What to expect from this post?
Below you’ll find some general tourist advice about Madrid for a short trip as well as gluten-free food options that I can personally recommend. During our 2022 vacaciones in Spain, we spent three full days in Madrid so this post is sectioned into days as a guide useful for when it’s your first or second time there.
Little intro to Madrid
Madrid is a huge city and we tried to cover a lot on foot during the few days we spent there in May. I personally feel you can learn a lot about a new place just by walking the the same streets and paths as the locals do. While the temperature was 30°C on average, it was actually bearable for me (coming from a cold country) with relevant preparation such as sun cream, enough drinking water, shadows and light and breathable head covering.
I was aware from previous research that Madrid is marvellous, in terms of sights to see and available options for gluten-free food. Its abundance of various offerings partly comes from the fact that Madrid is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU) after Berlin and followed by Rome. Just in case you didn’t know, you can download the Find Me GF app for travelling gluten-free anywhere in the world and help our community by contributing to it as well. I am not receiving any benefit from talking about this app here other than just hoping that every little helps in raising awareness about coeliac struggles.
If you’re interested in discovering the green and mountainous Galicia in North East Spain, please see my guide here.
Pre day 1
My gluten-free Madrid adventure started by taking the new speed train line (300 km/h!!!) from Ourense the previous day which didn’t cost a fortune and was very pleasant. Upon arrival, I fell immediately in love with Madrid’s metro system (I always become fascinated by metro systems in big cities for some reason). We stayed in the Tetuan area in an apartment and to be honest I didn’t like the area as much as some of the fancier ones that we visited. Metro tickets are very reasonably priced and you can buy them in any of the ticket machines in stations.
For dinner we wanted to have something quick as it was really late so obviously we popped into our closest McDonalds as you can get gluten free buns in Spain. For some reason, I expected to get any item on the menu and/or deal adapted to gluten-free when ordering via the self-service machines. But the reality was, I ended up choosing the same McRoyal every time and it was never part of a deal.
Day 1
On the morning of day 1, the first destination for us (as for anyone visiting Madrid should be), was a churrería – Chocolateria 1902 – a chain serving gluten-free churros in multiple locations across Madrid. We paid around 8-9 euros for four reasonably sized churros (we got one extra :)) and two chocolate sauces pictured below.
We walked around visiting the Royal Palace (Palacio Real de Madrid), accidentally saw the Changing of the Guards there, explored Gran Via and had lunch at one of the most popular viewing points on the top floor of El Corte Inglés.
Lunch
I had a take-away poke bowl (apparently poke bowls are currently very hip in Madrid among younger people) type of lunch from Celicioco – a 100% gluten free bakery chain. Then we visited the magnificent Retiro Park (El Retiro), declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021 with a very healthy tortoise community and its beautiful rose garden (which you have to make sure prior to your visit that the roses will be in bloom that time of the year if you want to see the full beauty of it).
Horchata as a healthy snack
While in Madrid, you might as well try a horchata at a traditional horchatería for example in the Alboraya in the lovely Salamanca neighbourhood. Horchata is naturally gluten free, made with soaked, ground, and sweetened tiger nuts (chufas). You’ll either love it or (maybe) hate it. Interested to try? Here’s my homemade tiger nut milk recipe.
Day 2
The following day we wanted to tick off some other tourist attractions such as Plaza de España with sculptures in memory of the famous author Cervantes and his book character Don Quijote. But also the Sabatini Gardens (Jardines de Sabatini) as an extension of the Royal Palace with its spectacular architectural and ornamental styling. Although magnificent any time of the day, at dusk the gardens are truly marvellous, being one of the best sites in Madrid where to watch the sunset.
Lunch
We found by accident a lovely place called LaLina with 90% of the menu gluten free. It is located very close to one of the biggest fresh food markets Mercado de la Cebada in the historic La Latina neighbourhood. I liked the place so much that I even took a picture of the minimalistic ladies toilet interior as you can see from the below gallery.
Day 3
We had some more tourist attraction and a 100% gluten free bakery visits on the agenda on day number three. The pastries bought from the 0% gluten bakery were absolutely amazing. Possibly the best gluten free cream pastry I have ever had, is pictured below. We enjoyed our pastries in the lovely park next to the Temple of Debod (Templo de Debod) which is an ancient Egyptian temple that was dismantled and rebuilt in the Parque de la Montaña.
Lunch
But the one place we really wanted to visit during our few days in Madrid (as a person needs to eat), was As de Bastos with a 100% gluten-free menu and raging reviews. You can get the menu of the day (menú del día sin gluten) for a fixed price and just enjoy without worrying about cross contamination.
Starter at As de Bastos
Dinner
Yes, we actually had proper dinner as well, once. Our local friends took us to Pizz-End-Gluten where everything is gluten free. I tried gluten free Mahou beer there which was nice, like Daura Damm and Estrella Galicia. Their website doesn’t seem to be working for me so I’m not going to link that here, but their Instagram is pizz-end-gluten. The gluten free pizza we shared was good and our starter (Arepa Mix con Atún) was absolutely amazing. But you could also try making a delicious pizza at home using this gluten-free pizza base recipe.
In conclusion
As well as abundance of restaurant and bakery choice, there’s plenty of gluten-free options in the supermarkets in Madrid. Take Lidl for example, in Wales you’ll find gluten free snack bars in Lidl, but in Spain you’ll find you may have entered supermarket heaven. Carrefour and Mercadona are a level up and a good place to shop when on a gluten free diet as a lot of their own brand goods are clearly labelled. I have it easy when visiting Spain as I have a native speaker with me usually but you may want to invest in travel cards in Spanish that help you explain your dietary requirements to avoid cross contamination. I will try out my first travel card in French later this year when I’m venturing out to Paris. Until then, take care.
