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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend

It’s me again!

That’s right, you’re not getting rid of my emails. I don’t care how much fun you’re having on whatever ugly beach you’re on. If I’m stuck in Madrid this week, then you get to vicariously experience my suffocating misery (at least until next week, when I’m also gone to the luscious, dewey-sweet vineyards of Southern France).

• For those of you who, like me, are currently wandering in desperation on the vacant roads of the Spanish capital because your favorite coffee shop is closed until god knows when and who suffer the inescapable maladies of climate terror, I say repent. Help is not coming.

• However, and while I understand how tempting it is to lock yourself at home with a bucket of gelato and endless doomscrolling on Instagram (those early memes about Mariah Carey starting to defrost may trick your brain into thinking the cold weather is closer than it really is), I am here to make a series of unhinged proposals that may help you pass the time, even if you’ve given up hope.

• So get off the couch, throw on whatever clothes you can find (you will not run into anyone you know, guaranteed), and step into the tumbleweed-infested streets of Madrid. You’ll thank me later.

Happy weekend!

1. 💃🏻 Get into some trouble with the barber of Lavapiés (now with AC!)

Alright, the video above is not from the production happening at Teatro La Latina this weekend, but I posted it for informational purposes so you know what you’re getting into. Also, the theater has great AC, so it’s a (literally) cool option for you if you want to escape the endless heatwave we’re living in. Last but not least, zarzuelas are fun, so it’s not a bad option for you.

• El barberillo de Lavapiés (The Little Barber of Lavapiés) is one of the great classics of the genre, first performed in Madrid in 1874, with music by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri and a libretto by Luis Mariano de Larra, son of the legendary journalist Mariano José de Larra. You don’t know any of those people, and that’s OK; I just still need to mention them because it’s damn time you start learning.

• For the uninitiated, zarzuela is essentially Spain’s answer to operetta: a distinctly Spanish form of musical theater that mixes spoken dialogue with singing, orchestral music, comedy and drama. It’s like opera meets 70s sitcom (1870s, that is).

• This one is set in Lavapiés and follows Lamparilla, a quick-witted neighborhood barber with a talent for getting himself into trouble, and Paloma, a young seamstress who joins him in helping the Dukes of Medina de Rioseco after they become caught up in a political conspiracy.

• What follows is a very Madrileño collision of high politics and street life: gossip, misunderstandings, romance, scheming and music.

You’ll be watching a 19th-century musical comedy about Lavapiés in La Latina, barely a walk away from the neighborhood where the story takes place (before it was gentrified, of course).

🎭 What: El barberillo de Lavapiés

📍 Where: Teatro La Latina, Plaza de la Cebada 2, Madrid

📅 When: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 7 p.m.

🎟 Tickets start at €24.50

2. 🎨 Mercadillo de Pintores: Buy some art in central Madrid

I know what you’re thinking. “An outdoor activity? In this weather?!” And yes, you’re right. But maybe it’s time to get off the couch and start posting Instagram stories so your beach-ridden friends can also think that you’re having fun. Think about it: you can grab a couple of tourists and take a selfie with them, making everyone else think these are your new cool friends and that, unlike the rest of the sheeple, you can leave Madrid any time of the year you want. You just choose to be here now. See? It’s all about believing your own delusions, like I do.

• But I digress. Turns out that Madrid has plenty of markets where you can spend a Sunday browsing for vintage clothes, 4K Blu-rays (physical media is making a comeback!) and Belgian chocolate. But how about an original painting?

• Every Sunday, the lovely Plaza del Conde de Barajas becomes the Plaza de los Pintores, an open-air art market where around 40 Madrid artists exhibit and sell their original work.

• The good news is that this isn’t some TikTok-era pop-up. The tradition dates all the way back to 1984, when the Centro district gave the Taller Abierto association a space near the Arco de Cuchilleros to exhibit and sell paintings.

• More than four decades later, it has low-key become one of those beloved city traditions that you can easily walk past without realizing how much history is behind it.

• You’re browsing paintings outdoors in one of the city's oldest parts, just steps from Plaza Mayor, with the artists themselves on hand displaying their work. Plus, there’s a Five Guys nearby, in case you need to counterbalance your cultured outing with a greasy burger.

So if you’re looking for a Sunday plan that involves art but doesn’t involve opening Filmín to watch The Saragossa Manuscript, go for a wander. Worst-case scenario, you pass out from the heat. Best-case scenario, you go home with an original piece of art painted by (maybe) the next Picasso.

🎨 What: Mercadillo de Pintores

📍 Where: Plaza del Conde de Barajas, Downtown Madrid

📅 When: Sundays

🎟 Tickets: Free

3.🚂 Madrid’s Railway Museum: at least you’re not watching paint dry

Oh, I’m just being dramatic. You’ve probably been to the Mercado de Motores at the beautiful old Delicias railway station. Well… great news, weirdos train fans! Throughout August, the museum is running its summer program for those of us left behind, with special activities celebrating 175 years since Madrid’s first railway opened in 1851, an event that feels prehistoric by now.

• But since I’m sending you there this weekend, there’s an added reason to go: Saturdays and Sundays are devoted to the station’s surprisingly impressive relationship with cinema.

• The themed “Delicias, una estación de cine” tour explores how this 19th-century station became a filming location for Spanish and international productions. And we’re not talking about obscure movies nobody has heard of like The Saragossa Manuscript. Nah… David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago (google it, kids!) filmed here, as did Nicholas and Alexandra, Travels with My Aunt, Tormento, Amantes and, much more recently, David Trueba’s Saben aquell.

• Families can also tackle a self-guided treasure hunt devoted to Madrid’s 175 years of railway history and see Territorio Ferroviario, the largest model railway in Spain, in action.

• There are also two temporary exhibitions worth catching: La mirada de Wyrsch, featuring Swiss photographer Karl Wyrsch’s images of railways during the 1950s and ’60s, and Viajar en el tiempo, which uses 85 years of Renfe advertising to show how both train travel and Spain itself have changed.

Honestly, stop being a snob. You’re complaining about spending a Sunday looking at vintage train ads, but if you were in, I dunno, Cinque Terre, you’d be buying a damn copy for €35. Just go and enjoy.

🚂 What: Verano en el Museo del Ferrocarril

📍 Where: Museo del Ferrocarril de Madrid, Paseo de las Delicias 61, Madrid

📅 When: This Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.

🎟️ Tickets: Free admission

4. 🏃 Run from a 300-kilo ball in the mountains. Because apparently that’s a thing.

Growing up in the ’80s, television taught children like me that there were three very real and pervasive threats to our daily survival: lava, quicksand, and a giant round ball chasing us out of a lost temple in the Peruvian jungle.

Fast forward to 2026 and, as it turns out, adulting unfortunately doesn’t involve any of those things (unless you live in, like, Indonesia or something). Except… maybe it does? Turns out that the town of Mataelpino, in northern Madrid, each year offers intrepid adventurers the opportunity to be crushed to death chased by a giant ball, just like Indiana Jones would have wanted.

• I’m not kidding. If Pamplona’s running of the bulls has always sounded exciting but the actual bull part scares the shit out of you gives you pause, a little town in the Sierra de Guadarrama has come up with a very Spanish solution: replace the animal with a gigantic ball hurtling down the street.

• Welcome to the Boloencierro de Mataelpino, the centerpiece of the town’s San Bartolomé festivities. The tradition started more than 15 years ago when Mataelpino couldn’t afford to organize a conventional bull run. Instead of canceling it, someone had the inspired idea of rolling a giant ball through town while people ran ahead of it.

• DO NOT underestimate the ball. The adult version (yes, there’s also a child version 💀) now weighs around 300 kilos, measures more than 2.7 meters across and can reportedly reach speeds approaching 50 km/h.

• Participants run along a roughly 700-meter course beginning on Calle de la Iglesia and ending near the bullring. In other words, being flattened by a giant red ball is unlikely to improve your weekend, so participation is restricted to adults and the safety rules should be taken seriously.

• This weekend you actually get two chances to see it. Both Saturday and Sunday begin with the children’s run at 11 a.m., using smaller balls and supervision, before the considerably more unhinged adult version starts at noon.

And since these are proper village fiestas, the giant ball is only part of it. There will also be DJs, food, bingo, theater, and plenty of late-night partying throughout the weekend.

🔴 What: Boloencierro at the Fiestas de San Bartolomé

📍 Where: Mataelpino. The Boloencierro starts on Calle de la Iglesia.

📅 When: Saturday, Aug. 22 & Sunday, Aug. 23 at noon

🎟️ Tickets: Free to watch. Adults must be 18+ to participate.

5.🏎️ EPIC Racing Weekend Jarama: Pretend you’re at the Spanish Grand Prix for €21

Disclaimer: Look, I have no freaking idea what a Formula 4 is, nor do I care to learn about it at 46 years old. But a few basic, straight friends people have been recommending this, so after reading about it, here’s why it’s so cool, even though I still don’t personally care.

• The Circuito de Madrid Jarama-RACE is hosting the EPIC Racing Weekend this Saturday and Sunday, turning one of Spain’s most historic racetracks into two days of racing, overtaking (whatever that means), and pit-lane action.

• More than 40 young drivers will be competing in Formula 4 single-seaters, one of the key entry points into professional formula racing and the category where some future F1 hopefuls begin making a name for themselves.

• And if you’ve only ever watched motorsport on television, seeing it live is a very different exper-zzzzzzzzzzzz— Sorry, I just fell asleep writing that.

• There’s also a covered grandstand, food around the circuit (the best part of this whole thing, at least for me) and a more luxurious option if spending an August afternoon outside sounds slightly insane: tickets for Sala y Terraza Edificio 3 give you access to an air-conditioned room and private terrace overlooking the track.

Basically, it’s your chance to spend the weekend pretending you’re at a Grand Prix without paying Grand Prix prices — or having to wait until Madrid’s actual F1 race comes around next month.

🏎️ What: EPIC Racing Weekend

📍 Where: Circuito de Madrid Jarama-RACE, Vía de Servicio A-1, exit 26, San Sebastián de los Reyes

📅 When: Saturday, Aug. 22, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sunday, Aug. 23, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.

🎟️ Tickets start at €21

📺 What to watch if you still don’t want to leave the couch this weekend…

📺 Movie: To the Max (La Fiera) | 2026

📍Where to watch: Netflix

❓What’s it about: Three skydivers died in similar accidents within five years. Director Salvador Calvo wanted to tell their stories with the sole survivor, Carlos Suárez.

🤩 Why you should watch: Mainly, for its spectacularly shot BASE-jumping sequences and its surprisingly dark look at the obsession that drives people to keep risking their lives even after watching friends die. It’s an adventure movie that understands the thrill of extreme sports while also asking an uncomfortable question: when does chasing adrenaline stop being passion and start looking like addiction?

💬 English Subtitles: Yes.

📺 Movie: Calle Málaga | 2025

📍Where to watch: Movistar+

❓What’s it about: An aging Spanish woman in Tangier resists her daughter's decision to sell her home. Determined to stay, she does everything she can to keep her place and reclaim the belongings of a lifetime. Along the way, she rediscovers love and desire.

🤩 Why you should watch: Because it features a superb Carmen Maura as an older woman fighting for her right to love, companionship and sex on her own terms. It’s a warm, intimate celebration of the little things that make a life worth living.

💬 English Subtitles: No.

💃🏻 Places to try this weekend…

🥩 La Hípica: Come for the horses, stay for the steak

What’s it about: Escape Madrid without actually going very far. La Hípica pairs countryside views and horses with a wood-and-charcoal grill specializing in premium cuts of mature beef, from chuletón and tomahawk to vaca vieja and rubia gallega.

Why you should go: Because it’s a proper change of scenery just 15 minutes from the city, with great meat, classic sides like homemade potatoes and Padrón peppers, and a creamy cheesecake to finish.

Bottom line: La Hípica is an easy countryside escape built around three very compelling things: fire, steak, and views.

Address: M-612, KM 3.5, Fuencarral-El Pardo.

🌿 Brownie Club: Salamanca’s best new café is hiding in plain sight

What’s it about: Hidden at the back of Brownie’s Salamanca store, Brownie Club is a surprisingly lovely café built around a leafy secret patio, serving specialty coffee, matcha and very Instagram-friendly creations like Sparkle Lattes and Coconut Clouds.

Why you should go: Because finding a peaceful, plant-filled courtyard in the middle of Salamanca feels like discovering a cheat code. There’s also proper food, from avocado toast with spicy maple to croissant sandwiches, chicken wraps and Japanese-style egg sandwiches.

Bottom line: Brownie Club turns an afternoon of shopping into an excuse for coffee, cake and an unexpectedly charming escape from the streets outside.

Address: Calle Hermosilla, 26, Madrid.

👨🏻‍💻 Viral Memes of the Week

🪈 The Pied-Piper or Spain

🛥️ Brays Efe’s (aka Paquita Sálas) rant against people who post stories on a boat (that’s not theirs) will never get old

🔔 Don’t forget to follow us on TikTok!

@thebubblecom5 myths about the Ceuta crisis. #ceuta #spain #españa #ceuta🇪🇸 #migration

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🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

🇪🇸 The Bubble is Spain's #1 English-language, bestselling newsletter. We offer paid subscriptions, and we’d be thrilled to have your support!

🏝️ While the rest of The Bubble Newsletter’s team is out of office this month, this weekend guide will continue to reach your inbox every Friday.

Become a paid or free subscriber

Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend

It’s Friday again!

• And I have great news: The city has shaken off its peaceful slumber and come alive this weekend to reaffirm its Christian traditions by honoring the Virgin of La Paloma with endless beers, tinto de verano, and questionable, greasy pizza at 4 a.m.

• So come to La Latina this weekend for some drunken shenanigans. Who knows… You may even run into me there! (If you do, please say hello).

• And one more reminder about our podcast. We’re taking a break this month, but we’re back in September. In the meantime, in our latest episode we discuss what it really means to belong in Spain today and explore one of the country’s biggest identity debates, alongside Sweden’s ambassador to Spain and writer Elizabeth Duval.

Happy weekend!

1. 🎉 Verbena de la Paloma: Madrid’s biggest summer street party takes over La Latina

If you only do one thing this weekend, make it the Verbenas (street parties) de la Virgen de la Paloma. If you thought last weekend was crazy, get ready for this one, because these verbenas, which kicked off last night, are Madrid’s biggest and most beloved summer celebration, the grand finale of the city’s traditional August parties.

• The streets of La Latina, Las Vistillas, and Plaza de la Paja transform into one giant open-air party for four days, where tradition and nightlife collide, and the streets are decorated with colorful lanterns and drunk people.

• There will be locals dressed as chulapos and chulapas and couples dancing the chotis, as well as brass bands and organ grinders while people sip chilled tinto de verano from cheap plastic cups.

• Still want more? There will also be limonada (aka lemonade spiked with white wine), food stalls, neighborhood competitions, and free concerts that keep the party going until the early hours.

Friday is arguably the liveliest night to join the celebrations. Head to Las Vistillas for Regreso a los 80, featuring Los Refrescos, Modestia Aparte and Fernandisco, while Plaza de la Paja hosts a ‘90s party.

• More fun before the music starts! The neighborhood fills with wonderfully eccentric traditions, from waiter races (fun!) and high-heel races (dangerous and fun!) to chotis dancers, and pasodoble competitions.

The highlight comes Saturday, when Madrid celebrates the day of the Virgin of the Dove, the “popular” patron of the city (not the same as a patron saint).

• For devout Catholics: The day’s events begin at the Church of the Virgin of the Dove with floral offerings and a solemn Mass before one of the city’s most emotional traditions: Madrid’s firefighters bring down the Virgin’s iconic portrait from inside the church, after which thousands of people accompany the procession through the streets of La Latina.

• For devout heretics: Once the procession ends, the party shifts back into full swing and the neighborhood goes from holy mass to unholy mess. DePol headlines the main stage at Las Vistillas, while Plaza de la Paja hosts DJs, traditional performances, family activities, and plenty of opportunities to embrace your inner castizo.

The celebrations continue on Sunday (of course), closing with another packed day of festivities, including a free concert by indie-pop favorites Miss Caffeina, live music on multiple stages, vermut, limonada, neighborhood games, and some weird competitions—from drinking out of a botijo to the classic porrón challenge.

