Cafeography
Madrid · Sol & Ópera

Cafés in Sol & Ópera

Kilómetro Cero, La Mallorquina's napolitanas and churros on the Pasadizo de San Ginés.

Photo: Mark Neal, Pexels License

The Puerta del Sol is the point from which Spain's radial roads are measured: the Kilómetro Cero plaque, set in 1857, lies in the pavement north of the Real Casa de Correos, built in 1766–1768 and now the office of the President of the Community of Madrid.1 The square has been closed to most traffic since 2020.1 West of it, Calle Mayor and Calle del Arenal lead toward the Royal Palace and the opera house.

Coffee here tends to come with something sweet. La Mallorquina has sold pastries on the square since 1894, the same year Chocolatería San Ginés began frying churros a few streets west, and Café de Oriente has faced the Royal Palace across Plaza de Oriente since 1983.234 Between them, cafeterías line Calle Mayor and Calle de la Montera, with specialty coffee at Geisha on Calle de las Navas de Tolosa and at Despacito on Calle de Jacometrezo, open daily 08:00–20:00.

Local tip: Enter La Mallorquina by the Calle Mayor door, buy a napolitana at the counter and take it up to the salon, which overlooks the Puerta del Sol.

At a glance

71Cafés listed
4With opening hours
08:00Earliest opening
00:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Despacito Speciality Coffee, from 08:00 (Daily 08:00–20:00).
  • Closes latest: Mistura Ice Cream & Coffee, until 00:00 (Mon–Thu 10:00–23:00 · Fri–Sat 10:00–00:00 · Sun 10:00–23:00).
  • Most listed streets: Calle de la Virgen de los Peligros (2).
  • Most common features: wheelchair access (6%), specialty (4%), smoke-free indoors (4%).

Chocolatería San Ginés

  • Pasadizo de San Ginés, 5
  • Open 24 hours
  • +34913656546
  • Partial wheelchair access
  • 24 hours
  • Open by 6am
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Coffee chains in Sol & Ópera

Getting to Sol and Ópera

Sol station, under the square, is served by Metro lines 1, 2 and 3, and a Cercanías commuter station opened beneath it on 27 June 2009, four years late, with trains to Atocha and Chamartín.1 Ópera, at the far end of Calle del Arenal, is on lines 2 and 5 and the Ramal.5

Plaza Mayor is a few blocks southwest of Sol. Juan Gómez de Mora built it between 1617 and 1619; it measures 129 by 94 meters and has 237 balconies, and after the fire of 1790 Juan de Villanueva rebuilt it, lowering the houses from five stories to three.6 Cafetería Magerit is at number 22.

La Mallorquina and its napolitanas

La Mallorquina was founded by three partners, Balaguer, Coll and Ripoll; Juan Ripoll's Balearic roots gave the shop its name.2 It started at 10 Calle de Jacometrezo and moved to the Puerta del Sol in 1894, when the square's rebuilding opened up shop fronts. The partners brought the ensaimada, the coiled Mallorcan pastry, to Madrid, and the counter is now known for napolitanas filled with custard or chocolate.2

There are two doors, at 8 Puerta del Sol and 2 Calle Mayor, and the upstairs salon looks out over the whole square.2 In 2006 it received a centenary plaque designed by the cartoonist Antonio Mingote.2 The shop opens daily 08:30–21:00.7

Chocolate con churros on the Pasadizo de San Ginés

Chocolatería San Ginés occupies a building put up in 1890 as an inn and hostel, which became a churro workshop in 1894.3 During the Second Republic it was nicknamed La Escondida (the hidden one), because it sits between passages.3 By its own account it opens 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and six churros with chocolate cost €4.50 in 2026.38

Los Artesanos 1902, at 2 Calle de San Martín, charges about €4–6 for a serving with chocolate.8 Las Farolas, on Calle Mayor at number 11, and Maestro Churrero, at 19 Calle de Atocha, are two more churrerías near the square.

Plaza de Oriente and the opera house

The Teatro Real, formally opened by Isabel II on 19 November 1850, faces the Royal Palace across Plaza de Oriente and seats up to 1,958.5 Café de Oriente, at 2 Plaza de Oriente, opened in 1983 in the vaulted cellars of the former Convento de San Gil; Antonio Mingote drew an ABC cartoon at its table 9, now a corner in his memory.4

It opens 08:30–24:00 on weekdays and from 09:00 at weekends.4 Next door, La Botillería del Café de Oriente is at 4 Plaza de Oriente, and Café Del Real and La Traviata share 2 Plaza de Isabel II.

Sources

  1. Puerta del Sol, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. La Mallorquina, Wikipedia (Spanish), accessed October 2026
  3. Chocolatería San Ginés, Chocolatería San Ginés, accessed October 2026
  4. Café de Oriente, esMadrid (Madrid city tourism), accessed October 2026
  5. Teatro Real, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  6. Plaza Mayor, Madrid, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  7. Pastelería La Mallorquina, La Mallorquina, accessed October 2026
  8. Churros con chocolate en Madrid: dónde tomarlos, La Maleta Inquieta (updated September 16, 2026), accessed October 2026
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FAQ

Sol & Ópera cafés: questions

When did La Mallorquina open on the Puerta del Sol in Madrid?

La Mallorquina moved to the Puerta del Sol in 1894 from Calle de Jacometrezo, once the square's rebuilding opened shop fronts. Its founders, Balaguer, Coll and Ripoll, brought the ensaimada to Madrid, and the shop is now known for custard or chocolate napolitanas. It opens daily 08:30–21:00, with doors on the square and on Calle Mayor.

Is Chocolatería San Ginés near Sol in Madrid open all night?

By its own account, Chocolatería San Ginés is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. It has made churros on the Pasadizo de San Ginés since 1894, in a building put up in 1890 as an inn, and six churros with chocolate cost €4.50 in 2026. Los Artesanos 1902 on Calle de San Martín charges about €4–6.

Which metro lines serve Sol and Ópera in Madrid?

Sol station, under the Puerta del Sol, is on Metro lines 1, 2 and 3, and its Cercanías station, opened in June 2009, runs to Atocha and Chamartín. Ópera, beside the Teatro Real on Plaza de Oriente, is on lines 2 and 5 and the Ramal. Most traffic has been banned from the Puerta del Sol since 2020.

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