'Tardeo' in Alicante: Castaños

Summer is definitely over in Alicante. It was very sunny and hot until 20th October but fall is finally here. We changed the clocks time on Saturday 26th and it is getting cooler and darker every day until winter arrives.

People are changing their leisure activities and replacing beach by what we call ‘tardeo’. ‘Tardeo’ is a word that comes from ‘tarde’ (‘afternoon’/’evening’ in English) and we use it to describe a more and more popular activity nowadays: going out in the afternoon to have a drink with our friends.

Today we can talk about “Castaños” area, which is full of places to have lunch, coffee or dinner but also to have a drink at the terraces in the street. Some places play good music inside so you can have a drink at the terrace and go in the bars to dance or to listen to music. Some of these bars and restaurants are open every day during the week but some others are only opened from Thursday till Sunday.

Alicante is not the only city where we go 'tardeo'. Murcia and Albacete are other cities where you can find people in the street having a drink with their relatives or friends. However, this activity is quite unusual in the rest of Spain.

All the students that come to Alicante are very lucky they can enjoy it. They do not need to wait until late to go out and see their friends, they can go to 'Castaños' and party in the afternoon, socialize and have the experience of being surrounded by nice Spanish people.