“It’s not that we are more advanced than anyone else, it’s what my grandmother has done all her life,” says Mario Villalón, the creative mind behind Angelita Madrid, the only Madrid cocktail bar listed in The 50 Best Bars 2026 and named in the 2021 FIBAR Awards (the highest recognition that bars and bartenders can receive in our country) as Spain’s Best Cocktail Bar. And he presents this as the answer to our question: how does one become the most sustainable bar in Spain?
“With the awareness that companies are not merely entities to generate financial profit. I like to get socially involved and Angelita Madrid’s cocktail lineup goes in that direction: using local produce, from small artisans or from our garden in Zamora.” A sort of “cocktail bar focused on reuse and local product” that sits beneath the eponymous restaurant run by his brother on Calle de la Reina, beside Madrid’s Gran Vía.
Villalón has the technique and knowledge to draw inspiration from Japan or Latin America. But he has chosen not to. He possesses the ability to play with exotic flavors and to challenge taste buds through fusion and surprise. Yet, unlike the trends currently dominating Spanish bartending, he has decided to achieve this by keeping his eyes on his own town, on his energy, and on the family core.
“With the garden we have in Zamora is where my parents began supplying their restaurant El Padre –the once-favorite of another of Spain’s best bartenders, Diego Cabrera–. Today they are not only involved in managing it, but also serving as the contact with artisans and producers,” explains Villalón, detailing why he chose a local route for his concept. “For example, if I could replace white sugar with honey from the village artisans, I would add nutrients and complexity, in addition to participating in the country’s socio-economic fabric,” he reflects. “I can craft cocktails inspired by Japan, but there I have neither family nor products on hand. Using products from the surrounding area is our way of communicating from Angelita.”
