La Oficial

At Calle Pelayo 43, in the Salesas neighborhood, there's a shop born as a statement in favor of Spanish and Portuguese artisan ceramics, at a time when industrial production was swallowing everything up. The idea took shape in 2017, when Toni Torrecillas, a journalist and professor of interior design history, set out on a road trip through Portugal, with no idea that route would change the course of his life.

Two months later, together with his business partner, he opened La Oficial in Madrid. It was not a conventional business; it was a statement in favour of Spanish and Portuguese artisanal ceramics at a time when industrial production was taking over the sector. It was a call to preserve and revive traditional craftsmanship.

The first store opened in El Rastro, but five years later they found their definitive home at Calle Pelayo 43, in Madrid’s Salesas neighbourhood. It was there that, while filming her latest movie in Madrid, Tilda Swinton became a regular customer, returning several times to choose pieces of Fajalauza and Níjar pottery. Susan Sarandon also visited La Oficial and, according to press reports, left with enough pieces to decorate her country house.

What makes this shop special is not its display window, but its discerning eye. Torrecillas personally visits workshops in Granada, Córdoba, Alicante, Valencia, and L’Empordà to select pieces that cannot be found anywhere else. Every water jug, every plate, every pitcher has a story and an artisan behind it.

For those visiting Madrid who wish to take home something with genuine roots and a true sense of place, La Oficial is the perfect choice.