Hi,
Can anyone recommend any good internet cafes while in Madrid? I'm going to be staying in Chueca neighborhood and would like to blog while in Madrid as a way of staying in touch with friends from home.
Thanks!

One thing to look out for is signs for 'locutorios' - phone centers that look like little shops, where cheap calls are usually made by the immigrant population in Madrid. These places nearly always have very cheap internet access as well, and there are bound to be a load around chueca. Have a good trip!

I always go to Locustorios to call home and to check my e-mail when I'm in madrid. You get 1 hour internet access for €1.

Locutorios, or you mean call centers are having a cheap internet access, i agree with sallyanne.
ciao

Bigg Internet off Metro Sol 2 or 3 stops from Chueca above KFC

I'm going to revive this thread since I'm interested in this topic. Can anyone name any new internet cafes in Madrid or add to the one already listed here? Gracias!

Can I add to this and expand the question?
I am taking my laptop and want to know what plazas or terazzas have free wifi?

I can tell you both that cybercafes - as we used to know them like easyInternet and the like - are quickly disappearing what with the growing number of locutorios.

I believe the "Bbigg Internet & Games" on Calle de Alcalá, 21 still exists though.

While I prefer cybercafes to locutorio, I will say that locutorios are cheaper, usually 1 Euro per hour or thereabouts. Can't beat that. But I generally don't like locutorioes because of the low-grade-quality of the equipment, the never-cleaned keyboards and mouses, and the suspect security of XYZ locutorio. Before leaving, I always "clean out" the history file and cookies of the browser but I always feel weird accessing bank account information or other sensitive information.

On the UP side to locutorio, they generally have the PCs sitting right there so you also have access to their USB ports, something you rarely have in Cybercafes. In cybercafes you usually only have a screen, a keyboard, and a mouse and maybe some audio/microphone connectors built in but oftentimes no USB ports.

laduque, free wifi is a rare thing in Europe, I think. One exception that I've found is inside (or just outside) the VIPS restaurants. There, many have free WiFi.

Few terrazas or even plazas have free wifi because if you're occupying a table in a terraza and only sipping one drink you're causing XYZ bar to lose money where most terraza prices are higher and terraza tables are more popular in nicer weather.

Saludos, MadridMan

There are actually quite a few cafés in the centro that have free wifi (sometimes you have to buy something they give you a code, others are completely open). One of the nicest is Faborit on c/Alcalá. Others off the top of my head: La Cabra en el Tejado, Angelika,, Cafe Panini... Also, the Plaza de Santo Domingo has free wifi. I haven't tried it for a long time, but Plaza Colón also used to have free wifi.

If you are going to be around La Latina, there is a huge network called FON:

http://www.fonlalatina.com/conectate2.php

You get a certain amount of time free (and can sometimes get a pass when you are in one of the participating restaurants). To use it longterm, you can pay a low hourly, daily or 5-day fee (10 euros according to the site). It works virtually anywhere in La Latina since so many people belong (members share out their connections).

Thank you Madridmadridmadrid, I had heard from another member on the board that there was wifi in plaza chueca too, my brother in law in Madrid also mentioned something. I just wanted specifics and you sure gave me some good info to start.