You may be stuck here, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have the time of your life.

🖥️ What: Verbenas de la Virgen de la Paloma

📍 Where: La Latina, Plaza de la Paja, Calle de la Paloma and Jardines de las Vistillas

📅 When: Aug. 13–16 (main procession on Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m.)

🎟 Tickets: Free admission

2. 🇵🇹 Teresinha Landeiro: Portugal's most beautiful soundtrack comes to the city

While much of the city will be drinking dancing in the streets this weekend, Veranos de la Villa is offering something altogether different: an intimate evening of Portuguese fado with one of the genre’s brightest new voices, Teresinha Landeiro.

• Landeiro at just 30 has become one of the leading figures of a new generation of fado artists, blending the melancholy and storytelling that define Portugal’s national music with subtle contemporary influences.

• The concert takes place in the beautiful Cloister of the Well at the historic San Isidro Institute, an atmospheric setting that feels tailor-made for the emotional intensity of fado.

Even if you’ve never listened to fado (Portugal's traditional music), this is the kind of performance that can win you over.

🖥️ What: Teresinha Landeiro live

📍 Where: Claustro del Pozo, Instituto San Isidro, Calle de Toledo 39, Madrid

📅 When: Aug. 14, 9 p.m.

🎟 Tickets: €15

3.🦜 One of Casa de Campo’s greatest hidden treasures is its wildlife. Go stalk it.

Just a few minutes from the city center, there’s Casa de Campo, Madrid’s other park that you never go to because Retiro is classier and full of rich, hot people. However, did you know that Casa de Campo is home to dozens of bird species that many people walk past without ever noticing? (Of course you didn’t)

• Great if you’re hungover. This guided birdwatching tour is a fantastic opportunity to slow down, unplug, and discover a completely different side of the city. So grab a Red Bull, your favorite sunglasses, put your phone on DND, and get ready for the kind of morning you thought you’d be experiencing in your 80s.

• Over the course of a leisurely 2.5-hour walk, participants will explore the park’s diverse ecosystems (from wooded areas to lakeshores) while learning to identify birds of prey, woodland birds, and aquatic species through direct observation.

• August is an interesting time for birdwatching, as some species are year-round residents while others are only passing through during the season.

• The activity is led by guides from Casa de Campo’s Environmental Information Center, who will explain not only how to spot different birds, but also why this vast green space plays such an important role in Madrid’s biodiversity.

• If you own a pair of binoculars (lol, you don’t), you’re encouraged to bring them, though they’re not essential to enjoy the experience.

So yeah, all your friends may be in Mallorca, Marbella, Mykonos, Ibiza, Sicily, Bodrum, San Sebastián, Tuscany, Santorini, the French Riviera, Bali, Cozumel, Miami, the Bahamas, Malta, Croatia or Albania, but at least you’re watching birds in Madrid on a scorching Sunday morning while hungover. Congrats.

🖥️ What: Guided Birdwatching Walk at Casa de Campo

📍 Where: Casa de Campo Environmental Information & Education Center (here)

📅 When: Aug. 16, 9:30 a.m. (good luck if you’re hungover)

🎟 Tickets: Free, but advance registration by email is required.

4. 🩰 Billy Elliot: Because there’s always a good reason to watch this great film again

Fun fact: In Spain, the movie Billy Elliot is called “I want to dance”. Honestly, it’s not the worst adaptation of a movie title (that dubious honor goes to Die Hard, which in Spain is called Crystal Jungle).

Anyway, it’s been more than 25 years since Billy Elliot hit theaters, and this beloved British classic remains just as funny, moving and relevant as ever.

• Set against the depressing backdrop of the 1984 U.K. miners’ strike, it tells the story of an 11-year-old boy who discovers a passion for ballet, challenging stereotypes and expectations along the way.

• It’s a heartwarming reminder of the importance of self-expression, acceptance and finding the courage to follow your own path. Pretty much like Star Wars, but without light sabers. ❤️

• This special screening is part of an inclusive cinema series that pairs each film with a discussion right before the movie led by occupational therapists, exploring themes such as mental health, disability, neurodiversity and social inclusion.

The venue, CondeDuque, offers accessibility features including hearing loop technology, amplified sound and adapted access, making it a thoughtful and welcoming experience for all. Oh, and before you ask, CondeDuque says the movie is subtitled. So even if you can’t understand Spanish, you get to practice thanks to the subtitles.

🖥️ What: Billy Elliot - Inclusive Cinema Series

📍 Where: Centro Cultural CondeDuque, Calle de Conde Duque 9, Madrid

📅 When: Aug. 15 (Discussion at 8 p.m.; screening at 8:30 p.m.)

🎟 Tickets: Free but seats are limited. Get there on time.

5.💘 Venus & Cupid: Ever wondered what goes into restoring a 400-year-old masterpiece? (Probably not).

Listen up, losers! If you’re tired of those damn dating apps (polls say you are), then this is a great chance to ditch Tinder, Grindr, and the rest of the digital world and go back to the analog, OG way of meeting people: praying to Venus, the goddess of love, for sex “legitimate emotional connection”. Or to Cupid, the androgynous cherub that always looks like a 5-year-old girl that just entered a beauty pageant in Nashville.

But I digress. The Thyssen Museum is giving visitors a rare behind-the-scenes look at the painstaking work of art conservation with a special exhibition dedicated to the restoration of Peter Paul Rubens’ Venus and Cupid. (Not to be confused with Paul Reubens, the guy who played Pee Wee Herman).

• Rather than simply displaying the finished painting, the museum walks visitors through the technical study, scientific analysis, and restoration process that brought the artwork back to life.

• The project reveals how conservators uncovered the original colors, depth and perspective that had been hidden beneath centuries of aged varnish, while also shedding light on Rubens’ painting techniques and materials.

Anyway… It’s a great opportunity to see not just the finished masterpiece, but the invisible work that preserves it for future generations.

🖥️ What: The Restoration of Rubens’ Venus and Cupid

📍 Where: Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza (Room 19)

📅 When: Through Sept. 13

🎟 Tickets: €7

📺 What to watch if you don’t want to leave the couch this weekend…

📺 Movie: All that we never were (Todo lo que nunca fuimos) | 2026

📍Where to watch: HBO Max

❓What’s it about: After losing her parents, aspiring painter Leah struggles to cope. When her brother moves away, he asks his best friend Axel to look after her, unaware of her longtime feelings for him.

🤩 Why you should watch: Because Maxi Iglesias is in it. Because if you're in the mood for a sweeping rom-dram (that’s a thing), this movie delivers exactly that, pairing two charismatic leads with an emotional story about grief, healing, and unexpected love.

💬 English Subtitles: No.

📺 TV Series: The Tribute (El Homenaje) | 2026

📍Where to watch: Amazon Prime & SkyShowtime

❓What’s it about: At his 80th birthday party, powerful patriarch Adolfo Novak gathers family and friends. Behind smiles lie decades of secrets, betrayals, and vengeance. The evening explodes, revealing a truth more shocking than anyone suspected.

🤩 Why you should watch: Because Manu Ríos is in it. Because it’s perfect if you love family sagas packed with secrets, betrayals, and shifting loyalties. The show blends the intrigue of The Godfather with the mystery of an Agatha Christie whodunit, making it an easy binge for fans of character-driven thrillers.

💬 English Subtitles: Yes.

💃🏻 Places to try this weekend…

🍽️ Armando: There's comfort food, and then there's the kind of comfort food that deserves its own restaurant.

What’s it about: Take one of Spain's greatest breaded cutlets (escalope), fry it to golden perfection, and let diners build their dream combination with indulgent toppings like truffle eggs, melted raclette, steak tartare, or even macaroni with chorizo.

Why you should go: Because there's no pretension, no reservations, and no complicated menu—just a lively, retro-inspired space where everything revolves around sharing good food with friends.

Bottom line: Armando delivers exactly what it promises (an iconic escalope, playful comfort food, and a meal that's impossible not to enjoy).

Address: Calle Carranza, 9, Madrid

🍦 La Romana: When the summer heat becomes unbearable, there's one place we keep coming back to.

What’s it about: Founded in Rimini, Italy, in 1947, Gelateria La Romana has built a loyal following thanks to its traditional, small-batch gelato made with high-quality ingredients and recipes that have stood the test of time.

Why you should go: Because nearly 80 years later, it remains one of the best places in Madrid for authentic Italian ice cream. Part of the fun is choosing from its huge selection of flavors, from timeless classics like pistachio and hazelnut to seasonal creations.

Bottom line: There are plenty of ice cream shops in Madrid, but few are as consistently excellent as La Romana.

Address: Multiple locations around Madrid (and Spain)

👨🏻‍💻 Viral Memes of the Week

🐅 If plush tiger not friend, why friend-shaped?

🌚🌝 The sun and moon during this week’s eclipse

🔔 Don’t forget to follow us on TikTok!

@thebubblecom5 myths about the Ceuta crisis. #ceuta #spain #españa #ceuta🇪🇸 #migration

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Spain is about to switch off the lights (fear not, this is not another apagón).

On Wednesday, August 12, the Moon will slide in front of the Sun and, for a narrow strip across northern Spain, daytime will briefly become night.

• Now, this is not your average “the sky looks a bit weird” eclipse. It will be the first total solar eclipse visible from mainland Spain in more than a century (the Iberian Peninsula has not seen one since 1912). The path of totality will enter through Galicia, cross northern Spain and reach the Balearic Islands just before sunset.

• This all sounds wonderfully cinematic. It also means half the country will be trying to park on the same hill.

The partial eclipse begins at roughly 7:30 p.m. in the places below, with totality arriving around 8:28–8:29 p.m. Exact times vary by location and even by the coordinates you choose within a municipality, so use the Instituto Geográfico Nacional’s official eclipse viewer before setting out.

• One more thing: the Sun will be low in the sky. A famous viewpoint is useless if a mountain, apartment block or badly positioned pine tree is sitting on the western horizon. Treat the spots below as starting points, check local access plans and closures, and scout your exact view in advance if you can.

Do you already have plans for the eclipse? Tell us where you’ll be watching in the comments. Your plan might help another reader find the perfect spot, or persuade them to stay very far away from yours!

Here are five places where the eclipse can become a full-day affair:

1. 🏰 Burgos: Cathedral, morcilla and 104 seconds of darkness

📍 Where: Mirador del Castillo

Burgos offers a very respectable 1 minute and 44 seconds of totality, and the elevated Mirador del Castillo gives you a sweeping view over the city. The eclipse begins at about 7:33 p.m., reaches totality around 8:29 p.m., and does so with the Sun only around eight degrees above the horizon.

• Before looking up: Start with Burgos Cathedral, wander through the historic center and order some morcilla de Burgos. Then make your way uphill well before the main event. This is an obvious viewing point, which means everyone else has probably had the same idea.

⏰ When to arrive: Before 7 p.m.—earlier if local authorities announce capacity limits.

💬 Bottom line: The easiest option for turning the eclipse into a handsome city break, provided you secure an unobstructed view to the west.

2. 🌾 Zaragoza: Trade the city crowd for the Murallas de Grisén

📍 Where: Acueducto del Jalón, also known as the Murallas de Grisén, between Alagón and Grisén

• Zaragoza gets around 1 minute and 24 seconds of totality, with the maximum arriving at approximately 8:29 p.m. The Acueducto del Jalón sits roughly 25 kilometers outside the city, giving this option a rural setting and a compelling piece of 18th-century engineering as a backdrop.

Before looking up: Visit the Basílica del Pilar and Aljafería Palace, then eat your way through El Tubo. Ternasco de Aragón or migas should keep you going through the long wait. Afterward, head out toward Grisén with more time than Google Maps says you need.

⏰ When to arrive: By 7:15 p.m. at the latest, allowing extra time for traffic, parking, and the walk to your chosen observation point.

💬 Bottom line: A good escape from central Zaragoza—but verify permitted access and the western sightline before committing. “It’s in the countryside” does not automatically mean “the horizon is clear.”

3. 🍎 Oviedo: Watch the sky go dark above Monte Naranco

📍 Where: Monte Naranco

Oviedo is one of the strongest city options on the route, with around 1 minute and 49 seconds of totality at approximately 8:28 p.m. Monte Naranco’s height and broad views make it an intuitive choice—weather permitting, which is the most Asturian disclaimer imaginable.

• Before looking up: Visit Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo, then head into Oviedo for cider and fabada. Just do not leave the climb until the last minute: road controls, limited parking and crowds may change how the mountain is accessed that afternoon.

⏰ When to arrive: Before 6:30 p.m., or follow the timetable of any official event or shuttle announced locally.

💬 Bottom line: Nearly the longest totality in this guide, plus pre-Romanesque architecture and cider. Clouds are the wild card.

4. 🥩 León: Earn the view from Las Lomas

📍 Where: Las Lomas hike, or Depósitos de Cantamilanos, Reino de León shopping center, La Candamia in the city.

León should get roughly 1 minute and 44 seconds of totality, with the main event around 8:28 p.m. Las Lomas, outside the city, offers panoramic views over León, but reaching the viewpoints involves walking on an uneven path; this is not the moment for optimistic footwear.

• Before looking up: Explore the old town, visit León Cathedral, and try cecina or botillo before heading toward La Candamia and starting the walk.

⏰ When to arrive: Before 6:30 p.m., leaving enough daylight and time to reach your spot without rushing.

💬 Bottom line: A beautiful, active option for people willing to hike for the view. Confirm the route, accessibility, and sunset direction in advance.

5. 🌊 A Coruña: Totality with an Atlantic backdrop

📍 Where: Monte de San Pedro

In A Coruña, the eclipse begins at about 7:31 p.m., totality arrives around 8:28 p.m., and the lights stay out for roughly 1 minute and 16 seconds. Monte de San Pedro’s ocean-facing position gives it the most dramatic Atlantic setting on this list, and makes it an extremely obvious magnet for crowds.

• Before looking up: Walk the seafront, visit the Tower of Hercules and eat enough Galician seafood to make the trip worthwhile even if a cloud appears at exactly the wrong moment. Pulpo á feira is never a bad contingency plan.

⏰ When to arrive: Before 6:30 p.m., subject to the access and crowd-control plan announced by the city.

💬 Bottom line: Fewer seconds than Asturias or Burgos, but arguably the best backdrop. Please note that an earlier slide circulated with this guide gave 6:27 p.m. for totality; the correct time is around 8:28 p.m.

🌑 The Asturias cheat sheet: Where darkness lasts longest

If your sole objective is squeezing every possible second out of the eclipse, head west from Oviedo.

According to the IGN data supplied for four western Asturian municipalities, Coaña, El Franco, Navia and Valdés each get about 1 minute and 50 seconds of totality. Their timings differ by tenths of a second, not by anything a human being standing in a field will notice.

So which is “best”? Whichever has clear skies, a genuinely open western horizon and a sensible access plan on the day. A two-second theoretical advantage is worthless if you spend totality behind a cloud, or in a traffic jam outside the car park.

• Coaña: Pair the eclipse with the Castro de Coaña, one of Asturias’ best-known hillforts.

• El Franco: Make a coastal day of it around Viavélez or the cliffs and beaches near Porcía.

• Navia: An easy base for food and services, with the estuary and western coast nearby.

• Valdés: Combine the trip with Luarca, its harbor and a suitably dramatic section of coastline.

Do not assume that every beach faces the right way or offers safe capacity. Wait for municipal viewing areas and traffic measures, then use the IGN viewer to check your exact coordinates.

😎 A quick note about keeping your eyesight

The eclipse is special. Your retinas are irreplaceable. The official guidance is straightforward:

• Never stare at the Sun during the partial phases. The reduced light can feel less uncomfortable while the radiation is still capable of causing permanent damage—and the retina does not warn you with pain.

• Use purpose-made eclipse glasses that meet ISO 12312-2:2015, and check that they are not scratched, punctured, torn or bent. Ordinary sunglasses do nothing here.

• Do not improvise filters with X-rays, CDs, smoked glass, photographic film or similar internet folklore.

• Do not look through binoculars, telescopes or camera viewfinders unless the equipment has the correct professional solar filter fitted at the front. Eclipse glasses alone are not protection against magnified sunlight.

