Cannabis Club Culture: Spain's Best-Kept Secret

Cannabis wasn't the reason I came to Spain...but by the time I left, it became one of the reasons I enjoyed it. The nature, rich history, nightlife and cuisine all lived up to their allure in Madrid and Barcelona, while the unique highs from locally grown herb accented every experience. Here's some of the top things to know if you're a cannabis consumer who makes your way to Spain:

Background about cannabis laws in Spain

Currently, Spain's official legal status for marijuana is "decriminalized", which means it mostly operates in an uncertain grey area. This gets further complicated when considering some provinces in Spain, most notably Barcelona, exist within Catalonia, an autonomous community with its own president and parliament. Madrid on the other hand is its own autonomous community, but serves as the seat of the Spanish government, including the monarchy, parliament, and central administrative institutions. Historically, Spain's government has been ultra conservative regarding any and all controlled substances, so Madrid largely aligns to that philosophy, but isn't explicitly bound by it. I didn't know this core difference prior to entering Spain, but in retrospect, it aligns with my distinct experiences with cannabis in each city.

NOTE: I don't reveal the identity of any of the clubs due to the nature of the law.

The journey of getting connected with cannabis clubs

Now that we've covered the background, the way that cannabis clubs operate in Spain will make more sense. While in Madrid, which is where I began my trip, I was only able to find one cannabis club with a semi-public presence online. I spent weeks leading up to the trip seeking out local recommendations, but most of those required a personal connection to escort me into the club to sign up for a yearly membership. With that in mind, I connected with the one public club I found on Instagram, and started building a relationship ahead of time.

As soon as I got settled in Madrid, I informed the cannabis club when I'd be dropping by. Instead of getting a direct address, I was sent a nearby landmark with directions to find the club from there. Not having mobile internet access due to international phone coverage made this more challenging, so its important to save messages and download a local map beforehand (this became a recurring practice for every cannabis club visit in Madrid and Barcelona).

I struggled to find this club initially, as the door was completely unmarked. I actually rang the wrong doorbell at first before reviewing the directions on Instagram for a second time, and then buzzing into the right entrance. The atmosphere was a bit uneasy at first, but became more welcoming after completing the membership process. Membership fees are always a flat rate of 20 euros, and are valid for an entire year.

In contrast to the one club I found online in Madrid, Barcelona had hundreds of clubs that could be easily contacted through various means online. This stark difference in online presence likely comes from less restrictive laws in Barcelona due to its Catalonia affiliation. For this reason, I personally experienced 1 club in Madrid, and then 4 clubs in Barcelona.

Know before you go

Unlike dispensaries in the United States with well established norms and business practices, cannabis clubs in Spain provide greater varieties of concepts and experiences. Some clubs mostly operate as dispensaries with bare minimum lounging accommodations, while others build elaborate experiences around the atmosphere of the club. No matter the club, a few things always remained true:

• Every club requires membership registration onsite, or to pre-register online before any transaction takes place. If onsite, plan for an extra 15-20 minutes of time.

• There's a minimum amount of time you'll need to stay inside the club so you don't blow up the spot with a ton of in-and-out traffic (we are still in a legal grey area as explained above).

• Every club explicitly tells customers to never mention their business to law enforcement if you get caught possessing cannabis after a purchase. The penalty will be the same either way, so keep the word.

• Don't plan on using a card for payment. Bring euros, and factor in the membership fee ahead of time.

Visiting the clubs

The first club I visited in Madrid had a clunky, disjointed buying experience. I had to look at an online menu using an iPad, and then try to decide how much money I'd be spending ahead of time due to their sales system. Once this was complete, I got to move into the next room where the products were available to preview (look/smell).

This was the only club that had this buying setup, but other aspects of the club were common. After purchase, I was invited to use the club-provided equipment to smoke. This included grinders, papers, tips, lighters, and rolling trays. Miniature pipes and chillums were also available to purchase. Lastly, they offered rooms spanning upstairs and downstairs that included movie and gaming setups for longer stays and hangouts.

