Name:Bora Bora
Type:bar
Street:Ventura Rodríguez 5
City:Madrid
State:
Zip:
country:Spain
Phone:915 420 467
Status:closed

Description:
Big, old and beautiful. Madrid's best kept secret. Say Hola to Jose, the barman and owner. Open since the early seventies.

[ Edited by: Zeta 2016-09-12 15:55 ]

Vintage Postcard

Wow! This is still open? Didn't know about it when I went to Madrid, and never heard it mentioned anywhere before (in Tiki News, here, or in Tiki Road Trip).

That's because it was a best kept secret. :D
But we do not want these secrets to go with us to the grave, with no one ever having seen them.
Don't show'em the mugs, Zeta.

Please, please, please - show 'em!!!!!!! :wink:

Let's not unnecessarily incite lower instincts, please.

Record cold and snowfalls in Europe last week.
Nevertheless last Sunday I needed some "refreshment" so I went to el Bora Bora.
Took this “cool” pictures.

Really unusual images in Madrid

Nice photo's

On 2010-01-14 15:48, bigbrotiki wrote:
That's because it was a best kept secret. :D
But we do not want these secrets to go with us to the grave, with no one ever having seen them.
Don't show'em the mugs, Zeta.

There's nothing more cozy looking than a tiki bar on a snowy street like that.

Do you have any inside photos?

#1

Noches de Bora Bora

#2

Mas Noches de Bora Bora

#3

Todavia mas noches de bora bora

#4

Aun mas noches de bora bora

#5

I think I'm drunk

#6

...

#7

Wham!

On 2010-01-15 16:35, thejab wrote:
There's nothing more cozy looking than a tiki bar on a snowy street like that.

Do you have any inside photos?

I´m truly amazed about the place still being uncharted.
Enjoy the virtual visit.

I truly enjoyed that photo visit! I hope to be there in person soon as I have friends in Madrid who have invited me to return, which I may do in October.

I just checked Tiki Road Trip #2 to make sure I didn't just miss it, and it's not mentioned, though there's a Bora Bora in Tarragona that I didn't know about when I was in that city some years ago.

It's also not in Critiki.

Long time Europe TC correspondents (Virani, Trader Woody, Tiki Chris), are you holding out on us? :wink:

It looks even better than Bar Mauna Loa in Madrid, and reminds me a lot of Kahala in Barcelona.

Dean, you're not getting it. There is a nice old Sufi saying, "The Secret protects itself". There was a time, the height of the Tiki revival, where it seemed judicious to not blabber out every place to the world in order to protect its treasures from the greedier elements who cared not for the culture as a whole, but for amassing the biggest collection of mugs only.
This time has passed, we are a happy minority again, and since I have STILL not succeeded in documenting such a site as this, who knows if I ever will.
If anyone though uses this information to deplete the mana of such a place by looting, he will be banned from this site forever. And I am not talking about those happy tourist mugs posted earlier here.

I can't wait to get to Madrid, again, so I can spend a night (or few) at Bora Bora - it looks fabulous!!!!!!! :D :D

Thanks, Zeta, for posting the pix, too :D I can't wait to enjoy a cocktail (or few) out of those mugs when I visit!

On 2010-01-17 08:49, thejab wrote:
I just checked Tiki Road Trip #2 to make sure I didn't just miss it, and it's not mentioned, though there's a Bora Bora in Tarragona that I didn't know about when I was in that city some years ago.

It's also not in Critiki.

Long time Europe TC correspondents (Virani, Trader Woody, Tiki Chris), are you holding out on us? :wink:

It looks even better than Bar Mauna Loa in Madrid, and reminds me a lot of Kahala in Barcelona.

thejab, I have posted MANY places that have never been published anywhere before! So a little recognition would't hurt me either! :D

On 2010-01-17 09:14, bigbrotiki wrote:
If anyone though uses this information to deplete the mana of such a place by looting, he will be banned from this site forever. And I am not talking about those happy tourist mugs posted earlier here.

Don't worry Bigbro, Jose, the owner/barman, who is a big man and loves his bar, is warned about the "treasure hunters". Also, they are very used to that annoying practice of souvenir/trophy mug " collecting". I have seen people literally being kicked out because of it.

WOW! That interior looks spectacular! Love the carved wood panel walls, the lighting and... are those stone walls in the foyer or some kind of faux stone? Not that it really matters because it looks great. Boy, I'd love to visit it someday.

Muchas gracias Zeta and Mister Naufrago!

