Overview
- Founders announced the decision in an Instagram video, saying the Malasaña venue will wind down after serving as a cultural hub for more than a decade.
- They report steep rent hikes — about 50% at the main site since 2010 and 25–30% at the second since 2019 — alongside falling sales and unaffordable refurbishment costs of roughly €50,000.
- The shop plans to keep trading and hosting events until mid-February, with closure expected unless circumstances change.
- Chef José Andrés publicly asked what the bookstore needs to “cover and hold on,” though no concrete rescue or relocation has been confirmed.
- Madrid’s booksellers’ association frames the case as a structural issue tied to real-estate pressure and urges targeted public policies, as Spain’s culture minister calls any bookstore closure bad news for the country.