• Projection is the safest low-tech alternative. A simple pinhole projector or camera obscura lets you watch an image of the Sun on a surface without looking at it directly.

• Only during confirmed totality may observers inside the path of totality view the fully covered Sun without eclipse glasses. Put them back on before the first bright edge of sunlight reappears. If you are uncertain, keep them on.

• Read the IGN’s full eye-safety guidance before August 12.

🚗 Your eclipse survival plan

The government’s most useful advice is less cosmic and more logistical: plan ahead.

• Choose an elevated location with a clear western horizon; the Sun will be low at totality.

• Check the forecast in the final days and keep a realistic backup location.

• Avoid improvising a journey on eclipse day. Use public transport where possible, follow DGT and Protección Civil instructions and leave far earlier than feels necessary.

• Bring water, snacks, sun protection, a charged phone and your eclipse glasses.

• Consider waiting after totality instead of joining the immediate traffic exodus. Conveniently, the eclipse falls near the peak of the Perseids and under a new Moon, so hanging around after dark may deliver a second show.

The IGN has more practical travel and observation recommendations here.

🙅 What if you hate crowds, or missed it?

Good news: Spain is entering its eclipse era.

On August 2, 2027, a second total solar eclipse will cross the Strait of Gibraltar in the morning. In Europe, totality will only be visible from southern Spain: Ceuta and Melilla, almost all of Cádiz province, much of Málaga and the southernmost parts of Granada and Almería.

Ceuta gets Spain’s longest totality, at about 4 minutes and 48 seconds; Melilla gets roughly 4 minutes and 34 seconds. The rest of Spain will see a partial eclipse. In other words, start looking at refundable accommodation now, not the evening before.

Then, on January 26, 2028, an annular eclipse will cross roughly half the country from southwest to northeast. This is the “ring of fire” version (not related to Game of Thrones, you geek): the Moon will not cover the entire solar disc, so protective eyewear remains necessary throughout.

The annular phase will be visible across much of Andalucía, southern Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, parts of Madrid and Aragón, Murcia, the Comunitat Valenciana, parts of Catalonia and the western Balearic Islands. Once again, it happens close to sunset, so the western horizon matters.

After that, the IGN says Spain will not see another total solar eclipse until 2053. (Suddenly booking that rural hotel eleven months early feels less dramatic, right?)

Explore the official IGN guides for the 2027 total eclipse and the 2028 annular eclipse.

Whatever you choose, do not spend the entirety of the eclipse fighting with your phone camera. Look up (safely) for a minute. The internet will have better footage by dinner.

🙏 Please remember to share this newsletter with the friend who still thinks normal sunglasses are enough. You may save both their eyesight and their group-chat reputation.

Reporting by Dalylah Tatiana Greenbach

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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend

It’s Friday again!

• Guess what! The city is dead. Everyone’s gone until September (aren’t you glad you live in Europe?) and you are stuck here with us losers. Fret not, our fellow plebs! Madrid still has tons a few things to offer that work as a perfect excuse for you to stop watching reruns of The Office on Netflix and leave the house.

• And FYI, episode 4 of our podcast is out! We discuss what it really means to belong in Spain today and explore one of the country’s biggest identity debates, alongside Sweden’s ambassador to Spain and writer Elizabeth Duval.

Happy weekend!

1.🥳 Experience Madrid's most authentic summer tradition: San Cayetano and San Lorenzo

Ready to party? You better be, because even though there are plenty of festivals in Madrid all year round, none of them feel quite as local as the city’s August verbenas (aka open-air festivals).

• Three neighboring barrios take turns celebrating their patron saints every summer with street parties, live music, dancing, food, and community events that transform some of Madrid’s oldest neighborhoods into one giant open-air fiesta.

• This weekend is a particularly good time to go because you’ll catch the end of San Cayetano today, right before San Lorenzo takes over Lavapiés on Saturday.

• It’s the perfect excuse to wander decorated streets draped with colorful lanterns, watch locals dance the chotis dressed as traditional chulapos, sip a glass of homemade limonada, and get shit faced soak up one of Madrid’s most beloved traditions.

• San Cayetano finale on Friday features the traditional procession, flamenco performances, neighborhood gatherings, and DJs keeping the party going late into the night around Plaza del General Vara de Rey and Embajadores.

• The celebrations move to Lavapiés on Saturday for the start of San Lorenzo. Highlights include the legendary neighborhood water fight in Plaza de Arturo Barea, a Sabina tribute concert, live DJs, and plenty of terraces and bars spilling into the streets.

• The festival continues throughout the weekend with concerts, workshops, family activities, and one of the liveliest atmospheres you’ll find anywhere this summer.

Our recommendation? Drop everything you’re doing and head over to La Latina. These are the fiestas where you’ll experience the city at its most authentic—and where you’ll quickly understand why locals look forward to August every year.

🖥️ What: San Cayetano & San Lorenzo Verbenas

📍 Where: Embajadores, El Rastro and Lavapiés

📅 When: San Cayetano ends Aug. 7; San Lorenzo runs Aug. 8–11

🎟 Tickets: Free

2.🏛️ Spend a night at the Thyssen museum—for free!

We recommended the Prado at night last week, but as you might have guessed, Madrid has no shortage of great museums, so here’s another cool option: every Saturday night, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum opens its temporary exhibitions for free.

• It’s the perfect excuse to swap a crowded bar for world-class art and experience one of Madrid’s finest museums in a much quieter, more intimate atmosphere.

• This summer’s lineup is particularly strong. You can explore masterpieces by two of the 20th century’s most influential artists; immerse yourself in stunning multimedia installations; discover the technical secrets behind some of the greatest artists who invented modern painting.

If you’re looking for a different way to spend a Saturday evening, this is one of Madrid’s easiest recommendations. Just be sure to arrive early, as free entry makes Thyssen Nights one of the museum’s most popular weekly events.

🖥️ What: Thyssen Nights (free access to temporary exhibitions)

📍 Where: Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Paseo del Prado 8, Madrid

📅 When: Every Saturday, 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

🎟 Tickets: Free

3. 🇲🇽 Alejandro Cartagena’s Ground Rules: A powerful look at the Mexico few tourists ever see

Looking for an exhibition that goes beyond beautiful photography? Alejandro Cartagena: Ground Rules is one of the most thought-provoking shows in Madrid this summer.

• The Mexican-Dominican photographer has spent more than two decades documenting some of Mexico’s biggest issues—from migration and housing to urban sprawl and the U.S.-Mexico border—through striking photographic series that challenge how we see both people and places.

• Rather than focusing on a single iconic image, Cartagena builds stories through entire bodies of work, encouraging visitors to look at social issues from multiple perspectives.

• Highlights include his acclaimed Carpoolers series, featuring construction workers photographed from above as they ride to work in the backs of pickup trucks, alongside Suburbia Mexicana and his powerful trilogy on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Presented by Fundación MAPFRE in collaboration with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the exhibition feels especially relevant at a time when migration and borders dominate the headlines not just in Spain but around the world.

🖥️ What: Alejandro Cartagena: Ground Rules

📍 Where: Fundación MAPFRE, Paseo de Recoletos, 23, Madrid

📅 When: Through Aug. 30.

🎟 Tickets: €5

4.👙 Chill at Madrid's municipal pools

Madrid in August can be brutally hot, which is why locals know there’s only one sensible plan: head for the pool (or burn, but the pool is the better option).

• Want to swim? You can. Want to read a book by the water and engage in water games with the gays? You can. Want to cool off after a morning of sightseeing? You also can!

• There are 25 outdoor municipal pools from Casa de Campo and José María Cagigal to Hortaleza, Aluche, Moratalaz, and San Fermín, making it easy to find one no matter where you’re staying.

• Most have large swimming pools, grassy areas for sunbathing, cafés, and plenty of space to spend an entire afternoon relaxing.

• Of course, if you prefer something a little more upscale (i.e., not municipal because you don’t want to hang out with the plebs), many of Madrid’s rooftop hotels also offer pool access, although usually at a much higher price.

There’s honestly no better way to recharge before heading back out to enjoy Madrid’s nightlife.

🖥️ What: Madrid’s municipal outdoor swimming pools

📍 Where: 25 locations across Madrid

📅 When: Daily through Sept. 7 (most operate from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.)

🎟 Tickets: Paid admission (online or at the door)

5.🗽 Manhattan: Fall in love with New York all over again.

Listen up, people! There are classics, and then there’s Manhattan. Woody Allen’s 1979 masterpiece is remembered for its witty dialogue, complicated love stories, and because it’s one of cinema’s most iconic portraits of New York. Fortunately for you, it’s playing at Cibeles de Cine this Sunday.

• Shot in breathtaking black and white, accompanied by George Gershwin’s unforgettable score, the film transformed the city into a character of its own and cemented itself as one of the defining romantic comedies of all time.

• The story follows Isaac Davis, a middle-aged television writer stuck in a job he hates, dating a 17-year-old (yeah, that’s… not OK) he doesn’t truly love, while dreading the publication of a tell-all book by his ex-wife. Everything changes when he falls for Mary, the sophisticated, complicated girlfriend of his best friend, forcing him to confront his career, his relationships, and the kind of life he actually wants. Sounds toxic AF, but it was a different time.

• Manhattan is funny, neurotic, romantic, bittersweet, and filled with conversations that feel as relevant today as they did nearly five decades ago.

• This special screening is part of TCM Nights, Cibeles de Cine’s Sunday series celebrating timeless classics on the big screen.

There’s no better place to watch Manhattan than inside the spectacular Crystal Gallery of Palacio de Cibeles, with a drink in hand and Madrid’s summer evening unfolding outside.

🖥️ What: Manhattan at Cibeles de Cine (TCM Nights)

📍 Where: Galería de Cristal, Palacio de Cibeles, Madrid

📅 When: Aug. 9, 10:00 p.m.

🎟 Tickets: €7

📺 What to watch if you want to escape the heat this weekend…

🖥️ What: Ágata and Lola (Ágata y Lola) | TV Series | 2026

📍Where to watch: Atresplayer

❓What’s it about: Outgoing, impulsive Inspector Lola Castro partners with brilliant documentalist cop Ágata Díaz, who is autistic. Ágata excels at forensic analysis and crime-solving; Lola offers intuition and empathy. They combine logic with sensitivity.

🤩 Why you should watch: Because the show proves there's still life left in the crime procedural, thanks to the brilliant chemistry between the two leads. Smart, character-driven, and refreshingly grounded, it's the kind of series that keeps you coming back as much for the partnership as for the mystery.

💬 English Subtitles: No.

💃🏻 Places to try this weekend…

🍽️ La Embajada de Serrano: A fresh take on classic Spanish comfort food

What’s it about: La Embajada de Serrano takes familiar Spanish dishes and gives them a subtle contemporary twist without losing what made them classics in the first place. Helmed by chef Nico Reyes, the restaurant serves seasonal, crowd-pleasing food in a lively, casual dining room that’s quickly become one of Salamanca’s hottest tables.

Why you should go: Because you should try the famous tortilla, the excellent gilda, or the sobao topped with anchovy and cheese, and standout mains like the slow-cooked beef cheek or the creamy cockle rice.

Bottom line: One of the best new openings in the Salamanca area, offering refined Spanish comfort food.

Address: Calle de Serrano 118, Madrid

☕️ Santa Kafeina: A tiny coffee shop with a big reputation

What’s it about: Tucked away on a quiet corner in Chamberí, Santa Kafeina is one of Madrid’s original specialty coffee pioneers. Run by Venezuelan couple Yessika Pacheco and Javier Castillejo, the café has built a loyal following thanks to its expertly brewed coffee and warm hospitality.

Why you should go: Because you should try their perfectly calibrated espresso from the La Marzocco machine. Or maybe get a hand-brewed filter coffee? You can pair it with one of their homemade cakes or freshly baked cookies. It’s heaven.

Bottom line: One of Madrid’s essential specialty coffee stops—a tiny café with exceptional coffee and friendly service.

Address: Calle de Viriato 37, Madrid

👨🏻‍💻 Viral Memes of the Week

⚽️ The party continues, Part 2 (Ferrán makes it to the Today Show)

🥳 Promises kept (Gavi promised he’d dye his hair pink if his team won the World Cup)

🤣 This grandma’s infectious laughter

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@thebubblecom5 myths about the Ceuta crisis. #ceuta #spain #españa #ceuta🇪🇸 #migration

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72,000 crossings and 80 deaths

🔥 Ceuta after the chaos: what we know so far

Yes, last week we said this newsletter was taking August off. But then a massive crisis exploded at the Spain/Morocco border with tragic consequences. Here is a quick summary of what you should know.

You’ve probably seen the images by now. Tens of thousands of mostly young Moroccans swimming around breakwaters, climbing fences, and overwhelming the beaches of Ceuta sparked panic across Spain, alarmed European governments, and dominated headlines around the world.

• Social media was on fire. Influencers and media outlets were covering it across the board, many of them portraying it as proof that Europe had lost control of its borders.

• Now, almost a week later, the emergency phase appears to be over. But while the crowds have largely disappeared, many of the biggest questions remain unanswered.

What we know so far. The scale of this crisis was totally unprecedented. Around 72,000 people crossed into Ceuta in just a few days, making it by far the largest irregular border crossing Spain has ever experienced.

• Before you panic. Around 70,000 have already been returned to Morocco, while others (many of them minors) are still in the area. The authorities are assessing their situation.

• The human cost was high. Authorities are now working to identify 80 confirmed victims (an NGO says the total is 141, counting the ones who died on Moroccan soil), most of whom drowned while trying to reach the Ceuta shore. Many remain unidentified, and Spanish forensic teams continue coordinating with Moroccan authorities to notify families.

Viralization effect. Investigators now agree that the crisis was mainly caused by a coordinated social media misinformation campaign. Viral TikTok videos, Facebook groups, and WhatsApp messages all falsely claimed that “Spain’s border is open” and that migrants arriving by sea could no longer be returned after a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling.

• The posts even shared Google Maps routes, recommended where to buy wetsuits and waterproof bags, and pointed people toward the least guarded sections of Ceuta’s coastline before disappearing from the internet.

Europe’s initial reaction. In the first 48 hours, several European governments reacted with concern. Italy reinstated temporary passport checks for travelers arriving from Spain, while politicians in Finland and Denmark and elsewhere questioned whether Spain’s handling of the crisis threatened the Schengen Area and suggested that Spain's recent regularization drive may have acted as a "pull” factor for the immigrant flood. Twenty-two EU countries called for emergency talks over the crisis.

• That tone has now changed. Following that emergency meeting of EU interior ministers on Tuesday, member states largely rallied behind Spain, praising its response and expressing “total solidarity” with Madrid.

• The focus has shifted from criticizing Spanish migration policy to strengthening the EU’s external borders, improving intelligence sharing, and dismantling migrant smuggling networks.

• Italy remains the exception. Rome has kept temporary passport checks in place, although it is increasingly difficult to defend doing so, given that Ceuta is not part of the Schengen Area and nearly all of those who entered have already been returned to Morocco. (And Italy has more irregular migrant crossings than Spain.)

Was this a “manufactured” crisis? So far, we’re not sure. Officially, Morocco insists it neither encouraged nor organized the mass crossing. But Morocco has repeatedly outmaneuvered Spain politically in recent years, using immigration as a weapon.

• Rabat claims the trigger was Spain’s Supreme Court ruling. Moroccan officials also say that decision spread rapidly across social media, convincing thousands of young people that reaching Ceuta meant reaching Europe.

• Morocco also says its police avoided confronting such enormous crowds to prevent even greater loss of life, and emphasized that it continues accepting the return of migrants under existing agreements. Moroccan authorities have now prosecuted 77 people accused of organizing illegal crossings or participating in violence during the crisis.

We beg to differ(ish). Spanish intelligence, however, paints a more nuanced picture. Their current assessment is that Morocco did not plan the operation, but allowed it to happen and then exploited it politically once events spiraled out of control. That distinction may prove important as relations between Madrid and Rabat enter another delicate phase.

• It comes at a particularly sensitive moment geopolitically. Morocco has grown noticeably closer to the Trump administration in recent months, while relations between Pedro Sánchez and Washington remain strained over defense spending and foreign policy.

