Café Gijón (Also known as ''Gran Café de Gijón'') is a culturally significant

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

Antonio Espina, «''Las tertulias de Madrid''», Madrid, Alianza, 1995 situated at No. 21,José Esteban,Blanca Mena,Pilar Mateos,Marta Menacho Julián Marcos, Mariano Tudela, (2002), ''«El libro del Café Gijón»'',Madrid in the boulevard of central

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, which is known as

Paseo de Recoletos Paseo de Recoletos is a wide boulevard in central Madrid leading from Plaza de Cibeles to Plaza de Colón. From west to east it consists of: * Two southward lanes * The pedestrian walk * A southward bus lane * Three southward lanes * Three north ...

. The café is opposite both a railway station of the same name and the National Library of Spain (BNE). The

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

in front is on the central walkway of the Paseo.

History

It was established on 15 May 1888 by ''Gumersindo Gómez''Angel del Río López, (2003), «''Los viejos cafés de Madrid''», Ed. Madrid, (possibly ''Gunmersindo García''). Despite modest beginnings, after the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

it became a meeting-place for intellectuals, writers and artists collectively known as

Generation of '36 The Generation of '36 () is the name given to a group of Spanish artists, poets and playwrights who were working about the time of the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939). The Generation of '36 was a literary movement that suffered harsh criticism and ...

. It was also known by Hollywood stars and foreign writers such as

Ava Gardner Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' att ...

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

Joseph Cotten Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of '' The Philadelphia Story'' (1939) an ...

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous charac ...

, and

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics ...

. In December 2013, the cafe experienced a robbery.

Tertulias

These were some of the more famous regular meetings or '' tertulias'' held at the café: * ''Tertulia de los poetas'': a poets' corner led by

Gerardo Diego Gerardo Diego Cendoya (October 3, 1896 – July 8, 1987) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. Diego taught language and literature at institutes of learning in Soria, Gijón, Santander and Madrid. He also acted as lite ...

. * ''Juventud Creadora'' (Creative Youth): also known as '' Garcilasismo'', one of the main currents of Spanish post-civil-war poetry. * ''Tertulia de escritores y lectores'': led by the

Ateneo de Madrid The Ateneo de Madrid ("Athenæum of Madrid") is a private cultural institution located in the capital of Spain that was founded in 1835. Its full name is ''Ateneo Científico, Literario y Artístico de Madrid'' ("Scientific, Literary and Artistic ...

, a private cultural institution promoting scientific, literary, and artistic talent, and loosely associated with the Institución Libre de Enseñanza movement which created the nearby

Residencia de Estudiantes ESO Hotel at Cerro Paranal (or Residencia) is the accommodation for Paranal Observatory in Chile since 2002. It is mainly used for the ESO ( European Southern Observatory) scientists and engineers who work there on a roster system. It has been ...

. * Discussions about the trial for the crime of Fuencarral street, in which a housemaid was accused and later convicted and sentenced to the death penalty for killing her mistress, a wealthy widow from Madrid society.

Famous Patrons

* Carlos Oroza * Diego Medrano * Francisco Umbral * Juan Benet * Eduardo Alfonso and Mario Rosso, founders of the Schola Philosophicae Initiationis *

Ramón María del Valle-Inclán Ramón or Ramon may refer to: People Given name *Ramón (footballer, born 1950), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1983), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1988), Brazilian footballer *Ramón (footballer, born 1990), Br ...

* Antonio Paso * Alfonso Paso * Antonio Buero Vallejo * Antonio Gala *

Camilo José Cela Camilo José Cela y Trulock, 1st Marquess of Iria Flavia (; 11 May 1916 – 17 January 2002) was a Spanish novelist, poet, story writer and essayist associated with the Generation of '36 movement. He was awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize in Liter ...

* Carlos Oroza * Enrique Jardiel Poncela *

Fernando Fernán Gómez Fernando Fernández Gómez (28 August 1921 – 21 November 2007), better known as Fernando Fernán Gómez, was a Spanish actor, screenwriter, film director, theater director, novelist, and playwright. Prolific and outstanding in all these fiel ...

* Juan José Cuadros Pérez * Gloria Fuertes * Ignacio Sánchez Mejías * José Canalejas * José Suárez Carreño * Juan García Hortelano *

Santiago Ramón y Cajal Santiago Ramón y Cajal (; 1 May 1852 – 17 October 1934) was a Spanish neuroscientist, pathologist, and histologist specializing in neuroanatomy, and the central nervous system. He and Camillo Golgi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or M ...

Benito Pérez Galdós Benito María de los Dolores Pérez Galdós (; 10 May 1843 – 4 January 1920) was a Spanish Spanish Realist literature, realist novelist. He was a leading literary figure in 19th-century Spain, and some scholars consider him second only to Mi ...

* Modesto Ciruelos * Dionisio Ridruejo * José García Nieto * Salvador Videgain García *

Manuel Alexandre Manuel Alexandre Abarca OAXS MML (11 November 1917 – 12 October 2010) was a Spanish film and television actor. Career He was a popular supporting actor. He won an Honorary Goya Award in 2003 for his career achievements. Filmography in ci ...

Álvaro de Luna Álvaro de Luna y Fernández de Jarava (between 1388 and 13902 June 1453), was a Castilian statesman, favourite of John II of Castile. He served as Constable of Castile and as Grand Master of the Order of Santiago. He earned great influence in ...

* José Manuel Cervino * Juan Van Halen * Marino Gómez Santos * José Luis Prado Nogueira * Luis López Anglada * Leopoldo de Luis *

Luis García Berlanga Luis García-Berlanga Martí Medal of Merit in Labour, MMT (12 June 1921 – 13 November 2010) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. Acclaimed as a pioneer of modern Spanish cinema, his films are marked by social satire and acerbic criti ...

Arturo Pérez-Reverte Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez (born 25 November 1951) is a Spanish novelist and journalist. He worked as a war correspondent for RTVE for 21 years (1973–1994). His first novel, '' El húsar'', set in the Napoleonic Wars, was published in ...

Café Gijón Prize

El ''Premio Café Gijón''See: :es:Premio Café Gijón is an annual Spanish literary award for an outstanding novel. The idea, conceived in 1949 by

, Enrique Jardiel Poncela and other leaders of the Tertulias was to promote those meetings and to create an independent prize to compete with Nadal Prize, which was organised by commercial publishers. Although the award was originally managed by the Café Gijón, and is now financed by the tourism agency of the northern port city of

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality by population in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coa ...

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, it is only concerned with the spread of quality literature and the promotion of authors whose work may not otherwise be published for lack of funds. Although winners receive no financial prize, the award attracts considerable media attention which promotes both the winning authors and of course the sponsors of the prize.

References

External links