La Tabacalera de Lavapiés

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La Tabacalera de Lavapiés, also known as Centro Social Autogestionado La Tabacalera de Lavapiés, is a large cultural and social center in Madrid’s Lavapiés neighborhood. It sits in a group of connected buildings covering about 9,200 square meters. The buildings belong to the Spanish Ministry of Culture, but since 2010 they have been used and run by a local grassroots association. The center is a popular place for young people and hosts a fab lab, a theatre, music groups, artist collectives, and many social activities.

History and purpose
The site was originally an old tobacco factory, built in 1781 and producing tobacco from 1809, with thousands of workers. It became part of Spain’s Cultural Heritage in 1977. The factory operated until 1999, when the public tobacco monopoly was privatized and the building was handed to the Ministry of Culture. After years of neglect, local groups began reclaiming the space around 2004, organizing cultural activities under the project Tabacalera A Debate. In 2010 the Ministry leased the property to a local association for a pilot cultural project, and in 2011 the agreement was renewed with a new association for eight years with a renewable two-year lease. About one third of the space is used as the Autonomous Social Center La Tabacalera de Lavapiés.

Principles and culture
The center is built on five main ideas: self-management, participatory democracy, support for Free Culture, a critical view of traditional cultural management, and socio-cultural expression. It runs on bi-weekly open assemblies and commissions, and the resident collectives strive to be horizontal and open. It uses Creative Commons licenses for many works and actively supports culture that is free and accessible.

Facilities and activities
The complex includes a main building, several smaller buildings, a community garden, a patio, a bar, a library, a free shop, and a restaurant. It hosts a wide range of activities: street art and gallery exhibitions (including the Madrid Street Art Project and PHotoEspaña), theatre, circus arts, skateboarding, dance, and music from many cultures. It offers workshops in drawing, cooking, bike repair, sewing, screen printing, legal issues, and video making. The center also hosts wrestling events, flea markets, film festivals, meetings, debates, and social-political lectures. It houses a hackerspace and the Nave Trapecio fab lab.

Reception
Time Out notes that Lavapiés has many neighborhood associations and that La Tabacalera is its best-known self-managed center. Atlas Obscura calls it a striking example of Madrid’s cultural diversity and a bastion of democracy. It has been recommended by The New York Times and The Washington Post as a place to visit, and many consider it Madrid’s most exciting art space due to its vibrant artistic community.