by Erotic pools with aquatic loungers, dark rooms, French hallways with glory holes (holes in the wall)… Couple exchange venues are no longer considered a clandestine redoubt for lascivious and libidinous people. opening to a much more varied spectrum of couples.
If previously only a small and closed group attended, which they considered the so-called clubs swingers as a lifestyle, now the range has expanded to reach to an increasingly large audience.
Currently there are 20 liberal couples clubs spread throughout Madrid: Okapi’ sw Spa&Club, Latidos, Sala Trivial, Bali Spa, 100momentos, Divernis, Naked Spa, Mutuo, Gangbangenmadrid, Encuentros, Trama, Tabú, Cap Madrid, Fusion VIP , Edén Parejas, Triángulo pub, Malicia by SublimClub, Nirvanas and the Sala Olimpo, the only one located outside the city, in the town of Griñón.
At the same rate that venues specialized in this type of meeting are opening, there is also a proliferation of social networks and applications dedicated to the liberal world in the face of growing demand.
For example, JOYclub is a network that was born in Germany 20 years ago and landed in Spain in 2020: it already counts with more than 100,000 users and demands the creation of World Liberal Pride Day.
According to sociologist Cecilia Bizzoto, the normalization of these places is positive because it allows couples to experiment with their sexuality without it being seen as something taboo.
«In addition, in these spaces there is more respect than in a normal nightclub. No one will ever come and touch your ass. There is much more surveillance to prevent men from crossing the line,” adds Bizzoto, spokesperson for JOYclub in Spain.
Very varied spaces
In this universe there are venues of all kinds: from those with dark rooms and swings like Encuentros to spas with jacuzzi and dungeons like Naked Spa, passing through normal velvet-lined clubs like Malicia.
David Frutos is a veteran of this type of business. His father founded Encuentros 36 years ago – it is the oldest liberal club in the city – and now It’s more fashionable than ever after appearing in the series Alpha Males and The one that is coming.
«This has become quite normalized. Business has increased 300% in recent years. Now it is an incentive for everyone and Any type of couple can come, even conservative ones. “People want to experiment and live their sexual fantasies,” explains David Frutos at his store, with an audience ranging from 30 to 50 years old, although the average age is getting younger.
When you cross the Encuentros door you discover a first decorated room with erotic sculptures which works like a normal bar with a dance floor, where couples have a first drink and start interacting with each other.
Once the atmosphere has warmed up, we move on to the next contact room, which has an area with lockers – so that couples can undress and keep only the towel if they wish – and an erotic pool with sun loungers.
The next step would be the dark room area, which are rooms with mattresses for two or three couples. full of holeswhere other clients can caress them or insert their penises, but without seeing the couples.
But, what is most successful, according to Frutos, is another dark room that does not have beds and where there is only a swing: «Look, this is placed all the way up and it is what makes them the most morbid. 20 people fit here, but normally 50 fit in.», he assures while giving us a tour of this facility located on Vicente Caballero Street, in front of the Gregorio Marañón Hospital.
All these phases are carried out with a lot of education and, in fact, the clubs swingersThey have a strict code of conduct to avoid conflicts. On the Encuentros website they make the rules of behavior clear: «When someone tells you no, it means no. Don’t try the same action if you’ve been rejected.
They also advise taking care of your appearance and hygiene, maintaining relationships with a condom and, most importantly, Do not get romantically involved with new acquaintances. «This is an erotic game and we recommend that you do not get involved in any feelings. What happens in Encuentros, stays in Encuentros,” they insist.
‘Better than being unfaithful’
In Frutos’ opinion, going to these places It is more honest than being unfaithful to your partner, as happens on many occasions, since it considers that human beings are not monogamous. «To come here you must take a step. You have to talk to your partner and tell him that you want to fuck. This is not a place for vicious and perverted people, but rather it is a place where couples enjoy their sexuality together and their emotional ties are strengthened,” she argues.
In fact, in these clubs it is always about the couple having fun together and each one is not allowed to go their own way. In most of these places The entry of single men is limited to certain days and at certain times to avoid the proliferation of men watching and masturbating.