• Morocco also continues to press its long-standing claims over Ceuta and Melilla whenever opportunities arise (FYI: Ceuta and Melilla are not colonies but Spanish exclaves on African territory. Their citizens are Spanish with full rights. Ceuta has been a part of Spain since 1580.) Things are so tough that leftist coalition Sumar is saying Spain shouldn’t even organize the 2030 World Cup with Morocco.

Enter the far-right. While the border itself has largely returned to normal, the political battle is only beginning. Across Europe and the U.S., far-right politicians quickly framed the events as proof of an “invasion.” U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Britain’s Nigel Farage, Germany’s Alice Weidel, and others shared videos suggesting these migrants were now heading across Europe.

• Obviously, this isn’t true. Ceuta is not mainland Spain and, as we explained above, entering Ceuta does not provide automatic access to the Schengen Area. Everyone leaving the city for mainland Spain must pass through identity checks at the port or airport. Plus, most of them were sent back to Morocco, so… no.

• Other fake news spread just as quickly. Claims that Sánchez’s recent migrant regularization encouraged people to cross the border “so they could become citizens and vote for him” ignore the basic fact that the people who arrived in Ceuta would not qualify under that program (in order to qualify, you had to be living in Spain and the deadline to apply has passed).

This was a big f*ck up, though. Even if Morocco bears significant responsibility or even instigated the crisis, Madrid is unlikely to escape scrutiny. The biggest question remains why Spanish intelligence failed to anticipate a movement that had been openly growing across Moroccan social media for days.

• Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska insists the government received no intelligence warning suggesting anything close to a mass crossing of this magnitude. At the same time, he said stuff “happens” and that doesn’t necessarily mean someone is responsible. 🤔

• That claim has triggered an unusual public disagreement within the government itself. Defense Minister Margarita Robles has defended the work of the CNI intelligence service while pointing out that Interior also oversees its own information services through the National Police and Civil Guard.

• The opposition Popular Party has seized on the confusion, accusing Sánchez of leaving Ceuta unprotected despite warning signs. Party leaders argue the government failed to reinforce the border in time and are demanding a full parliamentary explanation.

And now? The immediate emergency may be mostly over, but few believe the story is finished. Authorities still do not know who created the original viral campaign that convinced thousands of people to head toward Ceuta. Most of the accounts disappeared almost immediately after the crisis began.

• Spanish investigators are already monitoring new conversations circulating on Facebook and WhatsApp discussing another possible attempt on Aug. 15. Whether those calls represent genuine planning, copycat rumors, or another misinformation campaign remains unclear.

• Spain has reinforced Ceuta’s maritime border with floating barriers, patrol boats, and extra security in an effort to prevent another mass crossing.

What is clear is that this has become a test of border security, intelligence gathering, information warfare, and Spain’s relationship with Morocco. The crossings may have mostly stopped (or at least paused), but the political blowback is only beginning.

🎙️ Episode 4 of The Bubble Podcast is out!

On our latest episode, we discuss what it really means to belong in Spain today and explore one of the country's biggest identity debates—from immigration and Spain's record-breaking migrant regularization to the controversial Ley de Nietos—alongside Sweden's ambassador to Spain and writer Elizabeth Duval.

Subscribe and listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube!

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@thebubblecomSpanish cities are changing fast. #elizabethduval #madrid #gentrification #madridlife #spain

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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend

It’s Friday again!

Look, we gotta be honest here. Since everyone living in Madrid is leaving this month, the entertainment offer in the city drops drastically. Bars and restaurants close for a full month (gotta love Europe), the streets are hot and sorta dead (except for the occasional guiri), and it’s only at night when people leave the house armed with a fan that says “Puto Calor” (you know the one) to brave the heat with a tinto de verano in hand.

• Yet, we still have the verbenas starting next week (those are fun!), but this buffer weekend is usually a weird one. Don't worry, though. It’s our job to turn every stone and find the perfect thing for you to do if you’re stuck in town.

• And FYI, episode 4 of our podcast is out! We discuss what it really means to belong in Spain today and explore one of the country’s biggest identity debates, alongside Sweden’s ambassador to Spain and writer Elizabeth Duval.

Happy weekend!

1. 🩰 World-class ballet and live music come together for a one-of-a-kind summer premiere

One of the highlights of this year’s Veranos de la Villa summer program is also one of its most exclusive. For this weekend only, the courtyard of Conde Duque will host the world premiere of a brand-new production that brings together some of Spain’s finest dancers with live music performed by the Covent Garden Soloists in an unforgettable open-air setting.

• The show is directed by Joaquín de Luz, widely regarded as one of the greatest Spanish classical ballet dancers of all time. After spending nearly three decades performing with the New York City Ballet and later leading Spain’s National Dance Company, De Luz has become one of the country’s most influential figures in contemporary dance.

• Joining him is internationally acclaimed violinist Vasko Vassilev, whose career has taken him from London’s Royal Opera House to concert halls around the world.

• Featuring performances by dancers including Sergio Bernal, Estela Alonso, Patricia Donn, and Héctor Ferrer, this new production promises an elegant blend of classical ballet and live orchestral music beneath the stars.

Looking for one of the most sophisticated cultural events of the weekend? This is it.

🩰 What: ConcertDanza

📍 Where: Patio Central, Conde Duque, Calle del Conde Duque 11, Madrid

📅 When: Aug. 1–2. Doors open at 9 p.m., show starts at 10 p.m.

🎟 Tickets: €18

2.🏛️ Visit the Prado Museum at Night (they have AC!)

This is one of our long-time favorites.

There’s something magical about being in a museum at night. From A Night at the Museum to The Da Vinci Code, we’re all drawn to the possibility of unexpected hijinks (or a murder mystery, if you’re lucky) taking place under the judgmental gazes of Saturn or one of the meninas (more specifically this diva).

• But we digress. The Prado Museum is opening its doors again this Saturday night, and this is an opportunity you can’t miss (especially because it’s free). It takes place on the first Saturday of every month, when visitors can explore select exhibits.

• This once-a-month event offers an immersive blend of art, music, and technology, making it a must-see experience for both locals and tourists.

• For the August edition, The Prado is running “Valeriano D. Bécquer’s: Los cuadros de costumbres,” a newly opened exhibition that brings together, for the first time, all eight paintings the artist made as part of a commission for the old Museo de la Trinidad — a rare chance to see this complete body of work in one place.

• Pair that with the museum’s permanent collection on the ground floor of the Villanueva building, which takes you from Romanesque and Gothic painting through the Renaissance and all the way to the 19th century, and you’ve got a full sweep of art history under one roof (and under the stars)

Beyond the art itself, the Prado is also offering “Photo Prado,” a mobile app that uses AI to blend your own silhouette into the museum’s most iconic spaces and works, creating a personalized, date-stamped photo memory of your visit.

If you plan on going, make sure you make it as early as possible, as there will surely be a line.

🖥️ What: The Prado Museum at Night

📍 Where: Paseo del Prado s/n, Madrid.

📅 When: Aug. 1, 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

🎟 Tickets: Free admission

3. 🐎 Madrid’s summer night horse races are almost over, so maybe you should give them a try

Here’s your chance to feel like you’re in a James Bond film! Not the gritty, depressing, and soon-to-be-ruined-by-Amazon current era, but the more elegant, misogynistic, classier, Roger-Moore-wearing-a-top-hat era. You know… this one.

• If you think horse racing is all fancy hats, ascots and afternoon champagne, Madrid’s summer night races might change your mind. Since June, the Zarzuela Hippodrome has been transforming into one of the city’s most unique summer hangouts, where exciting horse races are just one part of a much bigger night out.

• Luckily for you, there is one more week of this. Yes, you get to watch horses thunder down the track under the stars, but that’s only the beginning. Between races, you can grab dinner from a lineup of food trucks, sip cocktails with friends, enjoy live music and DJs, and look cool on your Instagram stories. It’s also an easy, fun way to spend a warm summer evening without leaving the city.

The races themselves start around 10:00 p.m., with three this Saturday (the last edition this year is next Thursday, with five races), making this one of those rare Madrid experiences that you should check out.

🐎 What: Zarzuela Hippodrome Summer Night Races

📍 Where: Hipódromo de la Zarzuela, Avenida Padre Huidobro s/n, Madrid

📅 When: Aug. 1. Doors open at 8:30 p.m.

🎟 Tickets start at €20

4. 🎸 Dani de Morón: One of flamenco’s greatest guitarists is playing a magical summer concert tonight

Don’t know much about flamenco? This is the kind of non-tourist trap concert that can turn you into a fan. Acclaimed guitarist Dani de Morón brings his unmistakable style to the beautiful courtyard of Madrid’s historic Instituto San Isidro for a one-night-only performance. And it’s tonight.

• One of the most influential flamenco guitarists of his generation, Dani de Morón blends deep Andalusian tradition with influences from jazz and world music to create a sound that’s both rooted in history and refreshingly modern.

• Having collaborated with legends including Paco de Lucía, Estrella Morente, Rocío Molina, and Patricia Guerrero, he’s become one of Spain’s most celebrated flamenco musicians.

• His latest show, CUADRO, has already earned praise for its intimate, contemporary take on flamenco, showcasing the virtuosity that has taken him to prestigious venues such as Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional, Barcelona’s Liceu, and London’s Sadler’s Wells.

Looking for a real cultural experience on a warm summer night? This promises to be one of the standout concerts this weekend.

🎸 What: Dani de Morón

📍 Where: Instituto San Isidro, Calle de Toledo 39, Madrid

📅 When: July 31, 10 p.m.

🎟 Tickets: €15

5. 📸 A powerful photography exhibition documents everyday life in Palestine

Here’s an exhibition at Casa Árabe that stays with you long after you leave. The latest exhibition by Palestinian-Canadian artist Rehab Nazzal is an intimate and extremely moving photographic and audiovisual journey through the occupied Palestinian territories, documenting landscapes and daily life that are rarely seen beyond the region itself.

• Created over more than 15 years, the exhibition traces Nazzal’s travels across the West Bank between 2010 and 2026, capturing roads, checkpoints, warning signs, and everyday scenes that reveal the realities of life under Israeli military occupation.

• Rather than focusing solely on moments of conflict, her work paints a broader picture of how geography, movement, and ordinary routines are shaped by decades of political tension.

• Working across photography, video, and sound, Nazzal combines documentary storytelling with artistic expression to create an exhibition that is both visually striking and thought-provoking.

It doesn’t matter where you stand politically. This is a rare opportunity to experience the work of an internationally recognized artist whose long-term project offers a personal perspective on one of the world’s most enduring conflicts.

📸 What: Rehab Nazzal: Occupied Palestine

📍 Where: Casa Árabe, Calle Alcalá 62, Madrid

📅 When: July 31 (Cása Árabe closes on August).

🎟 Tickets: Free entry

📺 What to watch if you want to escape the heat this weekend…

🖥️ What: The Truthers (Los Creyentes) | Film | 2026

📍Where to watch: Netflix

❓What’s it about: Ruth returns to her hometown after her mother's unexpected death and reconnects with her father, whose strange behavior leads her to suspect he’s hiding something.

🤩 Why you should watch: Because it grounds conspiracy-theory paranoia in something painfully ordinary: a recently retired father lost in internet rabbit holes. The plot isn't groundbreaking, and the ending stumbles a bit, but it's a rare mainstream thriller that treats family-level conspiratorial thinking as something extremely relevant these days.

💬 English Subtitles: Yes.

💃🏻 Places to try this weekend…

🏭 Tramo: This former industrial warehouse is one of Madrid's hottest restaurants

🍽️ What’s it about: Tramo combines seasonal Spanish cooking with one of Madrid’s most impressive dining spaces. Housed in a beautifully restored industrial building in Prosperidad, the restaurant focuses on top-quality ingredients with a menu that ranges from creative vegetable dishes to expertly cooked meat and fish.

⭐ Why you should go: Beyond the excellent food, Tramo is a destination in its own right. The striking architecture, sustainable design, and relaxed atmosphere make it feel special without being overly formal.

💬 Bottom line: One of Madrid’s most exciting modern restaurants, where thoughtful design, seasonal cooking, and sustainability come together to create a dining experience that’s worth crossing the city for.

Address: Calle de Eugenio Salazar 56, Madrid

🥞 Mr.Way Brunch: One of Madrid's most reliable brunch spots is hiding in plain sight

🥐 What’s it about: Just a couple of blocks from Calle Mayor, Mr. Way Brunch has built a loyal following thanks to its generous brunches, specialty coffee, and relaxed atmosphere. The menu covers all the classics, from Eggs Benedict to pancakes and hearty breakfast plates, making it an easy choice whether you’re starting your day or easing into the afternoon.

⭐ Why you should go: The portions are generous, the prices are fair for central Madrid, and the cozy setting makes it a great place to catch up with friends or enjoy a slow weekend breakfast.

💬 Bottom line: A dependable brunch spot in the heart of Madrid that delivers exactly what you want: good coffee, satisfying food, and a laid-back atmosphere.

Address: Calle de la Morería 11, Madrid

👨🏻‍💻 Viral Memes of the Week

⚽️ The party continues

🥳 And us too…

🔔 Don’t forget to follow us on TikTok!

@thebubblecomOkay, let’s start a fight… 🍿 @Marti Buckley #spain #spanishfood #food #croquetas #lifeinspain

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🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

🚨 Like all good Spaniards, this newsletter — our Thursday news and politics one — will take a break in August. (Our Friday events guide will continue publishing!) See you in September…and enjoy 😎!

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Scorched earth politics

🔥 Spain's worst wildfire on record appears to be under control at last. Don't get used to saying that.

Bad times. For nearly a week, large parts of central Spain looked like something out of a movie apocalypse, with hillsides burned, villages and towns evacuated, highways closed, and smoke from the flames visible from Madrid.

• The scene was an inferno. At its peak, the government declared a Level 3 national emergency—the first time Spain has ever done so for wildfires—and tens of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes.

• The good news is that the situation seems to be finally improving. The massive fire affecting Madrid and neighboring Ávila had been technically stabilized as of last night, authorities said, allowing thousands of residents to begin returning home.

• But “stabilized” doesn’t mean over. Firefighters remain on alert, several areas are still evacuated, and officials warn that another heat wave could easily reignite hotspots in the coming days. (Yesterday Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said things were “favorable”, although he asked people to be “cautious”.)

The big one. The fire that devastated Madrid and Ávila has already gone down as the largest wildfire in modern Spanish history, burning more than 50,000 hectares.

One culprit. Investigators believe the disaster in Ávila began with a spark from an excavator carrying out illegal work to open a road near Burgohondo (Ávila) during a period when heavy machinery was banned due to the extreme fire risk.

• The eight-ton machine struck rock with a hydraulic hammer, the Guardia Civil said, creating the spark that ignited dry vegetation. The fire then exploded across forests already primed by weeks of scorching temperatures, low humidity, and strong winds.

A heartbreaking tragedy. The human cost has been huge. Around 63,000 people were evacuated at the height of the crisis, making it one of Spain’s largest peacetime evacuations in recent memory.

• Home again. Roughly 24,000 have now been allowed to return home, while another 10,000 people in Madrid remain displaced or confined. Authorities say at least 100 primary residences have been destroyed, with the damage to second homes still being assessed.

• Happy news. Despite the scale of the disaster, no deaths have been reported, although several firefighters and emergency personnel suffered injuries during the operation.

The fires stretched far beyond Madrid. According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), more than 206,000 hectares have burned across Spain this year—well above the average—and the country has recorded 376 fires, more than double the norm.

• Spain didn’t fight the fires alone. Through the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism, Greece, Italy, and Türkiye sent firefighting aircraft, while Portugal deployed more than 130 firefighters and dozens of emergency vehicles to help contain the flames.

Enter politics. The disaster briefly produced an unusual display of cooperation. PM Sánchez praised the “institutional loyalty” shown between different levels of government and renewed his call for a national pact to prepare Spain for a future of more frequent climate disasters.

• Madrid presi Isabel Díaz Ayuso (of the center-right PP) announced 58 recovery measures, including psychological support, hotel accommodation for displaced residents, aid for damaged homes, veterinary care, and assistance for elderly and dependent people.

