Robin hood of Madrid

Welcome to Madrid and welcome to some of the best Madrid tapas tours. At native Spanish tapas we not only share the best tapas in Madrid with you, be also explain the past and recent history of Madrid in a fun and dynamic way. You will enjoy our Madrid tapas tours and lessons combination. Speaking of a fun part of Madrid history, Luis Candelas is Madrid’s very own Robin hood, he was referred to as the legendary bandolero, to know the history behind this legend, we have to go back to the romantic period Madrid lived through in the eighteenth century. Today we are going to learn a bit of who this Robin hood of Madrid really was.

This romantic period was full of with revolts against the occupying French troops. The French were having a hard time containing the citizens of Madrid, and some took up arms and were a real head-ache for the French troops, with ambushes especially from bandoleros such as Luis Candelas, which refers to some kind of rebel-theif that went against the system, stealing money from the rich and giving it to the poor, just like Robin Hood did, hence Luis Candelas  was coined Madrid’s Robin Hood.

Luis Candelas was popular among the citizens of Madrid, especially amongst the poorest, it is true he was a thief and also robbed his own people, but he never shed any blood against his own people, only on the occupying French invaders, whom they began to fear.

During our Madrid tapas tour, we pass by one of the caves de Luis Candela used to frequent and hide from the French troops. It is considered amongst locals as very touristy, yet worth checking out if you are in Madrid for some Spanish tapas. It is worth checking it out because there is a man at the front door dressed just like Luis Candelas!