La Duquesita, Madrid's 1914 pastry shop, reopens with Vázquez and Balaguer

La Duquesita is one of Madrid's best-known traditional pastry shops, founded in 1914 and long run by the Santamaría family. Its old-fashioned interior and classic cakes and pastries made it a landmark of the city's Chamberí-area neighbourhood life and a favourite of generations of customers.

After the Santamaría family handed over the business, the future of the shop was uncertain, and many Madrid residents feared that a place so tied to the city's history might disappear or lose its character. At the end of December 2015 it reopened under new ownership.

The new partners were Ana Vázquez, a journalist, and Oriol Balaguer, a Catalan pastry chef with a high reputation in Spain. Their arrangement combined a commitment to preserving the shop's historic identity with the expertise of a professional pastry maker.

The reopening mattered because it kept a century-old Madrid institution alive at a time when many traditional businesses were closing. It also marked the start of the shop's second life, the story later told about Vázquez's role in saving it.