• But, no. The PP, however, rejected Sánchez’s proposal for a pact, accusing the government of weakening Spain’s firefighting capabilities, while simultaneously urging Brussels to develop a stronger EU-wide wildfire prevention strategy.

Scientists have warned for years that longer heat waves, prolonged droughts, and abandoned rural land are creating the perfect conditions for larger, faster-moving wildfires. This year’s figures already suggest that warning is already reality.

More news below. 👇👇

🎙️ Episode 4 of The Bubble Podcast is out!

On our latest episode, we discuss what it really means to belong in Spain today and explore one of the country's biggest identity debates—from immigration and Spain's record-breaking migrant regularization to the controversial Ley de Nietos—alongside Sweden's ambassador to Spain and writer Elizabeth Duval.

Subscribe and listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube!

💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🤦 Zapatero gave his first interview and cleared up nothing

Every political junkie in Spain was glued to TVE last Thursday. Former PM José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was there, on Mañaneros, giving his first interview since an Audiencia Nacional (National Court) investigating judge charged him with leading a network of illicit influence peddling. Bring out the 🍿, because it was a doozie.

• The situation. Judge Calama of the Audiencia Nacional has Zapatero under investigation for allegedly running an influence-peddling scheme around the government bailout of airline Plus Ultra, plus money laundering, tax fraud, smuggling, and organized crime.

• The fly in the ointment. Two days before the interview, his associate Julio Martínez — the administrator of consulting firm Análisis Relevante, the alleged hub of the operation — told the judge that Zapatero was “the one who set the pace,” i.e., el capo.

What Zapatero said. He mostly repeated what he’d already told the court in June. He again said he spoke about Plus Ultra to nobody in the government or the body that bailed it out (SEPI). He was just a consultant who created reports, he said. And that Dubai offshore company supposedly set up to hide his income? “An absolute invention”. Finally, did he use his daughters as fronts? Good god no, that would be “incredible.”

• Maybe I talked to someone. He did admit calling a Santander executive to arrange a meeting for Plus Ultra’s directors — but insists that’s just “facilitating a contact,” not peddling influence. Yeahhhh….

And what he didn’t. Zapatero didn’t address that testimony of his buddy Julito Martínez, who’d told the judge that Zapatero ran the show. “I am not going to get into the defense strategy of any defendant,” he said. hmmm…

• Where those jewels came from. When asked about the 80 or so pieces of jewelry found in his office safe — valued at €1.32m ‼️— he said they were “a courtesy gift from many years ago.” From who? “I’m not going to say the country.” Why undeclared to the taxman? “There was no patrimonial intent“ (what?). Did he know they were worth over a million? “We couldn’t even imagine that,” he said (his people previously estimated them at €30-50,000). He also said the jewelry gave him “a severe allergic reaction,” which we don’t understand…but find intriguing.

• Rules are for fools. And on the good governance code he signed as PM, which explicitly prohibits gifts of this value? “Interpretable.”

And this was on a friendly channel. El Español noted that after 20 minutes of hard questions, Mañaneros host Javier Ruiz declared Plus Ultra, the daughters, and the jewels all “done” — when none were resolved — and spent the rest letting Zapatero play the victim over his leaked agendas and invaded privacy. Ruiz ended with: “President, how are you doing?“ Awww…

The reviews? Not positive.

• Friends. The PSOE closed ranks behind their colleague publicly but privately felt let down: “We didn’t really understand the utility of the interview,” one source told El Mundo. Later, PM Sánchez got colder: “I’m not his spokesman,” he replied when asked this week about the case.

• Enemies. The opposition PP called his explanations “a joke,” while Madrid mayor Almeida described the interview as a “bath and massage session.” 🤣 Ouch.

What’s next? Zapatero still owes an explanation to Judge Calama about the jewels — he dodged those questions at his June testimony too.

2. 👉 Catalonia could take a hard (separatist) right turn

You thought Spain’s national government had drama with the far right? Take a look at Catalonia. There, a new poll shows that if elections were held now, far right parties could take up almost a third of seats in the regional parliament — with a new separatist party being the breakout star.

• The latest poll shows a big win for Aliança Catalana. The hard right separatist party led by Silvia Orriols (anti-immigrant, anti-Spain, pro-independence) would win 25-28 seats in the 135-seat parliament — up from a mere two seats now — and become the second-largest party, according to a poll taken by GESOP for El Periódico, a center-left newspaper.

• And they’re not the only tighty-far-righties on the ballot. Add in the 11-13 seats expected for the hard-right Vox (anti-immigrant, pro-Spain, pro-bullfighting), and the extrema derecha would have almost a third of the Catalan parliament.

Why Aliança is surging. The party started as a protest vehicle for pro-independence voters disillusioned by Junts and ERC, the longtime separatist parties that led the failed 2017 independence push.

• Party evolution. It’s since pivoted hard toward immigration and public safety — and is now pulling voters from across the spectrum: Junts (its biggest source, at 24.5% of their 2024 voters), Vox (13%), PSC (9.2%), ERC (7.9%) and PP (7.7%). It even leads among 18-29-year-olds and among people who didn’t vote in 2024 (which sounds a lot like Vox’s demographic). Their own voter loyalty is 94% — which pollsters say is unprecedented.

Who’s hurting most? The right-leaning separatists of Junts are the trainwreck of the poll. Their seat total drops from 35 to 15-18. Even the ruling center-left PSC isn’t immune — dropping from 42 to 34-37 seats as nearly 1 in 10 of its voters switch to Orriols.

The other parties had excuses. The PSC said extremism should be fought with better public policies (they’re already doing that, they say). ERC said Aliança’s rise can be beaten by giving voters “hope…and a future” (true, but can you?). The PP reminded voters that if they want “seny i ordre“ — common sense and order — they know where to look. And Junts? They declined to comment because, let’s be honest, it’s ugly.

Good news for centrists (kinda?). Catalonia doesn’t need new regional elections until May 2028. But Orriols will get a chance to show Aliança Catalana’s power in May 2027, when Spain holds municipal elections throughout the land. She is already targeting hundreds of local councils — many currently held by Junts.

3. 🏖️ The world can't decide whether Torres and Llorente are dating or not (they are not)

Sigh. We just won the World Cup, but somehow one of the biggest stories of the week wasn’t Ferran Torres’ sports talent—it was his hug in Ibiza.

Torres — our current hero after scoring Spain’s winning goal against Argentina — is taking some days off in Ibiza with his buddy and teammate Marcos Llorente.

• Torres is very handsy and kissy-kissy with his friends, if we go by what we always see on TV, so it wasn’t that strange to see him hugging and kissing Llorente on the neck. You know, like two friends would while enjoying the greatest summer of their lives.

Gay? Social media and some media outlets naturally had other ideas. Within hours, X, TikTok, and Instagram were flooded with claims that Torres was secretly—or not so secretly—gay. AI-generated images began circulating, old photos with teammate Pedri were taken out of context to suggest a hidden romance, and the internet did what it does best: confidently invent a new reality (no, we won’t link to any of it).

Nope, not gay. Not that we care, but Marcos Llorente has been married for years and has a daughter. Ferran Torres was in a long-term relationship with a woman until recently and has since been linked by Spanish gossip magazines to what feels like half of Spain’s influencer population. So… don’t get your hopes up.

This reaction says far more about us than it does about either player. For years we’ve argued that men should be allowed to express affection without being trapped by outdated ideas of masculinity.

• As we were saying. Spain striker Borja Iglesias responded that rumors after the photos “aren’t just about homophobia; they are about a society that still punishes any gesture that falls outside the script of traditional masculinity.”

• And again. Writer Boris Izaguirre defended the images as a perfectly normal display of affection, pointing out that warmth between men has long been part of Mediterranean culture and shouldn’t be treated as something scandalous.

But wait, there’s more. Remember when last week Ferran wore a red “Make Spain Great Again” cap during the World Cup celebrations? The hat—an obvious play on Donald Trump’s famous MAGA slogan—made a lot of people wonder whether he was making fun of Trump or supporting his movement.

• Support, obvi. The White House declared on X that “everyone wants to join the movement,” while Trump himself reposted Torres’ video multiple times, calling him “a great player” and describing the cap as “a nice tribute.”

• Torres has not explained what he meant by it, so… we’re waiting.

4. 👷 Yo-Yo is looking for a job — and Mr. Handsome might have found her one

Remember Yolanda Díaz? We had sorta forgotten her, since she resigned her role as the boss of the fading leftish Sumar party and became a pato cojo. But Yo-Yo needs a gig for when she leaves government — she’s had a glow-up since entering national politics, but still needs a paycheck, ya dig? Well, good news: She’s found a lead.

• The news. PM Sánchez — aka Mr. Handsome — has nominated Díaz to lead the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN’s labor body. If elected, she’d be the first woman and first Spaniard to run it.

What’s the ILO? Founded in 1919 and based in Geneva, it’s the UN’s only tripartite agency — governments, employers, and unions each hold a vote. The labor standards it sets become legally binding when countries ratify them; Spain has ratified 141, more than anyone.

• The bad news. The ILO is in financial crisis. The U.S. owes it €280 million — 70% of all unpaid dues — while the Orange Menace’s influence is reportedly creeping into ILO policy. How? Spanish unions say LGBTQ+ rights and the right to strike are increasingly hard to defend inside the organization.

Her chances? Complicated. Of the 56 votes, unions (14) are on board. Employer groups (14) — globally, not just in Spain — almost certainly won’t be, given her record of heavy interventions in the labor market. She also needs a majority of government votes (28), and while Europe, Brazil, and China look promising, the African bloc will probably back the incumbent, Togolese Gilbert Houngbo, who wants a second term. Also, Spain is simultaneously running Agriculture Minister Luis Planas for the FAO top job — and countries rarely win two UN top jobs at once.

• The English problem. The ILO conducts much of its business in English. A 2023 clip shows Díaz needing a translator for a reporter’s English question. Not a dealbreaker, but not…great.

What people are saying. Sánchez calls it “an honor“ and unions are enthusiastic. But Pablo Iglesias, her former lefty ally (remember him?), is predictably less of a fan. Díaz is getting the nomination to a well-paying job far from political pressure “for services rendered” to Sánchez’s government, he says. He also snipes that, with the ILO director salary of $239,200 a year, she’d be “the best-paid CCOO [union] member in history.” The PP, for its part, says it’s payback for keeping quiet on government scandals. 🤷

• What’s next? Candidacies close Aug. 14 and the ILO council votes Nov. 16. If she wins, she could stay on as minister until October 2027, though it’s unlikely this government will be around that long.

5. 🗿 A 5th century church! A 15 million year-old turtle! Spain keeps digging up fascinating old stuff

You know we’re big fans of Spanish archeological finds here at The Bubble. A Roman ship off the coast of Mallorca? Nos encanta. Julius Caesar’s elephant (maybe) under a Córdoba hospital? Grande. “Exotically rare” ancient Greek, Iberian and Roman coins in a storage locker in Baena? Gen-i-al. Well, we got a double dose of finds this week, so you can only imagine how giddy we are.

• The latest. Researchers have just published a long-awaited study on a 5th-century church in Murcia that kept functioning under Muslim rule until the 9th century. And construction workers in Madrid stumbled across the shell of a giant tortoise from 15 million years ago.

That’s an OLD church. Excavations at Cerro de la Virgen, a hilltop in Calasparra (Murcia) that’s home to the first paleochristian church documented in the region, began in 2021 and continued through 2024 and 2025.

• Kinda gruesome, no? The newly published study documents a single-nave church built around 410–440 A.D., architecturally similar to Visigothic churches in Asturias and early churches in Syria. Inside: a 6th-century double tomb with a young woman and a fetus whose DNA points to “a common maternal lineage” — i.e. mother and child (we hesitate to imagine the sad story here).

• Less gruesome. Also found were coins from several Roman emperors and an Abderramán III dirham, bronze Andalusian weights inscribed al-ʿadl li-llāh (”justice is of God”), and balance scales. Sounds like they might have also been running a corner store.

The church straddles several chapters of Spanish history. The church survived the Muslim conquest of 711 and kept going for nearly two more centuries, thanks to the Pact of Teodomiro (713), which let Christians in southeast Spain practice their faith in exchange for taxes (i.e. god for money). The weights and scales suggest the church also served as a tax-collection point (fine, not a take-out beer joint).

• The researchers’ conclusion. “The hill was a Christian community subjected to the taxes of the Islamic State and forced to integrate into the regional fiscal and commercial circuits.“ The find chips away at the traditional picture of a sharp break between Visigoth and Muslim Spain — reality, it seems, was more complex.

That’s a REALLY OLD turtle. Workers building a training center for Madrid’s emergency services in the Latina district found the shell of a Titanochelon bolivari — a giant land tortoise that roamed the Iberian Peninsula during the Miocene, more than 15 million years ago. Madrid’s deputy mayor Inma Sanz called it “absolutely amazing” (true, if obvious). The shell is now at the Museo Arqueológico Regional in Alcalá de Henares for study and conservation. Madrid has history with digging up old giants — another city project unearthed a mammoth 🦣!

🔔 Don’t forget to follow us on TikTok!

@thebubblecomAnimals caught in Spain’s wildfires ❤️‍🩹 #Spain #Madrid #Ávila #Wildfires #incendios

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This week on The Bubble Podcast, we explore one of the biggest questions shaping Spain today: identity.

🇸🇪 We begin with Per-Arne Hjelmborn, Sweden’s Ambassador to Spain, who tells us why he launched the viral “No Somos Tan S(u)ecos” campaign after discovering that 38% of Spaniards see Swedes as cold, distant and serious.

🌍 Ian Mount and Adrián Bono then unpack Spain’s record-breaking migrant regularization, which received more than 1.17 million applications, and discuss why it has become one of the country’s most heated political debates. Is immigration essential for Spain’s future—or is the government taking a gamble?

📚 Finally, Ignacio de los Reyes sits down with writer and philosopher to discuss how Spain has changed over the past decade and what it means to be Spanish in 2026.

👇 We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments:

What do you think defines being Spanish today?

🎧 Listen now on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

🚨 Welcome to Props — The Bubble's real estate newsletter. You're here because Spanish real estate is fascinating, insane, occasionally enraging, and — if you have a little money and play it right — profitable. Every week we bring you the data, the deals, the people making it happen, and the ones making it worse.

Like all good Spaniards, this newsletter is taking August off to relax, refresh and spend some time on the beach. 🏖️ See you back here in September!

So sit back and enjoy! And send your tips, comments, suggestions, and all-cash offers to ian@thebubble.com.

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Real estate takes no vacation. OK, it does.

Summer is finally here, blessed be the lord! Seriously, we’ve been driving on fumes the last few weeks as that most holy of times — summer vacation — comes into view.

And you know who else is running on fumes? The government. Between the fires, the trials, and the World Cup (¡Vamos 🇪🇸!), they haven’t had a moment to focus on the long term. Most importantly — considering this is a real estate newsletter — they haven’t been able to focus on housing.

The government was meant to roll out its long-awaited housing decree yesterday, after seeing an earlier version repealed in April. So why did it fail? Basically, Jenga. As in, in order to please all the political parties whose support it needed, it had to pile on so many rules that the law collapsed from its own weight.

But that doesn’t mean the decree is dead. It just means it will come back with a vengeance in September, just like us. And the decree, if it finally passes, will have massive effects on the real estate market and everyone in it — people, perhaps, like you! 🫵

Let us count the ways:

Read more

In this Substack Live, we sat down with award-winning food writer and Spain Explained host Marti Buckley to explore what Spanish people actually eat, why Spain’s regional cuisines are so different, and how food offers one of the best windows into Spanish culture.

From menú del día and salmorejo to jamón ibérico, sherry and vermouth, this conversation is packed with practical tips for anyone living in Spain or planning a trip.

👇 We’d love to hear from you in the comments:

What’s your favorite Spanish dish? Which traditional Spanish food do you think is the most underrated, or the most overrated? And what’s the biggest food culture shock you’ve experienced since moving to Spain?

And who should we invite next? Mention your favorite food writer, chef, or Spain-focused newsletter we’d love to feature in a future Substack Live.

