Puerto Rican Marco Santos tells us about Puerto Rico in London for our World in London project.

Long ago I got fed up with fantastic weather, great food and generous people and decided to leave Puerto Rico for other shores.

After years in the US, and generally wandering about, I’ve settled in London which fulfils two of the above three and adds two millennia worth of culture and history!

Still, as the song goes and like most of us who end up leaving, I do long for Viejo San Juan.

Salsa in London

“Despite a 20th century habit of emigration, you won’t find many Puerto Ricans in London. Most of us who do leave the island end up on the other side of the big pond, in New York or Florida.

What you will get in London is a big helping of our musical exports, be they pop icons (shake your bon-bons please Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin) or our sizeable contribution to the well-known musical genre of salsa, which most of us have been dancing to since we were toddlers.

Try some of your local London salsa clubs and you will no doubt hear one of our musicians: People in the know say you can always tell if there’s a “boricua” on the congas.

Reggaeton in London

More recently (well, in the last five years or so) you’ll have heard some of our more heavily street hip-grinding beats of reggeaton: seeded in Panama, developed in Puerto Rico and exploding throughout the Latin American community.

Artists like Wisin & Yandel, Don Omar, Daddy Yankee and my personal favourite Tego Calderon do make the trip and put on a wild show. Special mention reserved for cross-over artists Calle 13, who have taken a very strong political message and broader musical style and chalked up countless Grammies as a result.

Go to a gig – the energy is spectacular and you won’t be able to stop yourself from dancing.  Or you can check out a reggaeton club, where you’ll likely find a higher concentration of the broader Latin community.

More Puerto Rican Culture in London

The few of us who are in London are often students or professionals and the community is so small that we don’t have any restaurants, markets or organizations.  If you know of any, I’d love to hear of them!

Do you have any more tips for sampling Puerto Rican culture in London? Let us know in the comments below.

I attended the beginners’ class taught by Nathan Brade  in the Primo bar, which has a great view over Westminster Bridge. We went through the basic moves and beats and after a few practice runs of the steps we were paired up.

With more ladies then men (always the way), it was great to see some of the pros step in and expertly lead the way.

What I didn’t realise about salsa was how glamorous it is- forget dancing in flats – here the higher the heel the better!

Dressing up to dance makes it into a real occasion and a fun Friday night out. The best thing is that you can be totally comfortable going on your own as it’s not at all imposing and everyone was super-friendly and just wanted to dance.

The teacher was great, and the band were incredible, as were the regular salsa goers who really knew their stuff.

The bar also served some wicked Cuban cocktails, which really gave me some confidence to get dancing when the band started. I didn’t really have much choice as the instructor, Nathan, twirled me around the room!

The best bit of the night came when he told me to relax my knees and suddenly my legs were in the air and my head near the floor. I had been professionally salsa “dipped” and even though it probably looked a complete mess, I felt so graceful and it was brilliant fun.

Salsa night at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge is every Friday from 8pm. Free for hotel guests and £8 for everyone else