen Pub, Brujas, with its witch-inspired decor, or El Rocío, for a taste of Andalusia.

Old Quarter
This area is famous for its monuments, but there are other possibilities as well, especially suited to taking a break from sightseeing. You can have a coffee at El Principal or a piece of cake at Alcaraván. After nightfall, however, Salamanca becomes a little more Irish at The Irish Rover, with its university and multicultural atmosphere.

San Justo
For more "alternative" options, check out the area surrounding small Plaza de San Justo, where various "urban tribes" hang out; whether punk, grunge, hippie or indie, they're all here. Popular spots include Luxor, with its "luxurious" Egyptian decor, to Sargento Pippers, with a carefree atmosphere, to artsy Sol or Moderno.

Plaza Mayor
This is the best spot to begin your night out grazing on tapas, beer and wine. There are lots of options on any of the small streets around the square, especially on Carmelitas, such as Pino, Belle Epoque or El Faro. This street is in turn surrounded by whats known as Plaza de los Litros (Litre Square), where 7 bars compete to attract folks for that all-important first drink.

Translated by A.Rupert