Subscribe now

In this Substack Live:

04:25 — Why there is no such thing as “Spanish food”

06:30 — Why Spanish cuisine is still underrated compared to French and Italian food

10:15 — Why the world is finally discovering Spain’s food culture

12:05 — The best places to eat in Spain

13:50 — The biggest misconceptions about Spanish food

15:20 — Exploring Spain’s regional cuisines

17:42 — The biggest food culture shocks after moving to Spain

19:10 — Spain’s most underrated dishes: salmorejo, gazpacho and more

20:25 — Is paella overrated? Plus, the great croquetas debate

22:00 — Rioja, Ribera or Jerez? Understanding Spanish wine

24:00 — The Spanish supermarket essentials every newcomer should buy

Thank you to everyone who tuned into our live video!

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🧪 We’re testing a new Sunday section for guest voices that includes sharp opinion and analysis on Spain’s biggest stories. This first issue is free to all subscribers, and the next one will be available only to paid subscribers.

✍️ It includes articles by Canyon Hohenstein, who used to be a wildland firefighter and lived through them last summer, and Sebastián Fest, a leading Argentine journalist. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

📖 Today’s issue: As wildfires return to Spain, we're revisiting last year's blazes through the eyes of someone who lived them; plus, how a World Cup rivalry with Argentina spiraled into something much uglier.

🔥 Spain has always burned. Humans changed how

By Canyon Hohenstein

The fire moved west to east across the northern Meseta, along a line three hundred kilometers long, burning through places whose names still sit on the map of Castilla y León. Nobody who survived it understood what it was.

At the time, an annalist recorded the year with two words that offered no explanation—just a verdict: anno iniquo.

The evil year.

The year was 949.

1,076 years later, Spain was again in flames.

The peninsula’s 2025 wildfire season devastated the nation. From the green mountains of Galicia to the town of Tres Cantos, few areas were spared. A grey blanket of smoke settled over the rest of the land, making it hard to see and breathe.

That summer burned differently than anything in Spain’s records. Scientific terms felt insufficient to describe the devastation. Low humidity and longer fire seasons didn’t quite capture the magnitude of the fires—to witness such devastation makes one understand why an annalist referred to 949 as the evil year.

Between the 5th and 19th of August, the burned area leapt from 47,000 hectares to 367,000: ninety percent of the year’s destruction in two weeks. When it was over, Spain’s ministry of environment counted nearly 355,000 hectares gone, the most in three decades. Europe’s satellites, which sweep wider than the national survey, counted more still: 393,000 hectares, over a third of everything that burned in the entire EU.

The northwest took it worst. In Galicia, the regional government counted nearly 119,000 hectares burned, most of it in Ourense. The fire reached the Roman gold mines of Las Médulas, a World Heritage site.

The big cities weren’t immune to the fallout. A resident of Madrid said, “The smell was really strong. It was like someone had lit a bonfire outside the window, but the fire was 20 km away [in Tres Cantos].”

Statistics don’t capture the human tragedy these fires inflicted. Houses were lost, livelihoods were upended, and, worst of all, the fires killed at least eight people in Spain—among them two men named Abel and Jaime.

Abel Ramos Falagán was thirty-five, from the country around La Bañeza, in León. He ran a construction company and was vice-president of the local motorcycle club. On the second Saturday of August he was at the Gran Premio de La Bañeza, the race his club lives for.

By Monday the fire had crossed the provincial line from Zamora, and Abel and his younger brother Sergio presented themselves to the operation as volunteers, bringing a brush-clearer and machinery from their construction firm. The fire’s directors gave them the task of cutting vegetation ahead of the flames, taking fuel out of the fire’s path.

On Tuesday evening he was working the ground between Nogarejas and Quintana y Congosto with Sergio and a friend, Jaime Aparicio, thirty-seven, who kept a bar nearby. The fire had been moving all week in ways no one could predict. Two tongues of flame came together without warning and closed around the men. The call for help went out at 7:17 in the evening, from kilometer 12 of the LE-125. Abel died where he stood. Sergio survived his burns.

Jaime, burned over most of his body, was carried to the burns unit in Valladolid and lived two more days. His village, Quintanilla de Flórez, came out to bury him.

With their own equipment, these men chose to protect their homes by using the oldest tactic there is against wildfire—clearing away what burns.

To understand why Spain burns differently today, you have to leave the fireline and look at the villages. Throughout the years, people have left the country for the cities. In Spanish, it’s called España vacía—Empty Spain. Seventy percent of the country now holds only ten percent of the people.

A Spanish grandma in Madrid put it best when she said, “Of course there are lots of fires. There aren’t any more goats to eat the grass.”

The deaths of Jaime and Abel reflected more than extraordinary courage. They also reflected a countryside that increasingly has too few people to defend it. As humans have left, nature has taken over, bringing with it a boom in greenery across the country, as well as wildfires, the inevitable destruction built into the ecosystems of the peninsula.

The historian David Peterson, at the University of Burgos, found that in the first months of 950, monasteries across the Meseta produced a burst of charters documenting peasants signing away land in exchange for food. Peterson read that spike of desperate paperwork as the fire’s impact, preserved in an archive instead of in the ground.

The peninsula burned in 949, he concluded, for the same reason it burns now: an overload of fuel meeting drought and wind. The medieval fuel came from the razing of forests to make way for farms and housing, leaving brush piles ready to blow up with a single lightning strike.

The human causes of the fires of 949 and 2025 are nearly opposite. The medieval fire came from clearing land; the modern ones from abandoning it. The same overload of fuels burned by the same means, but for different reasons.

There were also the natural patterns of drought and lightning strikes, as well as fires started by people. But it’s only in the modern era that humanity has altered the weather itself.

This time, unlike in 949, the causes can be measured. World Weather Attribution, the consortium that measures how much human warming loads the dice for specific disasters, examined the conditions behind the August fires across northwest Iberia—the sixteen-day heatwave, the desiccated fuels, the wind—and found that human-caused warming had made fire weather of that severity roughly forty times more likely, and about thirty percent more intense.

The heatwave itself was made hotter and longer by warming. Europe is heating at about twice the global average, drying its summers and stretching its fire seasons at both ends.

The impact of humans on wildfires resists simplicity. Our emissions enhance the factors that cause fires, while our movements to cities create more natural land where fire is unavoidable and often necessary.

Fire is native to Iberia. A thousand-year-old chronicle proves that. What’s changed isn’t that Spain burns; it’s the emptied interior, the season’s length, and who lives at the fire’s edge.

The fire of 949 became a legend because no one could bear it as a fact of nature. Three centuries later, a cleric named Gonzalo de Berceo received it fused with the omens before the battle of Simancas, the flames given a role in what the poem casts as a war between heaven and the infidels:

The south wind arose, a scalding wind, / and with it a raging, wrathful fire; / it moved from the west at the prompting of the Devil, / and wrought great evils before it was stilled.

After the Devil came a serpent. In the Poema de Fernán González, the fire crosses the sky as a dragon conjured by Moorish sorcery. After the serpent came the scholars, who decided a flame could not have come from the sea and rewrote it as an earthquake. This theory outlived them, filed to this day in Spain’s official seismic catalogue.

A thousand years of explanations, each preferring a reason to randomness: the Devil, sorcery, the shifting earth. Anything but dry fuel and wind.

Of everyone who ever wrote the fire down, the earliest annalists came closest, not because they named the cause, but because they didn’t reach for one. No serpent, no sorcery, no shifting earth. Just an evil year, and a flame so extreme it was as if it came out of the sea.

In Zamora, the hills are growing back for the second time in four years, into a countryside emptier than it was in 949, with fewer hands, fewer flocks, and more fuel. Every fire season will be different: most will be forgotten, some will be like 2025, and some will be worse.

Nobody knows what future wildfire seasons will bring, but eleven centuries of chronicles and the emptying landscapes of Spain agree on only one thing.

The fire will come again.

—

Canyon Hohenstein is a former Montana wildland firefighter turned writer, whose experience leading an inmate fire crew — and later learning their crimes — inspired Who Tames the Flames? He splits his time between Montana and Madrid and publishes the newsletter The Burn Scars We Bear.

🔔 Don’t miss the latest episode of The Bubble Podcast!

Episode 3 of The Bubble Podcast is out! We discuss the potential PP-Vox national coalition with political scientist Pablo Simón and whether it’s easy for foreigners to make friends in Spain.

Subscribe and listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube!

⚽️ Argentina, Spain and the manufactured outrage machine

By Sebastián Fest

Are Argentines out of their minds? What were those people doing in the middle of the night in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor, singing “el que no salta es español” (”whoever doesn’t jump is a Spaniard”)? Weren’t many of the people jumping probably Argentines in the process of getting Spanish citizenship?

Since last Sunday, you’ve probably noticed an explosion in videos on social media criticizing Argentina after the World Cup defeat, with people calling them sore losers, racist, and unbearably whiny. You’ve also probably seen countless posts from Argentines mocking Spain (and the rest of the world) for “not knowing how to celebrate”, for being “jealous” of them, or for making fun of Argentina’s lackluster performance.

What started as a sports rivalry soon evolved into a full-blown cultural war in a matter of hours. Politicians and journalists got involved. Things got personal, then offensive. Within days, it stopped being about football at all — to the point where some people in Argentina called for boycotting Rosalía live shows, while Argentines living in Spain went on live TV in Buenos Aires to say they were “afraid” to walk the streets of Madrid.

But no, Argentines aren’t crazy — they’re just… Argentine: passionate, witty, sometimes haughty, often generous, and invariably allergic to submission. They may want a Spanish passport, sure, but before that there’s something more important: the national team jersey.

And since the dogma that politics and sports don’t mix is one of the most consistent falsehoods in history, it has to be said that Spain’s 1-0 win over Argentina in the World Cup final hides some very bad news for far-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal — and, by direct consequence, for socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

“How many of these (Argentine) hooligan fanatics are going to get the right to vote under Sánchez’s new scheme?” a reader wondered recently, commenting on an article I recently published on El Mundo about Messi’s silence after the World Cup defeat and attacking the (now) controversial Democratic Memory Law (aka Grandchildren’s Law.)

The answer is simple: all those who’ve obtained Spanish nationality get to vote, with one important caveat that sounds obvious but isn’t quite so simple. Only those who registered in time — and who actually vote — will vote. And historical experience shows that turnout among Spanish residents abroad rarely exceeds ten percent of the total.

The law will indeed allow 1.1 million Argentines to obtain Spanish nationality as descendants of Spaniards. But no matter how much Abascal might wish otherwise, those Argentines won’t vote en masse for Sánchez out of gratitude for the “gift” of citizenship. They’re too proud to thank someone for what they consider a right. So the bad news for Abascal and Vox is bad news for Sánchez too. As is typical in established democracies, votes aren’t bought — they’re earned.

That being said, let’s talk about football (aka soccer) and about Argentina, the global scapegoat of this week.

In the last few days of the World Cup (especially right before the match with England), Argentina was the target of a campaign fueled by the momentum of social media algorithms, which then grew organically — and certain Argentine attitudes definitely helped fuel it too.

But the accusation of Argentina being a racist country — perhaps one of the most racist in the world, in actor Samuel L. Jackson’s words — is untenable. Lastly, Spaniards and Argentines won’t fall out of love with each other over what happened at the World Cup or in a Madrid metro station.

Let’s take this one piece at a time.

Agustín Giménez, a specialist in sports marketing, AI, and digital business, was recently interviewed by Argentine newspaper La Nación and said that “the origin of the wave of insults and accusations against Argentines isn’t 100% organic, though the scale it reached was.”

It’s important to understand that these days a campaign doesn’t need to be big or expensive: a small core of accounts is enough to coordinate the launch, because the heavy lifting is done for free by the algorithm.

“All it takes is planting the outrage; the platform harvests and distributes it. Argentina generated 23.7 million posts on X in a single week — 49% more than Spain, the actual champion. That volume isn’t produced by any paid operation; it’s produced by the system once the fuse is lit,” Giménez explained.

“The first pushes came from an identifiable group of accounts, many of them recently created, with no history of following football, posting the same hashtags and edited videos simultaneously. That’s not the behavior of angry fans. It’s the classic pattern of an amplification operation,” he added.

Who benefited from the campaign? First, the very accounts that managed to make their content go viral, since X pays users for engagement with their posts through a revenue-sharing program. And then, the betting houses.

“It was striking how many sponsored accounts, or accounts linked to second- or third-tier betting houses, were at the initial nodes of this campaign. What that proves is that hatred toward Argentina had several business models running on it at the algorithmic level, and none of them had any incentive to stop it,” he said.

Did Argentina behave badly in the final? Rough or aggressive play is part of football and is managed by the referee, who has several tools available — the warning, the yellow card, the red card, plus VAR, which turned football into a different sport than the one we used to know.

In any case, what needs to be examined is the behavior after the match. Leandro Paredes, who at the end of the World Cup final went after Spain’s Eric García, putting a hand on his throat, still owes an apology, though the provocations started almost simultaneously on both the Spanish and Argentine sides. There are no saints in this story, but the problem with Paredes was his disproportionate reaction.

Was Argentina wrong to turn its back on Spain while celebrating the title with the trophy raised? FIFA doesn’t have a clear protocol for these situations — so much so that Gianni Infantino himself had to drag Donald Trump off the podium so the images could immortalize the Spaniards, no matter how much the US president claims to know about football (a claim he has yet to demonstrate).

Argentines — and not only them, but much of Latin America — experience football with a passion and visceral intensity that isn’t the norm in Europe. They had just lost a dramatic final after a fabulous tournament, and they were thanking their fans, crying alongside them. Could Messi, as captain and practically an honorary Spaniard, have told his teammates to turn around for a moment and applaud the champions? Yes — but then he wouldn’t be Messi.

Could some senior official from the Argentine Football Association (AFA) have stepped in and alerted the players? Yes — but then it wouldn’t be the AFA.

Two more things: if you look at previous World Cup finals, it isn’t standard for the losing team to stay and applaud the champion. Just look at what happened with France in Qatar 2022.

And something fundamental: this is football, in a massive, deafening stadium — not the Wimbledon final, where the loser competes with the winner over who gives the most gracious, polite speech.

Now, brace yourself, because here’s the big one: is Argentina a racist country?

The first thing that needs to be said is that judging other countries through the lens of your own leads to prejudice. To put it plainly: the history of the United States, France, or Brazil is not the history of Argentina, a country whose economy and growth were not built on slavery.

Argentina decreed freedom of wombs in 1813, even before becoming an independent nation: all children born to enslaved women from that point on were free (though subject to a certain form of guardianship). And in 1853, its National Constitution established that “in the Argentine Nation there are no slaves: the few that exist today become free from the swearing-in of this Constitution...”

The United States abolished slavery ten years later, but it wasn’t until 1864 that it ended all racial segregation laws.

For all its flaws, that never happened in Argentina, where once slavery was abolished, there was never legal racial segregation.

Does this mean there’s no racism in Argentina? Of course there is — but the national football team isn’t a reflection of it, beyond Erika Denise Edwards’s December 2022 piece in the Washington Post, an article that led to a false debate. The real question isn’t that one, but rather why there are so few Black people in Argentina.

Why is that? Because the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata didn’t have a slavery-based economy, because far fewer enslaved people arrived in that territory than in the United States, and because the country was built on a massive wave of immigrants from Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Switzerland, Greece, Syria, Lebanon, and many others — to the point that, by the early twentieth century, more than half of Argentina’s population was foreign-born rather than of Black descent.

This piece by Martina Jaureguy in the Buenos Aires Herald shows that Black Argentines have a very different view than the one circulated in the Global North.

Two more facts, before we wrap up: Argentina had a Black World Cup champion, Héctor Baley, the backup goalkeeper on the 1978 World Cup–winning squad. Baley was — and still is — nicknamed “Chocolate” or “Negro,” to this day terms of endearment widely used in Argentina. And he swears he never felt discriminated against. It may be hard to grasp, but the best way to understand complex issues is to open your mind to other realities instead of boxing yourself into your own. The result can be surprising — as surprising as what has always happened on thousands of big and small football fields across Argentina: when a goal is scored, Jewish players and players of Arab descent on the same team embrace to celebrate. And that, for now, hasn’t been changed even by Javier Milei’s devotion to Benjamin Netanyahu.

