SHAPE of You singer Ed Sheeran has caused a furore on London’s Portobello Road after buying the now-defunct tapas restaurant Galicia to turn it into a nightclub which locals believe will be ‘for exclusive use only’.
Founded in 1989 by Galicia-born chefs José Nieto and Eduardo Lage, Galicia Spanish Restaurant & Tapas Bar in the city centre – not to be confused with Fernando Alexandre’s Galicia Restaurant on Croydon High Street - is described as ‘just like being back in Spain’ and has long been a hang-out for the UK capital’s growing number of Spanish expats, as well as locals.
Its clientèle, before it shut in April last year, varied from ordinary workers and residents through to tourists and even, discreetly, celebrities, such as rocker John Mayall, indie singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, former UK prime minister David Cameron, and his ex-coalition partner from the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg, whose wife is Spanish.
Galicia was said to be ‘unique and bohemian’ and ‘one of the most authentic Spanish eateries in London’, with regulars saying it was ‘like going back 70 years in time’ when stepping inside.
Ed Sheeran, from the mid-Suffolk village of Framlingham about 145 kilometres (90 miles) north-east of Portobello Road, is reputed to have bought the premises of Galicia for £1.5 million (about €1.73m) to turn it into a club hosting live music.
The likelihood of local residents not being able to simply drop in – unless they are on the guest list – as well as the thought of loud music shattering the peace has upset residents nearly as much as last year’s loss of Spanish and Galician snacks.
Sheeran is said to be renovating and completely redesigning the interior, and is expected to open up for business in about a month’s time.
