Icod de los Vinos Chat

It’s 7 pm on a rainy Wednesday and Carlos, a 28‑year‑old graphic designer from Madrid, types “¡Hola!” into the chat. He’s come back because every week someone remembers the last time he tried to find a recipe for “cocido de Icod” and the room turns into a culinary treasure trove. He logs in from his apartment, the window showing the flicker of city lights, and finds a familiar sea of usernames: @Tina, @Santiago, @Marta. They all know his habit of ordering a pint of “Cerveza de los Vinos” after work, even though he lives a couple of hours away.

The conversations swing from the mundane to the absurd. This week, someone debated whether “Mbappé or Vinicius” is the better forward for a fantasy team, while another thread had people sharing the latest gossip about the mayor of Icod and the new tourist signage. A seasoned traveler asks for tips on the best time to visit the La Bañeza ruins, and a local musician offers to play a short set for the next Friday night. There’s a dry humour that surfaces when a user jokes about the city’s “official” nickname, “La Ciudad de los Vinos”, and a heated exchange over the best way to fix a broken bike chain—only to be interrupted by a wave of supportive emojis.

No other room feels like this because the mix of accents—Galician, Andalusian, Catalan—creates a living mosaic. Every Friday at 20:00, a tradition kicks off: the “Tarta de la Tarde” thread, where members post a photo of their homemade cake and swap recipes. A few years ago, a regular started the “Punto de Vista” game—each user posts a sentence about a random object, and others have to guess its origin. These quirks, invisible to outsiders, bind the room together. The nickname “Icodero” is reserved for those who’ve visited the town, and they’re greeted with a special emoji that looks like a tiny wine bottle.

You don’t need to sign up—just pick a nickname and connect from your desktop or mobile. ChatZona has been running real IRC since 2007, so the connection is instant. Once you log in, you’ll notice the chat jumps into life within seconds. It would be unusual if nobody replied to your first message within the first two minutes.