Argentina, however much it might upset Samuel L. Jackson, is historically a model of immigrant integration.

“Argentines are born wherever they want” is a phrase you hear often, reflecting how easily a Venezuelan, a Frenchman, a Brazilian, a Chinese person, an American, or a Swede is embraced by — and lets themselves be embraced by — an eternally curious society, drawn to what happens in the rest of the world, and honored that people choose it as their home.

That’s why the idea of some clash between Argentines and Spaniards doesn’t hold up. It’ll give plenty of professional and amateur journalists material to fill their columns, dictated by the algorithm. But it won’t amount to more than that.

—

Sebastián Fest is an Argentine journalist born in Buenos Aires, currently serving as the Southern Cone correspondent for Spain's El Mundo. He previously headed sports coverage at DPA news agency and La Nación, has covered every World Cup and Olympics since the mid-1990s, and is the author of several books, including Messiánico, a biography of Lionel Messi.

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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend

It’s Friday again!

And while you’re still recovering from Monday’s massive, city-wide party welcoming our champions and (admit it) you’re still humming Spain’s unofficial World Cup anthem, Aitana’s Superestrella, it’s time to start planning this weekend’s activities.

• If your voice is still recovering from Sunday night, don’t worry. We’re going for something a little more relaxing this week, whether that’s discovering a new art exhibition, escaping the afternoon heat inside a museum, catching an immersive experience, or enjoying live music under the trees in El Retiro.

• Last but not least, Episode 3 of The Bubble Podcast is out! We talk about how the far-right may be part of the next national government and how to make friends in Spain. Enjoy!

Happy weekend!

1. 💃 A flamenco show that proves Spain's most famous dance can also be ridiculously funny

When people think of flamenco, they usually picture tourist traps dramatic singers, and lots of serious expressions. FlamencOh! flips that idea on its head.

• Spain’s legendary physical theatre company Yllana has taken one of the country’s most iconic art forms and transformed it into a pretty funny show that mixes live music, comedy, dance and visual theatre into something that feels both distinctly Spanish and refreshingly modern.

• Created in collaboration with London’s prestigious Sadler’s Wells Theatre, the show revisits some of flamenco’s most memorable moments while throwing in impossible choreography, absurd characters and Yllana’s trademark visual humor.

• Rather than making fun of flamenco itself, the production celebrates it, introducing audiences to its rhythms and traditions through comedy that’s accessible even if you’ve never seen a flamenco performance before. The result is a fast-paced show that constantly surprises, blending traditional music with unexpected dance styles and theatrical moments that keep the audience laughing from beginning to end.

FlamencOh! is a great option both for locals and foreigners visiting Madrid this summer.

💃 What: FlamencOh!

📍 Where: Gran Teatro CaixaBank Príncipe Pío, Cuesta de San Vicente 44, Madrid

📅 When: Through July 26

🎟 Tickets: From €28,50

2. 🎺 Catch Madrid's next generation of musicians live in El Retiro

Stop what you’re doing and grab your running shoes, literally right now because this is happening in a couple of hours. It’s one of those low-key plans that’s well worth adding to your list if you want to take it easy after a week of celebrations.

• After spending the week rehearsing alongside the musicians of Madrid’s Municipal Symphonic Band, dozens of young music students are taking to the stage for two free open-air concerts at the park’s iconic bandstand this Friday morning and afternoon.

• The performance marks the end of an intensive workshop in which aspiring musicians have worked shoulder to shoulder with members of one of Spain’s oldest and most prestigious musical ensembles, learning directly from its soloists and professional players under the direction of conductor Sergio Casas Santos.

• Today’s concert is their chance to showcase everything they’ve learned. If you’re looking for a relaxing way to spend an hour in one of Madrid’s most beautiful parks listening to classical music, it’s a perfect excuse to slow down, grab an ice cream, and sit under the trees.

🎺 What: Closing concert of the Municipal Symphonic Band Student Music Workshop

📍 Where: Templete del Parque de El Retiro, Madrid

📅 When: July 24, 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m.

🎟 Tickets: Free

3. 🖼️ One of Madrid’s newest art spaces is quietly becoming a must-visit for contemporary art lovers

If you’ve already ticked off the Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen museums, we’re offering something that’s a little more under the radar. SOLO CSV, which opened last summer, is quickly establishing itself as a hub for cutting-edge creativity, bringing together experimental installations and artists from Spain and around the world under one roof.

• The venue is led by the private art initiative SOLO, known for championing contemporary artists and emerging creative talent. Its main exhibition space, Bowman Hall, hosts a year-round program featuring both Spanish and international artists, while collaborating with galleries and institutions across the globe.

• Beyond traditional exhibitions, the center embraces digital and experimental art and research initiatives, making it a place where visitors can discover works that push well beyond the boundaries of conventional gallery spaces.

• One of its most interesting projects is Movimiento 37, an initiative designed to connect artists with new audiences by inviting galleries and private collections from around the world to showcase their work in Madrid.

The result is a constantly evolving program, meaning there’s usually something new to see every time you visit.

🖼️ What: SOLO CSV

📍 Where: Cuesta de San Vicente 36, Madrid

📅 When: Tuesday to Saturday. Check website for opening hours.

🎟 Tickets: Must book via website.

4. 🏛️ Madrid’s smartest way to survive the summer heat is back, and it involves museums, flamenco and theatre

Walking around Madrid between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in July or August can feel like volunteering to be roasted alive, so, instead of fighting the heat, the city has come up with a much better idea. Refúgiate en la Cultura (”Take Refuge in Culture”) turns the hottest hours of the day into the perfect excuse to explore some of Madrid’s best museums and cultural venues, all while staying comfortably indoors.

• This program transforms the city into a giant cultural refuge with a packed program of activities taking place between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

• This year’s edition introduces 21 short theatre performances as part of the new Clásicos a Refugio series, bringing Spain’s Golden Age literature to life through 20-minute performances that combine theatre, live music, poetry, improvisation and audience participation.

• There’s also a strong flamenco program, with 44 performances, workshops and demonstrations celebrating one of Spain’s most iconic art forms, alongside activities designed to introduce visitors to its history and evolution.

• The best part is that it isn’t limited to just one venue. Madrid’s biggest cultural institutions (like the Prado, Reina Sofía, Thyssen, the Royal Collections Gallery, the Archaeological Museum, Museo de Historia, Museo de San Isidro, CentroCentro and Matadero Madrid) are all taking part, alongside libraries, cinemas and other cultural spaces across the city.

• Some activities are included with your museum ticket, while many of the theatre and flamenco performances are completely free until capacity is reached.

So if the thermometer is pushing 40°C, you might as well spend those hours surrounded by masterpieces instead of melting on Gran Vía.

🏛️ What: Refúgiate en la Cultura

📍 Where: Multiple venues across Madrid

📅 When: Throughout July and August (activities generally run from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m)

🎟 Tickets: Many activities are free until full capacity (check website)

5. 🤖 Step inside Black Mirror and get murdered by your own AI assistant or something like that

We’re not sure why the people in that image look so happy. Have you guys ever seen Black Mirror? It’s the one show that makes you want to crawl under a blanket and never leave again, afraid of the dystopian nightmare that is our current timeline. But we digress.

• Madrid is hosting The Black Mirror Experience, an immersive virtual reality adventure that drops you straight into the unsettling universe of Netflix’s hit dystopian series, where technology always starts out helpful... before things go spectacularly wrong.

• The experience begins inside Phaethon Labs, a futuristic tech company that’s eager to introduce you to LifeAgent, an advanced AI assistant designed to learn everything about you, anticipate your needs, and help you make better decisions. Sounds convenient, right? Of course it does—that’s exactly how every Black Mirror episode begins.

• Together with a group of up to six people, you’ll explore the company’s facilities, solve challenges, and make decisions that shape the story as the line between reality and simulation slowly disappears. Without giving too much away, things quickly become much darker than they first appear, forcing you to answer one final question: who’s really making the decisions—you or your AI?

Running for about an hour, the experience combines virtual reality, interactive storytelling, and live-action elements to make you feel like you’ve stepped inside an episode of the show.

🕶️ What: The Black Mirror Experience

📍 Where: Espacio Delicias, Paseo de las Delicias 61, Madrid

📅 When: Wednesday through Sunday, until August 2

🎟 Tickets: €17.20

See what you’ve missed!

🍷 We had a blast at our very first Friends of The Bubble event: Wine & Ceramics in Madrid!

It was such a pleasure to finally meet so many of the subscribers and supporters who’ve been with us from the very beginning (and who turned out to be pretty talented artists, too!)

We spent the evening getting creative with clay, sharing wine, and making new friends at Senda Cerámica Studio with our teacher and host Felipe Ponce. Thank you to everyone who came along and made it such a special night. We can’t wait to do it again.

This is just the beginning. What kind of Friends of The Bubble events would you love to see next? Let us know in the comments!

📺 What to watch if you want to escape the heat this weekend…

🖥️ What: Olivia| TV Series | 2026

📍Where to watch: Disney+

❓What’s it about: The nation's most famous weatherman seeks refuge from a media storm at his estranged father's olive grove with his daughter Olivia. After 30 years of silence, reconnecting with his roots proves challenging.

🤩 Why you should watch: Because it’s perfect if you’re in the mood for a warm, easygoing family comedy about old grudges, second chances, and three generations trying to save their olive grove in Jaén. It’s predictable and occasionally too tidy, but the setting, cast, and shameless devotion to olive oil make it charming enough to carry you through six breezy episodes.

💬 English Subtitles: No.

💃🏻 Places to try this weekend…

☕️ Nolita: The brunch spot that had people lining up is now in Chamberí/Malasaña

What’s it about: One of Madrid's fastest-growing brunch spots (with three locations now!), the most recent one opening right by Malasaña. Founded by two brothers inspired by years of brunch-hopping in New York, LA, and Bali, Nolita specializes in all-day brunch built around specialty coffee, creative eggs Benedict, brioche sandwiches, French toast, and homemade matcha and chai drinks.

Why you should go: If you're serious about brunch, this is one of the hottest new places in the city. The menu is packed with comfort food favorites, there are plenty of gluten-free options, and everything is served from breakfast until closing time—meaning you don't have to wake up early to enjoy it.

Bottom line: One of Madrid's best all-day breakfast menus. Just be prepared to queue, as they don’t take reservations and the place has become popular enough to attract lines almost since day one.

Address: Calle Monteleón, 27, Madrid

🍺 The coolest place to hang out before and after Noches del Botánico

What’s it about: If you're heading to Noches del Botánico, don't make the mistake of arriving just in time for the main act. Zona Momentos Alhambra has become a festival within the festival: a laid-back outdoor space where live music, DJ sets, cold beer, and good conversation keep the atmosphere going before and after the headline concerts.

Why you should go: Part of the fun is discovering artists you probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. The lineup focuses on up-and-coming talent across a wide range of genres, with live performances and DJ sessions creating the perfect soundtrack while you relax in hammocks, grab something to eat, or sip an ice-cold Alhambra Reserva 1925.

Bottom line: One of Madrid's best summer hangouts, where great music, a relaxed atmosphere, and excellent beer make the perfect warm-up—or encore—to Noches del Botánico.

Address: Real Jardín Botánico Alfonso XIII (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Madrid

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⚽️ We just had to relive it

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Plea dealing

🤦 Jeez, José Luis. With friends like these…

Ever had a terrible week where it felt like the world was against you and even your besties were out to bring you down? Well, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (aka ZP), the former prime minister from 2004-2011 (and BFF, at least until recently, of current PM Pedro Sánchez), just had that — ✖️1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣. Let us count the ways!

The Two Julios. ZP’s bad, no good, terrible week came courtesy of two men who happen to share a name — and, apparently, a strong preference for not going to prison if they can avoid it. They provided testimony to court this week in a sprawling corruption and money laundering probe linked to the controversial €53m government rescue of airline Plus Ultra during the pandemic (which ZP is accused of organizing behind the scenes — for a cut). And let’s just say if there was a bus in the vicinity, they definitely threw ZP under it.

The least believable claim. When ZP testified in court last month, he was extremely sure of himself, as in, “I did not speak with anyone, absolutely anyone from the public sector about the rescue of Plus Ultra. There will be no one who can say otherwise.” But oh, did these people say otherwise.

• Julio #1: Julio Martínez Martínez (”Julito”) — ZP’s longtime running buddy (literally: they jogged together nearly every day) and the administrator of a consultancy, Análisis Relevante, through which ZP collected plenty of money, ostensibly for “reports” based on his government experience. Julito had kept quiet since his arrest last December, but this week he went full-on Aldama — turning state’s evidence, in hopes of a sentence reduction, just like the star witness Víctor de Aldama scored in a previous corruption scandal (see: Caso Koldo). He told the judge that ZP ran Análisis Relevante from the shadows, off the books but pulling the strings on everything. ZP knew every step of the Plus Ultra bailout — and told Julito on Feb. 26, 2021, two full weeks before the official cabinet vote, that approval was coming. Oh, and ZP’s daughters were on the payroll too.

• Julio #2: Julio Martínez Sola, Plus Ultra’s president, plus ex-CEO Roberto Roselli: confessed in writing that they paid €530,000 in fake invoices as ZP’s 1% cut for making the bailout come true. The invoices described the money charged as being for “monthly advisory reports” that either didn’t exist or were, the executives admitted, “irrelevant.” Oh — and part of ZP’s payment came in the form of 46 unreimbursed business class flights. Because if you’re gonna set up a dodgy bailout for an airline, the least they can do is fly you in the Big Boy Seats.

How we got here. ZP and Julito met in 2011 when Julito bought ZP’s house in Vera, Almería — the sale was signed at La Moncloa while ZP was still PM (totally normal!). In 2019, they set up Análisis Relevante with ZP conspicuously off the paperwork. Clients included Venezuelan-linked businessmen, and eventually Plus Ultra. Along the way, police found €286,000 in cash at Julito’s home (hidden in a golf bag and behind a radiator because…where else?) and €1.3m in jewelry in ZP’s office safe. Routine stuff.

What the parties said.

• The PSOE-led government: Spokeswoman (and Minister of Inclusion) Elma Saiz said the dear folks in the government “continue to believe in his innocence.” Privately, PSOE figures are far less calm — one called the damage “irreparable” and warned the party cannot become ZP’s “political, emotional, or institutional shield.”

• Sumar: Yolanda Díaz backed the presumption of innocence but said ZP “has to give explanations.” Which, seriously, is about the least he could do.

• PP: Spokesperson Ester Muñoz called it a “chanchullo [scam] of Sánchez and Zapatero” that “can bring them both down.” The law of silence in the PSOE, she added, “no longer works.”

So, what happens next? The court described Julito’s testimony as “valuable“ but noted he was frustratingly vague on the key question we are all asking: who exactly did ZP lobby inside the government? (”I don’t know,” said Julito, somewhat unhelpfully.) Plus Ultra’s president and ex-CEO will testify in person — but not until after August. ZP still hasn’t explained the jewelry. And his legal team’s bid to throw out the evidence gathered from people’s phones as unconstitutionally obtained got kneecapped when Julito confirmed the messages in open court.

• If there were a contract on Kalshi, we’d put money on ZP going down. Actually, there are markets on Kalshi and Polymarket, though neither has him being arrested in 2026. But, slowly, painfully, one deposition at a time, we bet on him taking the fall.

More news below. 👇👇

🔔 Don’t miss the latest episode of The Bubble Podcast!

Episode 3 of The Bubble Podcast is out! We discuss the potential PP-Vox national coalition with political scientist Pablo Simón and whether it’s easy for foreigners to make friends in Spain.

Subscribe and listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube!

💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🏆 The National Football Team celebrated winning the World Cup with 2M people in Madrid

Do you feel that? It’s called an emotional hangover, and it’s what we’re all feeling this week after the epic, nail-biting Sunday night we all had. And if you thought Spain was done celebrating after beating Argentina, think again.

• Madrid on Monday turned into one ginormous victory parade as millions of people (seriously, millions) flooded the streets to welcome home the new world champions. The partying started in New Jersey, with Donald Trump apparently now saying it’s all good with Pedro Sánchez 🥳, before arriving in Madrid, where the world champions landed on Monday afternoon.

