Christopher grew up in Swindon, United Kingdom, which he quickly points out means “Pig Hill.”
He’s lived in Rome and Paris, where he went to mime school at L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. He spent a decade in London, U.K., often doing “terrible fringe theatre,” before he changed his career to sales and decided to further shake things up with a move to Madrid earlier this year.
Starting a new life in Spain, Christopher also launched his TikTok, Chrisinmadrid, where he shares his thoughts on Spanish culture (”Here, people walk down the road and they do not cede space.”) and gay life (“Now the people who are coupled up, who are happy, and normally quite hot, are shoving themselves back in the dating pool. Get out! Go home to your lovely boyfriend…and let the rest of us dregs try to sort it out between us.”).
At 34, he took his first gay holiday in the gay resort town of Torremolinos: “I feel like I’m 13 again, on a package holiday with my parents, except I’m not with my parents, I’m with a lot of naked men instead.”
He’s just so cheeky, Wander+Lust had to ask Chrisinmadrid about his move to Madrid and what he loves about Spain.
Why Madrid?
After 10 years in London, I definitely needed a change. My cousin lives here. I kept on visiting and had the best time. I’d be here in February and it would be beautiful weather, then I’d go back to Peckham in London and I’d get spat on.
Sorry? Spat on?
I was just outside Tesco and I was on a run. And why not spit on my shoes? So I thought that was the time to leave. The size of Madrid is perfect. You can get around easily, but there’s so much going on. The people are mostly friendly and the lifestyle is so much better. You can go meet people at 10 p.m. on a Monday, friendly people mostly, and like it’s just a beautiful place to be and the lifestyle so much better. It’s normal, rather than exceptional, to go meet people at 10 p.m. on a Monday.
What’s the best thing about living in Madrid so far?
Waking up and feeling happy. I just went back to London for about six weeks and I was reminded of how sullen and miserable everyone is. Here the attitude is generally happiness. I think people are warmer. There are fewer obstacles to happiness here. People are always dancing. I was just out for a late-night walk, and people were doing a South American dance out by a church at, like, 10:30 p.m., just having a great time. That kind of attitude warms the heart.
What’s the worst thing?
They love a rule here, for sure. They will tell you off at any opportunity for a very minor infraction. For example, they have a great bike scheme, but say there’s a road here and a road there, so you have to go on the pavement. If you dare go on the pavement, for even a tiny second, you are for sure going to be told off. Whereas in London, people do not even obey a red light—the scale of the difference is unbelievable. So they love to tell you off. But I like to just thank them for their time and for sharing their knowledge. I try not to be a sulky Brit about it. Our lingua franca passive-aggression and not saying what you think. Having people freely say what they think is excellent and sometimes funny.
What’s different about meeting guys and hooking up in Madrid?
It’s much easier to be spontaneous. My experience in London is that you have to get something in the diary three weeks in advance, and in the meantime, they’ve met five other guys. Here, you can propose something easily. Generally, people say yes and it doesn’t feel awkward. “Would you like to go and have a beer tonight?” “Yes.” The second thing is, there are things happening every night. You can go to Chueca, the gay area, and there’s always something going on, which is quite a good antidote to the apps.
It can be quite sexualized here. There’s a club called Strong (C. de Trujillos 7, Centro, Madrid), which has a massive dark room. All of that happens, but it also has a nice day-to-day scene—just going out for a casual drink—which seems to be disappearing in London. It starts at 11 p.m., but that’s the price you pay.
What are your favourite bars?
I actually enjoy making friends outside of gay clubbing. Madrid is so gay—it’s such an open and welcoming place, and you’ll see all kinds of gay people just walking down the street. But I do like THICK Bar (C. de San Marcos 16, Centro, Madrid). It’s a smallish rectangular room, with a bit of neon, that fills up with swarthy men, mostly in their 30s. They’ve got happy hours with two-for-one beers, so you’ve got people drinking tercios, chatting. There’s less of a drag vibe here, so it’s much easier to chat without a performance going on. Did I mention that I love Spanish men?
There’s You&Me (C. de San Bartolomé 6, Centro, Madrid), which is a bit younger. The cocktails are very expensive for Madrid, €15 for gin and tonic, but my God, they fill it with gin. It’s very trendy and I get intimidated at that. The décor? Dark. “I can’t see.” That’s basically it. People dance there as well.
I also go to You Is Back Lounge (Calle de Santa Teresa 9, Centro, Madrid), which I think is an extremely good name. It’s all posh lawyers. They all wear Ralph Lauren–style blue polo shirts and cream chinos.
Where would you take someone you just met for a drink?
I’d start off with Plaza de Pedro Zerolo, the main square in Chueca, just across from the Room Mate Oscar Hotel. There are several bars and restaurants around the square. I like this Turkish place, Súltan Palast Madrid 18 (C. de las Infantas 18, Centro, Madrid), because they give you nuts and olives and sweets.
What’s your favourite spot in Madrid that’s not a bar?
I went for a really nice run today through the Palace Gardens, which are quite tucked away, but are just absolutely stunning. Then I went up to Casa de Campo, where there are tennis courts and you can see the mountains in the distance. It’s very quiet even though it’s right by the city.
You posted some TikToks about going to Torremolinos, a very gay resort town in the south of Spain. Tell me more about that.
I liked it because it’s got a three-star package-holiday feel about it, so it doesn’t have the glitz or pressure of somewhere like Mykonos. People are much more chill. There aren’t massive clubs, but it’s basically fully gay, so you can meet people out drinking at night. I stayed at Hotel Ritual Torremolinos (C. Brasil 2, Torremolinos) and booked Sunday to Thursday, so it was a really good deal. The prices are higher on the weekend. It’s a big hotel, eight floors, and it’s got a naked pool on the rooftop and another pool at ground level. It’s got a gym, spa. I made holiday friends, which is my favourite thing to do—you have a tight-knit group for a short amount of time. I met one guy in the elevator, one on the apps—we agreed straight away we were just going to be friends. We’d have dinner together.
Tell me more about the clothing-optional pool.
What are you talking about, clothing-optional? It’s mandatory. But it wasn’t sexual, which was nice because there’s plenty going on elsewhere. At the downstairs pool, where people wear bathing suits, there was more peacocking. So you’re better able to chat and meet people, as one does. You could be showing off, but it’s different because everyone is already naked. It promotes a certain openness.
What advice would you give gay men who are visiting Spain?
Get ready to go out late. Adjust your body clock and get used to a siesta. If you can have a siesta with a nice Spanish man, that’s even better.
Be open to meeting people. If you can speak a bit of Spanish, they’ll like it because you’re not being rude, but then they’ll want to switch to English. They love speaking English.
As a British person in Spain, do you feel exotic?
There are a lot of British people here, and other foreigners. I’m exotic in that I’m the colour of an uncooked salmon. If they have a taste for a pale white boy, it works. In London, I’m the lowest of the low in terms of type.
In many places in Spain, locals have become irritated with overtourism. Do you do anything to fit in, so people don’t think you’re a tourist?
It’s so obvious that I’m British that all I do is just make an effort to come to them as much as possible. It can be tricky. I may have to step up my style. They’re more fashionable here. There are fewer jumpers and coats because the weather is better. I do have some cream-coloured items now.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
