Welcome to the New La Pajarita, A Sweet Madrid Tradition

As the holiday season begins, nothing captures the spirit of celebration quite like a beautifully made sweet treat. Across Europe, confectionery traditions weave through the season, passed from one generation to the next, wrapped in elegant paper, set on holiday tables and remembered long after the last bite.

In Madrid, one confectionery has been creating those sweet memories for more than 170 years.

Founded in 1852 in the heart of the Spanish capital, La Pajarita is Madrid's oldest confectionery and one of the city's most enduring symbols of traditional craftsmanship. Today, the sixth generation of the founding family continues to hand-make its celebrated sweets, preserving original recipes while carrying this extraordinary Madrid institution into a new era.

And just in time for its next chapter, La Pajarita has returned to the neighborhood where its story began.

From a Madrid Café to a Beloved Name

La Pajarita began in 1852 when Vicente Hijós opened a shop in Puerta del Sol, selling coffee, chocolate, tea and sweets. At first, the business had no formal name.

According to family tradition, the name came from the nearby Café de Levante, where customers entertained themselves by folding paper napkins and sugar wrappers into tiny birds known as pajaritas. The story credits the name to a young Miguel de Unamuno, who would later become one of Spain's most celebrated writers.

The little paper bird became an unmistakable symbol of the confectionery.

By 1881, La Pajarita had become sufficiently well known to inspire Caramelos de la Pajarita, a polka composed by José Vicente Arche, conductor at Madrid's Teatro de la Zarzuela.

What began as a small confectionery became part of the capital's cultural fabric.

A Confectionery at the Center of Madrid Life

For more than a century, La Pajarita's Puerta del Sol shop was woven into Madrid's daily life.

Its customers included statesmen, aristocrats, actors, and writers, and the business eventually became a supplier to the Spanish Congress, the Senate, the Assembly of Madrid, and several Royal Academies.

Among its most famous patrons was Prime Minister José Canalejas, who reportedly visited the shop almost every day. In 1912, Canalejas was on his way to La Pajarita when he was assassinated in Puerta del Sol.

In other words, the confectionery's history is inseparable from Madrid's.

A Family Legacy Measured in Generations

The family story has endured as long as the sweets.

Vicente Hijós founded the house. In 1927, his niece, Josefa Sola Aznárez, and her husband, Lorenzo Aznárez Gil, took over the business. In 1954, Lorenzo gave the business to his son as a wedding gift.

The family tradition continued for decades until 2018, when Rocío Aznárez and her husband, Carlos de Lemus, took over the business, representing the sixth generation of the family to carry La Pajarita forward.

Their approach is continuity rather than reinvention: bringing the historic house into a new era while protecting the craftsmanship, recipes, and character that have defined it for generations.

The Sweets That Define La Pajarita

The confectionery's most recognizable creations remain deeply connected to Madrid.

Among them are the famous handmade violet candies, a true Madrid icon and one of La Pajarita's most recognizable specialties.

Then there is the “jeroglífico” assortment of hard candies, available in 17 flavors, along with the chocolate pajaritas that take their distinctive shape from the confectionery's name.

Its collection also includes an extensive selection of bonbons and other traditional sweets.

The family still makes everything by hand in its own workshop in Madrid, maintaining the artisanal character that has distinguished La Pajarita since its earliest days.

The Salamanca Chapter

La Pajarita's relationship with Madrid continued even after the original Puerta del Sol location closed.

In 1969, the family opened a second shop at Calle Villanueva 14 in the elegant Salamanca district, creating a new home for the confectionery while retaining its distinctive traditions.

In 1991, the historic Puerta del Sol shop closed after authorities declared the building unsafe. The Salamanca location became La Pajarita's continuing retail home and remains open today.

Located in one of Madrid's most elegant neighborhoods, the shop offers visitors another opportunity to experience the confectionery's long-standing tradition and its collection of classic sweets.

A Return to Where It All Began

In 2026, La Pajarita completed a remarkable circle in its history.

The confectionery returned to the Puerta del Sol area with a new flagship at Calle Marqués Viudo de Pontejos 5, just steps from the square where its story began.

The new home occupies a carefully restored historic building dating to 1861. Rather than erase the building's past, the restoration preserves its character, including its original façade, woodwork and imperial staircase.

Below the shop, vaulted cellars add another layer of history, including a section of an underground water channel dating to the 17th century.

Inside, La Pajarita presents its sweets in hand-blown glass jars made by the Royal Glass Factory of La Granja, founded in 1727.

The result is more than a new confectionery shop. It physically expresses La Pajarita's philosophy: the past remains part of the present.

A Madrid Tradition Recognized

La Pajarita's contribution to Madrid has not gone unnoticed.

In 2023, the City of Madrid honored La Pajarita for its “Commitment to Madrid's Tradition,” recognizing its place within the city's historic commercial and cultural landscape.

Then, in May 2026, the Regional Government of Madrid awarded the house the Grand Cross of the Order of the Dos de Mayo, the region's highest distinction. The honor recognized La Pajarita among the institutions and organizations that have made significant contributions to Madrid and its identity.

For a family business founded in 1852, the distinction fittingly recognized more than a century and a half devoted to preserving Madrid's confectionery heritage.

A Sweet Future for a Historic House

La Pajarita's return to the Puerta del Sol area marks the start of another chapter, not the end of its story.

Today, the historic confectionery maintains its new flagship at Calle Marqués Viudo de Pontejos 5 in the Puerta del Sol area and its established Salamanca location at Calle Villanueva 14. Its artisanal production continues in its Madrid workshop, where artisans hand-make the sweets that have become synonymous with the La Pajarita name.

The house is already looking toward another extraordinary milestone. In 2027, La Pajarita will celebrate its 175th anniversary.

For visitors to Madrid, a stop at La Pajarita offers more than the pleasure of a beautifully made sweet. It offers a taste of the city itself, its history, its craftsmanship, its traditions and the generations of people who have helped preserve them.

Some Madrid landmarks are built of stone. Others are preserved in memory.

La Pajarita is preserved in sugar, chocolate, violet, and the enduring artistry of a family that has made Madrid a little sweeter since 1852.