Spanish Indie Is Having a Moment. Just Ask Niña Polaca.

Over the past decade, something has changed in Spain’s music scene. And Niña Polaca has had a front-row seat to it all. The band, whose name translates to “Polish Girl,” formed in 2018 just as a new crop of Spanish acts were turning what had been a relatively contained independent scene into something much bigger. Niña Polaca grew with it: from recording their first album at home with two microphones to selling out Madrid’s 2,000-capacity La Riviera five times between 2023 and 2024. Next January, they’ll make another leap by headlining Madrid’s Movistar Arena, the largest venue will have played to date. “I think we’re seeing one of the best eras for rock and pop music in Spain that I can remember,” Álvaro Surma, the band’s singer and primary lyricist, tells Consequence. “I don’t remember a time when so many cool bands came out in such a short period, maybe since La Movida Madrileña,” the countercultural movement that transformed Madrid in the early 1980s and produced bands like Nacha Pop and Alaska y los Pegamoides. Niña Polaca trace their beginnings to Madrid’s bohemian Malasaña neighborhood, a hub for the city’s nightlife and underground culture. Surma and bassist Beto met while ...