To provide an outlet for this male audience, David Frutos founded the Triángulo pub, which yes it allows the entry of boys during the weekends. His family also runs two other liberal spaces: Trama and Fusion.
«I was lucky to inherit this business and all the clubs that have opened since have been our clients. Everyone has copied Encuentros, where it has become normal to come. Older couples may have qualmsbut young people do not find any problem in getting to know him,” says Frutos.
A couple’s experience
David and Patricia are one of those liberal couples who frequent these clubs. After having gone through all kinds of establishments, they are now looking for other places, where the invitation to have relationships is not so explicit. For example, in places like Malicia by Sublim – just a few meters from the Santiago Bernabéu – nothing seems to indicate that it is a liberal place, except for the large red curtains on the upper floor.
«Those places are starting to smell like mothballs. They are places where the bombardment with sexuality It is very aggressive with dark rooms, pornography on screens… They continue to work with women as objects of desire. At Malicia, emphasis is placed on elegance and savoir-faire. You can feel free and put on transparencies without having an x-ray. You also don’t have that much pressure to have relationships. They may or may not arise,” says Patricia.
For this reason, according to David, Malicia is a perfect club for novice couples start calls Vanillas or to make the transition between what they call the vertical world -that of normal couples, who are standing- and the horizontal -the one with the open ones, which are lying down.
David and Patricia also serve as hosts at Malicia and are dedicated to showing the establishment to newcomers to take away their fear. «I always tell them that this is a normal nightclub, but where are they going to let you do things? that you can’t practice in a conventional», they indicate.
On the ground floor of Malicia there is also a bar to have a drink and, if something comes up, you can go up to the upstairs booths, separated by wide curtains. There couples can have sexual relations alone or with other couples and strangers can come in to see and caress them. If the couple does not remove their hand, it is understood that that third person is invited to participate.
And does it take a toll to go to these types of establishments? David and Patricia, married since 2020, maintain that they have never had problems between them, but they have in the past. «With a previous relationship we were with another couple. He was British and we started playing. My boyfriend saw me enjoying games that he had never played with me and he didn’t understand why I had enjoyed him so much. “We never returned to a liberal club,” says Patricia.
Young people, more open
The truth is that new generations are much more open to concepts such as the liberal environmenthe polyamory or the call kinky sex -practice carried out by people free of prejudices-.
Women’s empowerment has also changed certain practices, since before many of them came to these venues dragged by their husbands and they were pressured to maintain relationships with men, even if they did not feel like it, so that their husbands could enjoy other women in turn.
«Women have gained more authority and set limits. Now she is no longer so forced to satisfy the man. Furthermore, if you come to these places you must be aware and take care of your partner because you have a lot of stimuli and you can let yourself be carried away by the subconscious,” says Hermes, manager of Divernis and Naked Spa, which also opens during daytime hours.
According to their testimony, although these establishments are very open, there are still taboo topics. For example, women’s bisexuality is well seen because a man is excited to see two women together, but that of a man is not so well accepted.
And what happens in these rooms with Sexually transmitted diseases? All penetrative intercourse must be done with a condom, but it is true that there is a greater risk in swimming pools or with oral sex, when it is more difficult to use a condom.
However, according to sociologist Cecilia Bizzoto, open couples are much more aware of this issue than normal and rapid and periodic tests are carried out to detect if they have contracted ailments such as gonorrhea or chlamydia, increasingly widespread diseases.
Both David and Patricia argue that in these clubs there is the same risk as a single man or woman who has several relationships with dating applications: “Right now with Tinder a man can fuck every day of the week if he wants with a different woman and without a condom. Here we take more precautions,” they say.
The two insist that it is not about standing in a liberal place to see what happens, but that we must carry out prior communication work with the couple so that each one explains what they want. In fact, these establishments usually operate with stable, established couples with a lot of self-confidence.
«I don’t come here to exchange anything. My lady is my lady. We function as a binomial and we are indivisible. If I see him enjoying himself with another person in the next curtain, it turns me on. Your pleasure makes me super hot. And, if I see that he is not comfortable, I don’t get the warmth,” they both conclude.
