Casa Alberto has been serving wine on Calle Huertas since 1827, making it Madrid's oldest surviving tavern. The building has a longer history still: Miguel de Cervantes is said to have lived here while writing Viaje del Parnaso, and a plaque above the red frontage marks the connection. When the tavern opened, owners painted facades red so illiterate passersby knew wine was sold inside.

Inside, the décor leans traditional: wooden panelling, a central bar, old taps, and signs forbidding spitting, singing and dancing. A golden pavement plaque signals a century of continuous trading. Bullfighters once stopped in for courage before the ring; theatre people came for proximity to Madrid's stages.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours use Casa Alberto to anchor Barrio de las Letras' literary history, tracing the overlapping lives of Cervantes and Lope de Vega along the gold-lettered streets of Huertas and placing Madrid's tavern culture in its 17th-century context.