Bajos de Argüelles, Heavy metal and rock bar district in Gaztambide, Chamberí, Madrid, Spain

Bajos de Argüelles, also called Bajos de Aurrerá, is a nightlife zone in the Gaztambide neighbourhood of Madrid's Chamberí district, on the block bounded by Andrés Mellado, Gaztambide, Meléndez Valdés and Fernando El Católico. It is a multi-level complex of concrete and metal, with two long open walkways with rust-coloured railings, a paved ground floor with a circular raised planter and a thin tree, and a softly lit corridor of storefronts beneath the left walkway.

The bars of the Bajos de Argüelles opened in the 1980s during the Movida and peaked in the 1990s, when up to 58 venues operated in the block bounded by Andrés Mellado, Gaztambide, Meléndez Valdés and Fernando El Católico. Many ran on cafeteria licences or licences unrelated to hospitality. A 2004 special-licence regulation forced owners to regularise or close, and bars such as Anvil and Hellion shut in 2006.

The area is known as "the heart of heavy metal and rock in Madrid". Its name appears in the song Chicas de colegio by the Madrid band Mamá, and it served as a setting for the video clip of Give me the seventies by Carlos Jean. Bars such as Tuareg, Moe's, Gatuperio, La Ducha, The Sinner, Bastard, Fenrir and Disco Rock remain open.

The zone sits in the block bounded by Andrés Mellado, Gaztambide, Meléndez Valdés and Fernando El Católico, in Gaztambide, Chamberí. The simplest access is by metro at Moncloa or Argüelles, or by EMT and northwest buses stopping at the Moncloa interchange. Venues cluster on the same streets, so you move between them on foot.

The bars operated for three decades on cafeteria licences, some with permits unrelated to hospitality. A 2004 regulation required owners to obtain a special licence or close; Anvil and Hellion shut in 2006, and Tyrant, opened that year in Anvil's wake, closed for good in May 2014.