Anyone who has been through the heart of San Telmo the last couple of months may have noticed that a place normally full of activity, is shuttered up. The latest casualty of the gentrifying neighborhood is La Coruña Bar at Bolivar 994 (corner of Carlos Calvo).
The bar, with its large windows spanning Bolivar in the corner of the San Telmo market has been empty since it closed in March. Like other long-time San Telmo bars, such as El Británico, it remained a popular meeting place, despite the fact that there was no wifi, no modern hygienic standards and only the most basic Argentine dishes on the menu.
La Coruña was one of 73 bars declared a ‘notable bar’ by the city’s culture department, along with Cafe Tortoni, Las Violetas, the nearby Café La Poesia, Bar Seddon and the aforementioned Bar Británico.
While those bars have been revamped, the passage of time at La Coruña seemed to have no effect aside from the accumulation of dust around the bar.
The bar was opened in 1961 by a Spanish couple, Manuela López and José Moreira. After Moriera’s death a few years ago, Lopéz continued running it on her own until closing with zero fanfare.
For those who knew Lopéz, she can still sometimes be found visiting and helping out at the nearly identical bar next door, Pedro Telmo. And those who never got to visit the old-timey classic Buenos Aires bar, it can be seen in the awarding winning Sergio Renán film, El sueño de los héroes.
