The Ruta del Bakalao Today: Which Legendary Clubs Are Still Open
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Three clubs from the Ruta del Bakalao are still open in 2026: Barraca (1965) and Chocolate (1980), in Les Palmeres, and Spook (1984), in Pinedo. ACTV, The Face, Puzzle, Espiral and Heaven closed, and ACTV's old building is now Akuarela Playa.
What the Ruta del Bakalao was
The Ruta del Bakalao was a circuit of clubs around Valencia, Spain, mostly along the El Saler road (the CV-500) south of the city, where people went from one club to the next for the whole weekend. It grew out of the Valencian scene of the late 70s and 80s and, according to Wikipedia, had Barraca in Les Palmeres as its centre. Around 1986 the local sound was already being called música barraquera, after the club; the name Ruta Destroy was coined by Vicente Pizcueta, but the media's Ruta del Bakalao is the one that stuck.
Its peak, according to Wikipedia, came in 1991, with some 30,000 people on the road on a weekend, and the boom lasted until 1994. From 1992 media coverage intensified and from 1993 police checks grew; the drop from 1995 was steep, and 1996 brought a string of closures. Some clubs disappeared, others changed name or owner, and a few are still open.
The ones still open
Barraca opened in 1965 in Les Palmeres, in the municipality of Sueca, about 200 metres from the beach, and still calls itself the sound of Valencia on Instagram. It's open from autumn to spring with techno and house: the 2026-27 season started on 19 September, and on 13 February 2027 it celebrates a La Ruta anniversary. It has its own bus service and is +18.
Chocolate opened in the summer of 1980 as Chocolate Cream, a couple of hundred metres from Barraca, and its Instagram still says it has been making parties since 1980. It isn't a weekly club any more: according to valenciabonita it came back with one-off parties in September 2022, and in October 2026 it was celebrating 46 years of what it calls the cathedral. Expect anniversary and remember nights, not a regular schedule.
Spook Factory opened in Pinedo in 1984, replacing an earlier club called San Francisco, and had its golden age between 1988 and 1993. According to Wikipedia it reopened in 2005 and went back to its original name in 2008; today it's Spook Club, at Carretera del Riu 399, open on Saturdays from 23:00 to 07:30 with techno and hard techno, and with almost 140,000 followers it's the most followed of the three on Instagram.
The ones that closed
| Club | Where | Years | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACTV | Malvarrosa (Eugènia Viñes), former Termas Victoria | Opened 1986 | Its building is now Akuarela Playa |
| The Face (Dream's Village) | Pinedo | 1981 as Dream's Village; The Face from 1992 | Closed in 2005, left in ruins and later demolished |
| Puzzle (formerly New Bunker) | South of the city, near Spook | 1988–2011 (Wikipedia gives 1986 as the start) | Closed in 2011; no plans to reopen, per valenciabonita |
| Espiral | L'Eliana | 1981–1995 | Closed |
| Heaven | El Perelló | 1989–1996 | Closed; the brand lives on as merchandise |
| Distrito 10 | Valencia city | 1982–1994 | Demolished; a university building stands there now |
| NOD (formerly Bravatta and Don Julio) | Riba-roja | Opened 1986 as Bravatta | Current status not published |
Two of these deserve a note. ACTV, on Calle Eugènia Viñes in Malvarrosa, opened in 1986 in the old Termas Victoria building, and that same building is now Akuarela Playa, one of the busiest clubs on the beach today. And NOD, in Riba-roja, opened in 1986 as Bravatta, later became Don Julio and then NOD; we haven't found a source on its current state, but its name lives on: Room Club holds a tardeo for the 37th anniversary of N.O.D on 31 October 2026.
The abandoned club everyone asks about
When people search for an abandoned club in Valencia, the usual answer is The Face in Pinedo. It opened in 1981 as Dream's Village, became The Face in 1992 and closed for good in 2005. According to valenciabonita it was left in ruins and empty, and it was later demolished: valenciabonita dates it to 2017 and Wikipedia to 2019. Puzzle, near Spook, closed in 2011 and was still shut with no plans to reopen when valenciabonita checked. Distrito 10, a city club from 1982 to 1994, was knocked down and a university building took its place.
Where was the Ruta? A rough map
Most of the Ruta ran south of the city along the El Saler road, the CV-500. From north to south: Pinedo (Spook Factory, The Face), then El Perelló (Heaven) and Les Palmeres in Sueca (Barraca and, a few hundred metres away, Chocolate). Other important clubs were elsewhere: ACTV on the Malvarrosa seafront, Espiral in L'Eliana and NOD in Riba-roja, both inland to the west of the city, and Distrito 10 in Valencia itself.
Where to dance to that sound today
If you want the clubs themselves, Barraca and Spook are open with today's techno; our techno guide has their upcoming dates and how to get there. If what you want is the music of those years, look for remember nights: Barraca's La Ruta anniversary on 13 February 2027, Chocolate's anniversary parties, Room's N.O.D tardeo on 31 October and Akuarela Playa's Saturday tardeo of 80s, 90s and 2000s. For the full story, two books cover it: Luis Costa's oral history of Valencian dance music from 1980 to 1995 (2016) and Joan M. Oleaque's En éxtasi (2004).
Frequently asked questions
What was the Ruta del Bakalao?
A circuit of clubs around Valencia, mainly along the El Saler road (the CV-500), where people partied non-stop over the weekend from the 1980s to the mid-1990s. It was also called the Ruta Destroy.
What is the most famous club of the Ruta del Bakalao?
Barraca is the usual answer: it opened in 1965 in Les Palmeres (Sueca), Wikipedia describes it as the centre of the Ruta and it's still open. Spook, from 1984, is the one with the most Instagram followers today, almost 140,000.
Which Ruta del Bakalao clubs are still open?
Three: Barraca, with a techno season from autumn to spring; Spook in Pinedo, open on Saturdays; and Chocolate in Les Palmeres, which since 2022 opens only for one-off anniversary and remember parties.
Which abandoned club is there in Valencia?
The best-known case was The Face (formerly Dream's Village) in Pinedo: it closed in 2005, was left in ruins and was later demolished. Puzzle closed in 2011 and, according to valenciabonita, had no plans to reopen.
Where was the Ruta?
Mainly south of the city along the El Saler road: Pinedo (Spook, The Face), El Perelló (Heaven) and Les Palmeres in Sueca (Barraca, Chocolate). Other key clubs were in Malvarrosa (ACTV), L'Eliana (Espiral) and Riba-roja (NOD).
Clubs mentioned
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