Casa Bartolomé Carnes

The Plaza Mayor butcher

Casa Bartolomé Carnes is situated in a prime location: Calle de la Sal, formerly known as Real de la Sal, which is named after the salt that used to be stored there. Calle de la Sal leads from Plaza Mayor to Calle Postas. The street evokes Madrid’s glory at the time of Galdós, its traditional businesses now interspersed with gift shops for tourists. Opposite the butcher’s shop is one of the famous façades painted by Antonio Mingote, showing several residents of the city looking out over an imitation balcony. The current owners’ grandfather started working at the butcher’s shop as an apprentice in the 1920s, when it was already 100 years old. Ten years later, he took over the business. After three generations, the shop overlooking Plaza Mayor continues to sell suckling pig, cold meats, cheese and Iberian ham, among other products, to residents and visitors to the city.