Going into Barcelona, my anticipation of the cannabis scene was much higher based on the amount of clubs I was easily able to find.  Using an app called "Doob", which is used for registering cannabis club memberships,

I was able to sort clubs by distance and features. La Rambla, the main street in downtown Barcelona, boasted numerous options within 15 minutes of the area (walking and public transit only).

Of the 4 clubs I visited in Barcelona, 2 especially stood out for their unique concepts and business practices.

• One club doubled as a pizza parlor, staying open until 2am in the morning. I didn't arrive until 1am, which is when the kitchen closed, so I didn't get a chance to try the food. There were sections of the club that mimicked restaurant style seating with booths and tables, while other sections were more conducive to just having a smoke out, featuring all the necessary accessories to roll up and blaze one.

• The other notable cannabis club featured a full bar, and operated like American clubs that serve alcoholic beverages. This club was full of plush furniture, large flat screen televisions, and a DJ that played all-time classic hip-hop songs from North America. Combining these elements with all-inclusive open seating, I found myself having an hour-long conversation with fellow tourists, and left feeling like I made a genuine connection - with cannabis at the center of it. I spent more time at this club than any other during the entire trip.

Strain and product selection

Strain selection was one of my favorite aspects of every cannabis club I visited. Unlike a vast majority of the dispensaries I shop at in Colorado, each club in Spain had it's own unique flower offerings. On top of the unique selections, many of the clubs featured classic strains I hadn't seen stateside in 10 plus years, such as White Widow, Pure Sour Diesel, and Orange Kush. The other strains I picked up were Blueberry Muffin, Frozen Bananas, Cereal Milk, Premium Jealousy, Candy Runtz, and Orange Mimosa.

Every club offered cannabis products beyond flower. The concentrates were noticeably more expensive than in Colorado, which is known to have the best prices in the United States, and edible prices were on par with most U.S. recreational markets. I already possessed edibles, so I didn't try any of those options, but I did take particular interest in a specific type of concentrate - Moroccan hash. It's not common to find this historic form of hash outside of special releases in Colorado, especially due to its extensive time to produce. Spain is a little over 500 miles from Morocco, but in contrast, Colorado is over 5,000 miles away, so the level of authenticity also tends to grow with proximity. I bought one gram of Moroccan hash made from the strain GMO, and it was perfect for enhancing some of the flower purchases I didn't enjoy as much (Frozen Bananas was my least liked flower strain).

Hours and Languages

9am was the earliest time I saw cannabis clubs opening, and 2am was the latest closing time. As far as spoken languages in each club, all of them were accommodating for tourists/visitors, so only being limited to English isn't a problem. With that being said, many of the bud tenders still use Spanish as their primary language, so it's a good idea to learn some basic terms you think you may need to communicate exactly what you're looking for. French was the only other language I heard, and that came from a pair of European tourists

Final Thoughts

The United States cannabis market should be taking notes. It seems the farther we progress into legalization, the more we regress with cannabis business ventures and cultural events. New York is the only state that currently allows cannabis use in public. California allows temporary permits to host public events where cannabis will be consumed. Outside of these 2 markets, it becomes increasingly difficult to find states in which you could open a cannabis-friendly business or host cannabis-friendly events on a regular basis.

Last year, Colorado took a major hit to its cannabis event scene when a local business attempted to monopolize the market on smoke-friendly establishments. Colorado officials deserve some blame by incentivizing extreme actions, because of its reluctance to grant these types of special licenses often. Some establishments allow vaping and edibles, but these odd specifications just cause more confusion and frustration. There also doesn't seem to be a single permit in Colorado to allow on-site consumption using the personal products you bring combined with the ability to purchase and consume on site.

As a final message, these clubs provide a safe and welcoming environment for individuals to come together, share experiences, and engage in meaningful conversations. By allowing these establishments to maintain their flexibility, we can ensure that they continue to serve as hubs for positive cultural exchanges, where people from all walks of life can connect and learn from one another.