Vespaña!

Vespas are big in Spain.

Part of my usual travel itinerary includes a pilgrimage to the local Piaggio dealership in homage to the quirky two-wheeled wonder first introduced by Italian Corradino D'Ascanio in 1945. My recent trip to Madrid would be no exception.


It came as a pleasant surprise that most of the Vespas that were buzzing about Madrid were '77 to present-day PX-150Es, being that I ride one myself. This is in stark contrast to my last visit to Rome and Florence, Italy where most of the Vespas were predominantly automatic ETs and GTs, with only a few old battered PXs scarcely strewn about.

The local Piaggio dealership in Madrid is just a stone's throw away from the Atocha subway station and is easy to find. Parked in front of the shop were pre-owned scoots like Hexagons, X9s and Skippers that were probably for sale. I had to wait for about 2 hours until 3PM for the shop to re-open since afternoon siestas were the norm in Spain, after all.

The shop's personnel hardly spoke a word of English, but it didn't matter. Every spare part of most Vespa models are illustrated, indexed and filed in their computer database so you can just point out the particular item that you want. Besides, Vespa riders speak a common language that transcends language barriers, so dealing with these guys won't be a problem for us grizzled vespies.

Vespa Madrid sells the full line of current Piaggio scooters, spare parts, riding attire and other accessories. Do drop by if you're in town. It is located at 94 Atocha Street, Madrid, Spain with email address: 01798a01@piaggio.intelideas.com.

Viva Vespaña!