A year abroad in Spain has offered many opportunities for checking out the clubs over here, which has at times proved a frustrating task. Spain is an odd place, in so far as Ibiza is internationally regarded as a home of dance (or, more specifically, house) music, but yet just a short trip over the Mediterranean Sea to Valencia and you’re faced with a sparse selection of venues in which to find decent music on offer. No doubt in Madrid or Barcelona there’s more on offer, but it’s still a strange situation when you consider that Valencia is the next biggest city after those two. Whether the tag attached to Ibiza is still relevant is another question altogether, but nonetheless the extent to which commercial music dominates is surprising in a city that has such a huge nightlife culture.

 A lack of venues in Valencia is definitely not the problem – there’s a plethora of nights on, but the ones which actually have a focus on quality music are extremely limited. The best option for going out on a regular basis is La3, the ‘3’ in its name referring to the three rooms of music it has on offer, one of which is the upstairs room which usually has some good deep or tech house on offer. Big names are still a fairly rare occurrence though, with the only big bookings the last few months being Digitalism and Erol Alkan. What’s good about La3 is that the soundsystem is actually fairly weighty, whereas there’s been times in other clubs when it’s sounded as though you’re in a house party with the tunes being played off of some tinny iPod speakers.

Another venue which can offer a good night out is Miniclub (which is unsurprisingly pretty small). They usually provide a selection of good music, and although big bookings are rare there as well, the resident DJs definitely know their stuff. And with free entry before 3am (yes, that’s right, 3!), it’s a good last minute option for going out. This late entry isn’t just a feature of dance music clubs though, and it is normal in most clubs for free entry to last until 2 or 2.30. This is another big difference in comparison to Leeds, where it would only be Mint and Beaverworks going on until 5 or 6 in the morning. Here it’s normal for everyone to be heading home when the sun is coming up. This hedonistic, late-night culture makes it even more bizarre that in most clubs it’s not uncommon to hear ‘Call Me Maybe’ on more than one occasion.

However, there is one venue that provides a clubbing experience a bit more akin to what you can get in the UK. Barraca, a 30 minute drive outside of the city, is a nightlife institution that has been going for more than 40 years. Speaking to people, it seems that 20 or so years ago, there was a real thriving dance music scene, with many clubs opening up due to lack of restrictions on opening hours etc., but now Barraca is the only club to remain from that era. Due to its location, getting there is a bit problematic, but on one occasion we managed to get a lift with some locals, as most people drive there and then drink in the huge car park next to the club. This in itself is a pretty entertaining experience, with everyone tuning into the same radio station to blare music out of their car speakers. Entering the club, it felt like a revelatory experience with my friends from the UK, like we’d finally found a ‘real’ club again. The place has a quality soundsystem, and had a real friendly atmosphere that you get in a club that is focused on the music. There was also some novelty to being in a club right by the beach and in the middle of the Spanish countryside. A great club, but one better suited for occasional big nights out than a regular weekend jaunt.

It seems that in Valencia in general, the alternative culture seems to be more focused on gigs and live performance rather than clubs, which seem to have been lumped in with commercial culture for the most part. This wealth of bars with interesting music, spoken word and theatre on offer is obviously by no means a bad thing, but it is a shame that the popularity of going out couldn’t be directed into an interest in developing nights based on enjoying good music, instead of getting to a level of intoxication where you don’t really notice the music. In any case, it’s enough to make one appreciative of the diversity of the nightlife in Leeds, which is a city which in many ways parallels Valencia in terms of the huge student populations of both, even if not in terms of the weather (I was wearing t-shirt and shorts in November). It seems the difference perhaps lies in the strong heritage of dance music culture in Leeds, one which is in many ways student-driven, many of the nights being run by the student, or ex-student, population, rather than being driven by commercial interests.

words: Jake Hulyer