Madrid Travel Guide

The Madrileño calendar is a colorful kaleidoscope of saint's days, fiestas, and bullfights. Art exhibitions are perennial features and during the hot summers you can enjoy concerts in the Retiro Park as well as other open areas. Check with the Municipal Tourist Board for details (tel. 91-588-16-36; www.munimadrid.es/turismo).

The dates given below may not be precise. Sometimes the exact days may not be announced until 6 weeks before the actual festival. Go to www.spain.info, the official website for TURESPAÑA (Tourism in Spain), if you're planning to attend a specific event.

The Big Three Fiestas

Fiesta de San Isidro: Madrileños run wild during this 10-day celebration honoring their city's patron saint. Food fairs, Castilian folkloric events, street parades, parties, music, dances, bullfights, and other festivities mark the occasion. Local couples known as chulos and chulapas parade in castizo (traditional 19th-century) dress and enjoy feasts, romerías (festivals), and music acts in key spots like the Plaza Mayor. The largest number of consecutive daily bullfights are held during this fiesta. Make hotel reservations early. Expect crowds and traffic (and beware of pickpockets). Second week in May.

Virgen de la Paloma: This lively festival belies the midsummer image of Madrid as a temporarily lethargic ghost city with practically everyone out of town basking on the Levante and Cantabrian coasts. On August 15, the Latina quarter becomes a crowded riot of street bunting, drinking stalls, live music, and kids' events. The highlight is the procession. Early to mid-August.

The Autumn Festival: The Festival de Otoño is the best music festival in Spain, with a lineup that attracts the cream of the European and South American musical communities. The usual roster of chamber music, symphonic pieces, and orchestral works is supplemented by a program of zarzuelas (operettas or musical reviews), as well as Arabic and Sephardic pieces composed during the Middle Ages. Make hotel reservations early, and for tickets write to Festival de Otoño, Plaza de España 8, 28008 Madrid (tel. 91-580-25-75). October and November (dates vary year to year).

The Year at a Glance

January

Three Kings Day (Día de los Reyes). Parades are staged throughout the main arteries of the city in anticipation of the Feast of the Epiphany (Jan 6). Parades usually take place on January 5 or 6.

February

ARCO (Madrid's International Contemporary Art Fair). One of the biggest draws on Spain's cultural calendar, this exhibit showcases the best in contemporary art from Europe and America. At the Crystal Pavilion of the Casa de Campo, the exhibition draws galleries from throughout Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Asia, who bring with them the works of regional and internationally known artists. To buy tickets, you can contact El Corte Ingles at tel. 91-418-88-00, or Madrid Rock at tel. 91-547-24-23. The cost is between 19€ and 23€ ($24-$29). You can get schedules from the tourist office closer to the event. Dates vary, but usually mid-February.

Madrid Carnaval. The carnival kicks off with a big parade along the Paseo de la Castellana, culminating in a masked ball at the Círculo de Bellas Artes on the following night. Fancy-dress competitions last until February 28, when the festivities end with a tear-jerking "burial of a sardine" at the Fuente de los Pajaritos in the Casa de Campo. This is followed that evening by a concert in the Plaza Mayor. Call tel. 91-429-31-77 for more information. Dates vary.

March

Semana Santa (Holy Week). Although many of the country's smaller towns stage similar celebrations (notably in Zamora, Valladolid, and Seville), the festivities in Madrid are among the most elaborate. From Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday a series of processions with hooded penitents moves to the piercing wail of the saeta, a love song to the Virgin or Christ. Pasos (heavy floats) bear images of the Virgin or Christ. Again, make hotel reservations way in advance. Call Madrid's Municipal Tourist Board for details (tel. 91-588-16-36). Usually last week of March.

April

Bullfights. Holy week traditionally kicks off the season in Madrid. This national pastime affords the visitor an unparalleled insight into the Spanish temperament.

May

Dos de Mayo. May 2 sees the commemoration of the valiant but unsuccessful uprising against occupying French forces during the Peninsula War in 1808, which was brutally repressed and stirringly immortalized in Goya's famous Los Fusilamientos del 3 de Mayo painting of firing-squad victims. Rock concerts and flamenco shows take place in the Dos de Mayo square in Malasaña, where the rebellion began, as well as in other parts of the city.

Fiesta de San Isidro. This 10-day celebration honors the city's patron saint. See "The Big Three Fiestas," above.

Feria del Libro. This annual book fair is located in the Retiro Park. Leading international novelists and historians come to promote their latest works, and the number of stands increases annually. The feria covers 2 weeks from late May to early June.

June

Corpus Christi. A major holiday on the Spanish calendar, this event is marked by big processions in Madrid, as well as in nearby cathedral cities like Toledo. Around early June.

July

Veranos de la Villa. Called "the summer binge" of Madrid, this program presents folkloric dancing, pop music, classical music, zarzuelas (operettas or musical reviews), and flamenco at various venues throughout the city. Open-air cinema is a feature in the Parque del Retiro. Ask at the various tourist offices for complete details (the program changes every summer). Sometimes admission is charged, but often these events are free. Mid-July until the end of August.

August

Fiestas of Lavapiés and Virgen de La Paloma, Madrid. These two fiestas begin with the Lavapiés on August 1 and continue through the hectic La Paloma celebration on August 15, the day of the Virgen de la Paloma. Thousands of people race through the narrow streets. Apartment dwellers hurl buckets of cold water onto the crowds below to cool them off. Children's games, floats, music, flamenco, and zarzuelas, along with street fairs, mark the occasion. For more information, call tel. 91-429-31-77. August 1 to 15. For more on La Paloma, see "The Big Three Fiestas," above.

October

Autumn Festival, Madrid. This cultural program features a series of operatic, ballet, dance, music, and theatrical performances. See "The Big Three Fiestas," above.

December

Día de los Santos Inocentes. On this countrywide holiday, the Spanish play many practical jokes and in general do loco things to one another -- it's the Spanish equivalent of April Fools' Day. December 28.