Berkana opened on Calle de Hortaleza in 1993 as the first shop in Madrid specialising in gay and lesbian books to trade openly during normal business hours. That was a genuine event in the city at the time, and the shop is still there.
The stock covers essays, biographies, poetry, fiction, comics, magazines, children's books, film and travel guides, with sections on bisexuality, trans topics, LGBTQ art and sport. It also sells tote bags, flags and other merchandise, and the publisher Egales runs out of the same operation.
It is a working bookshop rather than a monument, and a reasonable first stop if you want to know what is actually going on in Chueca.
