Bar Miro – Sydney’s Dwindling Spanish Quarter

Bar Miro is on Liverpool St, right in the heart of, what was for 40 years, a large and vibrant Spanish Quarter. You head down a short flight of stairs to a cosy bar-slash-restaurant where the bar is lined with people enjoying tapas and the tables are packed with diners enjoying more sizeable fare.

There is a range of Spanish beers available and the usual jugs of sangria. Bar Miro is a favourite of your correspondent and I’ve been frequenting it for years. A Spanish friend reckoned it was the most authentic of Sydney’s Spanish bars. It is run by a family from the Galicia region of Spain which is on the north west coast of that country.

Sydney’s once thriving Spanish Quarter is slowly withering with the demise of the Spanish Club and the Capitain Torres Deli (famous for its hanging hams). This is indicative of a dwindling influx of Spanish migrants.

Spanish migration to Australia peaked in the early 60s after the 1958 Spanish-Australian Immigration Agreement which provided support for any Spanish citizens who wanted to move to Australia.

For a reason I cannot determine, the majority of Spanish migrants came from the Galicia and Asturias regions of Spain. We should be thankful for this as these regions are especially famous for their extensive, and usually, complimentary tapas*.
(* personal research by your correspondent)

Who knows, with Spain displaying similar credit issues to those of Greece, we may yet benefit from another Spanish diaspora.

See Bar Miro on the botf Bar Map