This is really a question for Zeta, but the most outstanding Tiki art, especially on the facades and in the entrance halls of Spanish Tiki bars (if you go and check all the other posts about them) was done in sculptural ceramic tile, piecing the Tikis together like a 3D puzzle.

Spain has the oldest ceramic tile tradition in Europe, from the days of its Islamic occupation:

"From the 16th century onwards Moorish tile making slowly spread north through Spain. Some of the most spectacular ceramics can be found at the Alhambra Palace in Granada, and in the Great Mosque in Cordoba."

you can also check out http://tikieurope.com/ for infos on European tiki bars.
Bora Bora in Madrid is mentionned there.

Ma halo for sharing Virani, there are some wonderful pictures on that site! :)

On 2010-01-19 06:38, Tikinomad wrote:
Ma halo for sharing Virani, there are some wonderful pictures on that site! :)

Too bad they don't have pictures like this one:

Original concept drawing from the creator of the Spanish Tiki Style.

Very nice.

The concept art for these places is my favorite type of rendering, and often the hardest to find.

I did a search on YouTube (Bora Bora, Madrid) and I get a lot of videos of a discotech there.
Two places called Bora Bora in Madrid?

Gracias Croe67, Sabu and GatorRob!
Unga Bunga, No two Bora Bora Tiki bars in Madrid... The video from Youtube is from the Bora Bora in Ibiza, which is more into Chill-out Discoteque :roll: than Tiki. If you find a video from the tiki bar, post the link here, it would be cool to watch, but I don't think there's such video.

[ Edited by: Zeta 2010-01-21 05:16 ]

Nice!

On 2010-01-19 05:19, virani wrote:
you can also check out http://tikieurope.com/ for infos on European tiki bars.
Bora Bora in Madrid is mentionned there.

I wish that site had existed 5 years ago. I mostly found out about Spain (Barcelona only) tiki bars here:
http://www.cityinspace.com

I managed to drop by Bora-Bora during my extensive tour of tiki Europe in the summer of 2008. What a beautiful place! The bar features custom tiles created by Arte 4 as well as quite a few other elements in the place. (Big Bro knows what I'm talking about.) The water feature under the stairs as you enter is a clever touch and something you should experience for yourself. The only thing that didn't work for me that night was the music. They were playing the Scorpions live in concert. I like the Scorps as much as anyone but it really seemed out of place.

They mix a strong Mai Tai in this place. Of course, like most tiki bars in Spain it's nothing like the Trader Vic's or "Hawaiian style" pineapple-orange one. It's based on guava.

I'd have more photos for you all but the staff reluctantly told me that some Mexican fellow had recently struck a deal with the owner not to let anyone take photos as he wanted exclusives for a book he was working on. It looks like the ban is now off or the staff wasn't wily enough to stop Mr. Naufrago. (Bien hecho muchacho.)
I hope that book is coming soon...

I have a lot more photos of European tiki bars - some fairly unknown to Tiki Central - and I'll try to get them up when I can but there never seems to be enough time.

-fm

Exelente trabajo fez monkey !!! Habla castellano? good review! Very interesting comments. Bora Bora was the first Spanish Melanesian Bar I ever went to. It holds fond memories for me and It will always be one of my favorite tiki bars worldwide. A landmark in the line of what I call "1970's monumental deluxe Spanish-Polynesian." style. A true gem.
Drinking "Escorpion" while listening to "Scorpions" music is perfectly normal in the Spanish Tiki world.
I wonder who that "Mexican fellow" that you talk about is? :roll: :wink: A ban? An exclusive book deal?!?! Anyone knows what this fez monkey is talking about?! :) I think now I understand why Mister Naufrago's interior photographs look like he took them furtively with a camera hidden under his hat. :D JAJA!
You say you have a lot more pictures of European tiki bars? that some are fairly unknown to Tiki Central? Please share amigo!!!

¡Viva Tiki! Zeta is specialized in the research, study and preservation of Tiki culture in Latin countries.

[ Edited by: Zeta 2010-01-21 06:27 ]

Pictures from "Complete Tiki Spain": http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=27562&forum=16

On 2008-05-14 09:49, Zeta wrote:
Aloha muchachas y muchachos !

World exclusivo! Para los amigos de Central Tiki, I proudly present:

This enormous Vintage Menu from the 70's with covers in leather and elegant golden print
from the first and only Melanesian Bar ever.(Now extinct)

I thought Bora-Bora was in the Polynesia!... Oh well, you live, you learn. :wink:

Adios amigos !

Z

P.S. Saludos al Sr. Castaway