Madrid, April 1983 – The theater café Damajuana has opened on Calle del Pez 27 in the trendy Malasaña district. The Galician José-Ramón Regueira and three partners want to combine music, theater and art in the 200-seat restaurant. The first guests include film directors such as Carlos Saura and Pedro Almodóvar.
The legendary theater café Damajuana opened in April 1983
by José-Ramon Regueira and three other partners on Calle del Pez 27 in
Madrid opens. In the middle of a time that was later considered historic: “La
Movida Madrileña”. A few years after Franco's death was in the Spanish
Creativity is literally exploding in the capital. musicians, visual artists,
Dancers, authors and theater artists met in the bars and theater cafés
popular districts “Maravillas” and “Malasaña”. At the center of which is this
Damajuana lay. Personalities like the film directors Carlos Saura and Pedro
Almodóvar, actors like Paco Rabal, the comedian duo “Pedro y Pablo”.
who later became the TV presenter Pedro Reyes and the singer of the band “Los Toreros
Muertos” emerged in the beautiful restaurant.
Pictures by Jesús Sebastián: Duo Pedro y Pablo (left) and Ramón Regueira with Gonzalo Prego and unknown (right)
The owner and singer José-Ramón Regueira thrilled the audience with his sonorous baritone and his Galician and Latin American songs and In the middle of it all, a young German woman was acting as public relations, all of whom were “Ana de Damajuana” and whose real name was Annette Meisl. Annette visited 80 radio shows in a single year in which she did this Cultural program this 200 person capacity Theater cafes one widths Audience introduced. Today only a hint of that time remains Reminder...
Photographer Jesús Sebastián dedicated 18 years of his life to documenting this unique era. At Damajuana, the jam sessions often began behind closed doors and lasted until the early morning...
When visiting the December 2025 in Madrid Annette miraculously managed to find the scene photographer of the time, Jesús Sebastián, who had taken over 90,000 photos of the nightlife at the time between 1982 and 2000 and who was able to provide her with photos from back then! The black and white negatives had been stored in a storage room at the “Penta” club for over 20 years and fortunately had largely withstood the turmoil of time. 30,000 negatives had fallen victim to water damage, but fortunately he was able to save the remaining 60,000 and make them accessible to posterity via a negative scanner. You can see a small selection that catapults us back into an exciting time of cultural awakening here:
Pictures of Jesus Sebastian
The forgotten Movida photos were rediscovered a few years ago! Taking advantage of the yawning boredom during the pandemic, Jesús Sebastían - who was now making a career as an editor at Spanish National Radio - scanned thousands upon thousands of negatives by hand. When a journalist friend heard about it, he offered to organize an exhibition at the renowned Café Manuela. This café already existed when the theater café Damajuana opened. And while the theater café Damajuana only enriched Madrid's nightlife for a few years, you can still reflect on the old days in the beautiful Café Manuela on Calle San Vincente Ferrer. As soon as it became known that the historic photos would see the light of day again, widespread coverage in the Spanish media followed. Countless people showed up at the opening that Jesús hadn't seen since the eighties. An incredible reunion! You can find more information in the article below:
