Asturian-born Gumersindo Gómez returned from Cuba in 1888 to live in Madrid, where he invested the money he had earned. On May 15 that year he opened a coffee shop named “Gran Café Gijón” in honour of his home town. Gumersindo could never have imagined that his café, based in the Castellana area, would eventually be regarded as “the last literary café in Madrid”.

Famous authors and intellectuals such as Canalejas, Ramón y Cajal, Pérez Galdós, Romero de Torres, Ramón María del Valle Inclán, Cossío, Cañabate, Gerardo Diego, Torrente Ballester, Sastre and Cela have all sat round tables here to discuss an endless range of topics.

The centennial Café Gijón has been mentioned in books, films on numerous occasions and portrayed in paintings by prestigious artists, such as “Crónicas del Café Gijón” by Marino Gómez Santos, “The Night I Arrived at the Café Gijón” by Francisco Umbral and “La Ronda del Gijón”, a testimonial book of 17 characters related to Café Gijón collected by Marcos Ordoñez.

The establishment also has a terrace on Paseo de Recoletos.