From Macarena to Quevedo: how club hits in Spain have changed since the 90s

The "canción del verano", the song of the summer, is almost an institution in Spain: the one playing on every terrace, at every village fiesta and, above all, in the clubs. We use the list compiled on Spanish Wikipedia from outlets such as El Mundo, La Razón and Europa FM to tell, decade by decade, how club music has changed.

The 90s: eurodance, bakalao and Macarena

The early 90s belonged to eurodance ("The Rhythm of the Night" by Corona, "No Limit" by 2 Unlimited and "What Is Love" by Haddaway, all from 1993) and, in Valencia, to the Ruta del Bakalao, with clubs such as Barraca and Spook Factory open all weekend long. Meanwhile, every summer had its anthem: "Sopa de caracol" (Banda Blanca, 1991), "Tractor amarillo" (Zapato Veloz, 1992) and "La barbacoa" (Georgie Dann, 1994).

The biggest of them all was "Macarena" by Los del Río (1993): its Bayside Boys remix spent 14 weeks at number one in the United States in 1996. The decade closed with "El Tiburón" (Proyecto Uno, 1995), "Bailando" (Paradisio, 1996), "La flaca" (Jarabe de Palo, 1997), "La copa de la vida" (Ricky Martin, 1998) and "Mambo No. 5" (Lou Bega, 1999).

The 2000s: from Aserejé to Gasolina

The new century started with "La bomba" (King África, 2000) and "Yo quiero bailar" (Sonia y Selena, 2001). In 2002 came "Aserejé" by Las Ketchup, a number one across half the world, the UK included; then "Papi Chulo" (Lorna, 2003) and "Dragostea din tei" (O-Zone, 2004).

That same year, 2004, saw the release of "Gasolina" by Daddy Yankee, the song that brought reggaeton into Spanish clubs for good. The rest of the decade was a mix of styles: "La camisa negra" (Juanes, 2005), "Opá, yo viazé un corrá" (El Koala, 2006), "Las de la intuición" (Shakira, 2007), "Colgando en tus manos" (Carlos Baute and Marta Sánchez, 2008) and "Summercat" (Billie the Vision and the Dancers, 2009).

In 2004, "Gasolina" brought reggaeton into the clubs for good.

The 2010s: EDM, Danza Kuduro and Despacito

The 2010s began with Shakira's "Waka Waka", the song of the World Cup Spain won, and with the boom of commercial electronic music: Avicii's "Levels" (2011) played as much in a superclub as at a wedding. Summer belonged to Latin music: "Danza Kuduro" (Don Omar and Lucenzo, 2011), "Ai se eu te pego" (Michel Teló, 2012), "El tiburón" (Henry Méndez, 2013), "Bailando" (Enrique Iglesias, 2014), "La Gozadera" (Gente de Zona and Marc Anthony, 2015) and "La bicicleta" (Carlos Vives and Shakira, 2016).

Then, in 2017, "Despacito": with the Justin Bieber remix, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's song spent 16 weeks at number one in the United States. After it came "El anillo" (Jennifer Lopez, 2018) and "Con altura" (Rosalía and J Balvin, 2019).

From 2020 to today: reggaeton rules

The latest era belongs to reggaeton and urban pop: "Tusa" (Karol G and Nicki Minaj, 2020), "Todo de ti" (Rauw Alejandro, 2021) and Bizarrap's session 52 with Quevedo, "Quédate" (2022), which swept Spain. In 2023, funnily enough, the song of the summer was a tribute to the eighties, "Nochentera" (Vicco); in 2024, "Si antes te hubiera conocido" (Karol G), and in 2025, according to Europa FM's listeners, "Azizam" (Ed Sheeran).

Rauw Alejandro and Quevedo have performed together at Fitz, one of the clubs in where celebrities party in Madrid. And reggaeton is what plays most in the city today: of the 43 clubs we follow, 16 have it (or urban music) as their main sound and 21 play it.

Where to dance to each era in Madrid

• The 80s, 90s and 2000s: Dekada, in Malasaña, opens every day with music from those three decades.
• Pop, rock and disco with live music: Marabú, in Chamberí, with live covers.
• Today's hits: Joy Eslava, next to Sol, with reggaeton, chart pop and house.
• Nothing but reggaeton: Perro Negro and Shôko.
• Techno and electronic: Fabrik, the superclub in Humanes.

Not sure which one is yours? Take the quiz: the first question is what music you want to hear.

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