El Truco Lesbian Bar in Madrid: Friendly, Cheap and Fun

This girl bar on the corner of La Plaza de Chueca rates remarkably high on the friendly factor. Truco (trick) has craftily avoided the typical pitfalls of gay culture–don’t bristle, darling, all cultures have their downsides—that is, the arrogance of pretty-boy bars or the territorial aggression of DYKE! joints.

The venue itself is quite modest; in fact, it just looks like a big box – n o theatrical, multi-hued, curvilinear passageway takes you to the dance floor. In place of all this spectacle you have… the front door. Hey, if it works don’t fix it.

And speaking of fixing things, most of the bar staff looks like they’ve spent the afternoon repairing cars or something. The “uniform” is a white tank
top with red suspenders holding up well-worn jeans. If you have a weakness for the butch look, the staff won’t disappoint.

Another thing that won’t disappoint is the crowd: largely under 30,
down to earth, and rarin’ to go. On the femme/butch scale it’s definitely more on the femme side, but there were a few girls sporting the skate-punk look. If
that’s your scene, stay tuned for my review on that really groovy place down
in Lavapiés where the girls actually dance (I’ll remember the name any moment
now). To the delight of many, there is a gender inversion at Truco: instead of
the usual Chueca “room full of men sprinkled with women”, we have a whole lotta chicas and a couple of tag-along boys. Everyone plays together nicely – it is a very social scene.

The music varies but is always energetic. In spite of these infectious
Latin rhythms, the beaming lights and the spinning disco ball, the crowd
relegates itself to the Spanish shuffle – it’s sort of like dancing without
moving. OK, perhaps I am exaggerating - they move a bit, b ut it’s definitely “a
bar” where some people “happen to be dancing” and not a proper dance floor. Don’t get me wrong, though, there is no lack of energy or movement in this crowd.

And there’s a final perk: you pay only four euros entrance and that price gets you a beer as well. If you are the new girl in town and looking for the “trick” to saving money while having a great night out, I think you’ve found it.

Bar/club: Truco
Gravina, 10 (on Plaza de Chueca)
Metro: Chueca
Hours: daily 17:00 – 3:30h

Entrance: 4 euros (with free drink!)

by Lex Evanson