Finding your place in the world can be challenging, but for 18-year-old Swedish singer-songwriter Paula Jivén, music is the perfect vehicle through which to channel all the strong and conflicting emotions that come with growing up and trying to define who you really are.

Right at the intersection of Divino Pastor and Monteleón, in the heart of lively Malasaña, there is a sign that reads ‘Guitarra Ángel Benito Aguado’. If we are lucky enough to find the blinds up, we can see luthier Yunah Park inside, working with silent dedication.

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"A mi madre, que siempre me ayudó para ser pintor".

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Es un soleado domingo de invierno y, como todos los fines de semana, la gente aprovecha para caminar tranquilamente por el Paseo del Prado. Justo frente al museo, varios artistas locales instalan sus puestos para exhibir y vender sus obras. Entre ellos se encuentra Antonio Castor, ya preparado para otra jornada de trabajo. Vistiendo un saco bordó y acompañado de decenas de sus pinturas, observa expectante el pasar de los transeúntes.

Next to some of Madrid’s most well known Senegalese restaurants stands Pantera, an anti-racist shop supporting African street vendors who face prosecution in the area.

It’s a cloudy and chilly March Saturday in the Valley of Fornela. There are no customers in the bar of the local albergue, only a man called León sitting quietly by the fireplace. “In winter, there are only four of us”, he says while he waits for his café con leche to cool down. He is one of the few remaining residents of Peranzanes, the capital of the valley. All four of his daughters, as most of the youth and adult population, have migrated to urban hubs in search for better opportunities.

Australian singer-songwriter, merci, mercy, comes like a breath of fresh air. Unapologetically honest and without holding anything back, she makes us take a hard look at those issues we sometimes try to sweep under the rug, all to the rhythm of sparkling melodies and bright synths.

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Ucramarket is one of the most important hubs for the Ukrainian community in Madrid and, in just one week, it’s also become a collection point for donations from madrileños destined for Ukraine. 

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Located just across the street from Plaza de Nelson Mandela, right in the heart of Lavapiés, sits the clothing store Pantera opened just last month with the mission to help integrate manterxs into the labour market.

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