• They headed to the Royal Palace of Zarzuela to meet with King Felipe VI (aka F6), Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, who greeted each player individually. Wunderkind Lamine Yamal, who the King seems to have a soft spot for, broke protocol and gave him a bro hug, which they both seemed to enjoy. It didn’t really feel like a formal state reception, which is good.

• The players’ outfits raised a few eyebrows because they looked like they had borrowed an oversized suit from their parents. Turns out it’s an exclusive outfit designed by Loewe that costs €4,730 each (proof we know nothing about fashion).

The team then headed to La Moncloa to meet with PM Sánchez. Rodri carried the trophy into the gardens before the squad posed for the now mandatory photo on the steps of the presidential palace.

• Looking forward. Sánchez congratulated them and, since we’re set to co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Portugal and Morocco, he joked about Spain winning another one in four years. (Jesus, dude, let them at least get a good night's sleep).

Road trip. The players then climbed aboard an open-top bus and slowly made their way through Madrid to Plaza Cibeles (i.e., city hall).

• The streets were packed from hours beforehand, and the mood on the bus was… festive. Borja Iglesias handled DJ duties, the team drank alcoholic beverages, the trophy was passed from player to player, and internet boyfriend Ferran Torres (more on him below) chose to wear a red cap reading “Make Spain Great Again”, which many interpreted as a nod to Trump (we, however, suspect trolling).

Partay! By the time the bus rolled into Cibeles around 10 p.m., Madrid had become one giant sea of red. Authorities estimate that roughly two million people lined the streets throughout the afternoon, while around 120,000 fans packed into Cibeles itself for the final celebration.

• The champions walked onto the stage one by one to songs they had personally chosen (see video above). Rodri acted as MC and coach Luis de la Fuente got an emotional standing ovation (he is a really nice guy, after all).

• Oh, and maybe-MAGA Ferran Torres (who scored the only goal against Argentina) was celebrated as a hero.

Superstars. To close the night, it felt almost inevitable that the party would finish with the players singing the unofficial anthem of Spain’s campaign, Aitana’s Superestrella (aka the song of the summer).

• Then Aitana hopped on stage and sang it too while everyone (players included) jumped around in excitement.

Good kids. Judging from the last few weeks, the Spanish team might be world champions, but they still come across as remarkably grounded.

• We’re muy proud. 😍

2. 👨🏻‍⚖️ Brussels gave Sánchez a win over Catalonia separatists’ amnesty

Great news (for some)! After almost three years, Spain’s divisive amnesty law has finally been settled. Many people hated it and said it was unconstitutional and hoped Brussels would eventually strike it down. Spoiler alert: it didn't.

• Big day. The EU's highest court ruled on Thursday that the amnesty law does not violate EU law, handing Sánchez a political and legal victory—and bringing Catalan separatist (and outlaw) leader Carles Puigdemont one step closer to returning to Spain.

• Recap. Back in 2017, Catalonia held an illegal independence referendum despite Spain’s Constitutional Court saying it was unconstitutional. Then-Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont fled to Belgium to avoid arrest, and some Catalan leaders were jailed while Spain spent years locked in a bitter political and judicial battle.

• Sánchez failed to win a majority in the 2023 elections and needed the support of Puigdemont’s right-wing Junts separatist party to repeat as PM, so he agreed to pass an amnesty law (something he said he wouldn't do) that would erase criminal responsibility for hundreds of people linked to the independence push between 2011 and 2023. He says the goal is to help ease tensions between Madrid and Catalonia (and help him be PM, of course).

Implementation hasn’t been simple. While many lower courts have applied the law, Spain’s Supreme Court has refused to grant amnesty to Puigdemont himself, arguing that the alleged misuse of public funds during the referendum should not be covered (hence why he’s still living in Belgium).

Enter the EU. The Court of Justice of the European Union examined two major questions Spanish courts had sent to Luxembourg: does the amnesty violate EU financial rules? And does it conflict with European anti-terrorism legislation? The answer was “no” to both.

• The Sánchez government celebrated the ruling, and Catalan regional president Salvador Illa (a non-separatist socialist) said there are now “no more excuses” and demanded Spanish courts apply the law immediately.

• The PP wasn’t as happy. While they said they respected the ruling, they insisted nothing had changed politically. Their argument remains that Sánchez traded legal impunity for parliamentary votes (which is true, but not against EU rules).

Poochie not in the clear. Despite celebrating what he called “a resounding victory”, Puigdemont (pronounced pooch-the-mont, aka poochie) still can’t come home.

• Local issues. Spain’s Supreme Court (which leans right) continues to argue that Poochie’s alleged misuse of Spanish public money falls outside the amnesty because it constituted a personal financial benefit—an issue the EU ruling didn’t resolve (it only ruled in the context of EU, not local, law). So, his arrest warrant remains active. 🚔

• Poochie is pissed off frustrated by the delay, so he has now filed a complaint before the European Commission, accusing Spanish institutions of refusing to properly apply European law.

Ball in Spain’s court. The decisive battle now moves to the Constitutional Court (which leans right), which is expected to rule this fall. Expect it to rule in Poochie's favor.

3. 👰🏻 Ferrán Torres is the internet’s new boyfriend, and he has tons of lovers (and haters too)

If you are terminally online like we are, chances are you are now turned on by in love with Ferrán Torres, the 26-year-old F.C. Barcelona forward who has become the face of Spain’s World Cup victory, not just because he scored the winner against Argentina, but because, well... have you seen him? The hair. The smile. The jawline. (And yes, the queerbaiting.) Social media has collectively lost its mind.

• The Ferran fan club now includes just about everyone. The ladies. The gays. Even plenty of straight guys seem perfectly comfortable admitting that Spain’s World Cup hero is ridiculously good-looking.

• While international media is already treating him like football’s newest heartthrob, poor Ferran is also dealing with some negativity at home. It’s been quite the week.

💘 The love. Ladies, he’s single! However, The Sun (as in, the tabloid, yes) reports that he spent Spain’s World Cup after-party flirting with singer Ana Mena after the pair were spotted together throughout the celebrations.

😡 The hate. Because this is Spain, the honeymoon didn’t last very long. First came the “Make Spain Great Again” cap that he wore and the suspicions surrounding why he wore it. Then came the housing controversy.

• A buitre too? A spokesperson for left-wing party Sumar publicly accused Ferran of being a housing speculator, claiming his investment company owned around 20 homes and comparing it to a “vulture fund” while arguing for tougher housing laws. The story quickly spread across local media — until other outlets started digging into the details.

• Or not. According to El Español, it’s fake news as the accusation appears to be based on a misunderstanding. The news site says Ferran does not own 20 homes. Instead, most of his assets reportedly consist of office spaces, with only four residential properties in his portfolio. At the time of writing, the competing claims haven’t yet been independently fact-checked, so we’ll hold off on declaring a winner in that particular internet fight.

And just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder... A mural painted in Barcelona by famous street artist TV Boy, celebrating Ferran kissing the World Cup trophy, lasted less than 24 hours before it was vandalized with pro-independence slogans and “Puta Espanya” graffiti.

• Some separatist figures had openly encouraged people to deface it after Spain’s victory celebrations filled Catalan streets with Spanish flags.

Oh, well… In other words, welcome back to normal Spanish politics. (Ferran, we still stan you).

4. 🚬 One more nail in smoking’s coffin

You’ll remember Spain’s first anti-smoking law in 2005, if you’re of a certain age (like, old). You’ll also remember that people said it could never work — Spaniards would never stop lighting up in bars and restaurants, because that’s what they do. And yet, it worked. The rate fell from 33% then to about 20% today, and the hospitality industry’s predictions of ruin never materialized. And now, the government has gone back for more.

What happened: The cabinet of PM Sánchez approved a sweeping new tobacco bill on Tuesday — the biggest overhaul of anti-smoking legislation in over a decade — and sent it to Parliament. The key new measures:

• Terraces, beaches, and beyond. Bar and restaurant terraces, beaches (sea and river), swimming pools, national parks, sports facilities, and even outdoor events like concerts (‼️) all go smoke-free.

• Fifteen-metre buffer zones around sensitive spaces, like schools, hospitals, universities, museums, libraries, and children’s parks.

• Minors banned from smoking — not just from buying, which was already the rule. Parents or guardians pay the €200–600 fine when their kids are caught, though it can be swapped for community service.

• Vapes equated with cigarettes. E-cigarettes, shishas, and nicotine-free devices face the same restrictions as tobacco and can only be sold in specialist shops — not convenience stores, not bazaars, not vending machines.

• An advertising wipeout. No ads online, on TV, or in shop windows. Presenters and influencers can no longer be shown vaping or smoking on screen.

A brief history. The 2005 law banned smoking in enclosed spaces but let bars keep designated smoking rooms. The industry worked hard to preserve that loophole, but in 2011 it was closed. Hospitality groups predicted catastrophe, which…never came. Spain went from 9.6 million smokers in 2010 to 7.9 million a decade later, while cigarette pack sales fell from 4.6 billion in 2005 to 2.2 billion in 2022 (tourists obviously bought a few).

The new bill still has to survive Parliament, where the government needs the support of PP or Junts — neither of which has committed to ‘yes’. The PP has concerns about the terrace ban’s economic impact on hospitality because, you know, people like a smoke with a caña.

• Two things were notably absent from the final text — mandated plain packaging (blocked by the PSOE; Sumar plans to add it by amendment) and a ban on disposable vapes (awaiting an EU ruling). No matter what, smoking’s running out of breath.

5. 🫢 That nude crowd photographer is coming to the Canaries

Ever had the urge to wander around a photo shoot in the Canary Islands, buck-assed naked except for being painted head to toe in rainbow colors? Well, it’s your chance! Because Spencer Tunick — the photographer of tons of nude people being all comfortable with their not overly gymed-up bodies — is coming to town.

• What’s going on? On July 26 (aka Sunday), Tunick will descend on Gran Canaria for Gran Spectrum, a mass participation installation in which hundreds of volunteers will have their bodies painted in the colors of various LGBTQIA+ flags and then pose across Las Palmas and Maspalomas.

• Backers. The project is backed by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and the Canaries government as part of the Culture & Business Pride 2026 festival. Participants get a limited-edition print of the final image. The number of participants? That will be secret until the day.

Who is he, anyway? Tunick started in New York in the 1990s, photographing solo nudes in empty early-morning streets. (You could do nude photos in public there, as long as they were for artistic purposes.) One day he realized he had more than 70 people’s numbers and thought, why not get them all together naked at once?

• United Naked Nations. The first group shoot — 28 people outside the UN in New York — told him he was onto something. He’s since done 4,500–7,000 people in Barcelona (2003) and a record 18,000–20,000 in Mexico City (2007). (South Korea and Taiwan shot down other big shoots.) He tried Gran Canaria’s neighbor Tenerife a decade ago — it fell through; he says he can’t remember why.

What’s new? This shoot is more explicitly political than most of his work, a response to the anti-LGBTQIA+ climate in the U.S.: “There’s a lot of misinformation from the government, and it’s generating fear and violence.”

• Another twist. The body paint also pushes things further into abstraction — Tunick calls what he does “abstract paintings with bodies in public space,” citing Yayoi Kusama and Ellsworth Kelly as influences. Less photography, more collective sculpture. And bottoms and stuff.

🔔 Don’t forget to follow us on TikTok!

@thebubblecomSpain did it again. 🇪🇸 #spain #fifaworldcup

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🚨 Welcome to Props — The Bubble's real estate newsletter. You're here because Spanish real estate is fascinating, insane, occasionally enraging, and — if you have a little money and play it right — profitable. Every week we bring you the data, the deals, the people making it happen, and the ones making it worse.

So sit back and enjoy! And send your tips, comments, suggestions, and all-cash offers to ian@thebubble.com.

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Spain's housing petri dish

Catalonia in general — and Barcelona specifically — have served as a kind of petri dish for Spain's housing policy experiments: rent controls, subsidized housing quotas, restrictions on tourist lets, and more.

And the outcome of these experiments? Well, a new batch of data has come in during the last week, and the results are, to put it charitably, mixed.

Let us count the ways:

Read more

One of the first decisions many freelancers, consultants and entrepreneurs face after moving to Spain has nothing to do with visas or housing.

It’s much simpler.

How should you invoice your clients?

Should you register as an autónomo, Spain’s version of self-employment? Or should you create a Sociedad Limitada (SL)—the equivalent of a limited liability company (LLC)?

It’s a question we receive constantly from readers of The Bubble. Every time we publish an article about freelancing, taxes or entrepreneurship in Spain, our inbox fills with variations of the same dilemma.

To help answer it, we sat down with Héctor López Vázquez, global head of corporate law at Lexidy, an international law firm that helps entrepreneurs, freelancers and international professionals establish themselves in Spain.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this guide:

✅ Should you register as an autónomo or set up a Sociedad Limitada (SL)?

✅ When opening a company actually starts making financial sense.

✅ Do companies really pay less tax than freelancers?

✅ How much does it actually cost to incorporate a company in Spain?

✅ The biggest legal advantage most freelancers overlook.

✅ What changes if you work with international clients.

✅ The mistakes founders make when starting a business with partners.

✅ Whether Hacienda treats companies and autónomos differently.

✅ Our practical decision framework to help you choose the right structure.

The short answer

If you’re just getting started…

➡️ Register as an autónomo.

If your business begins generating significant revenue—or you’re building something bigger…

➡️ Consider opening a company.

The key is understanding when that transition makes sense.

Start simple

One of the biggest misconceptions, according to Héctor, is that people think they need to choose between one option or the other.

In reality, many businesses do both.

His recommendation is straightforward:

• Register as an autónomo first.

• Start invoicing clients immediately.

• Once your business has proven itself, transition into a company if it makes financial and legal sense.

Setting yourself up as an autónomo can often be completed in 24–48 hours, meaning you can start invoicing almost immediately.

The €50,000 rule

If there’s one number worth remembering, it’s this:

€50,000

According to Héctor, this is roughly the net revenue level where opening a company starts becoming financially attractive. As with most tax thresholds, the number is a signal to start the conversation, not a guarantee; your specific numbers and structure are what actually decide the outcome.

Why?

Because Spain’s personal income tax becomes increasingly steep as your income rises.

Companies, meanwhile, pay:

• 15% corporate tax during their first two years (provided you’re starting a genuinely new business). Whether that reduced rate actually applies to your case depends on the specific, it’s the kind of detail worth confirming with an adviser before you assume it does.

• 25% afterwards

That doesn’t automatically mean everyone earning €50,000 should incorporate.

But it is the moment when you should begin running the numbers.

Rule of thumb: Once your business consistently earns around €4,000 net per month, it’s worth speaking to a lawyer or tax adviser.

When should you skip autónomo and create a company from day one?

Revenue isn’t the only consideration.

Héctor says he’d often recommend incorporating immediately if:

Read more

🇪🇸 The Bubble is Spain's #1 English-language, bestselling newsletter. We offer paid subscriptions, and we’d be thrilled to have your support!

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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend

It’s Friday again!

Well, the unthinkable has happened. The World Cup final this Sunday is Spain vs. Argentina, and Jesus Christ, we really hope Spain wins, or we can guarantee that we will never hear the end of it. Of course, may the best one win, etc, but this weekend our heart is with La Roja.

• Yes, yes. Technically, The Bubble started as a publication in Argentina (we operated there for eight years), and there will always be a special place for the albiceleste in our memories. But when forced to make a choice, we want Spain to win (besides, Argentina already has three. They should leave something for the rest.) We’re keeping our fingers crossed. Hope to see you at Cibeles this Sunday!

• Last but not least, Episode 3 of The Bubble Podcast is out! We talk about how the far-right may be part of the next national government and how to make friends in Spain. Enjoy!

Happy weekend!

1. ⚽️ Watch Spain vs. Argentina on Sunday night (and pray. Like, a lot)

This is it, people. The Grand Finale. The fate of the universe hangs in the balance with Spain and Argentina clashing on Sunday night in a historic World Cup final match. Will we get a second star? Will Argentina get its fourth and then brag about it annoyingly for decades? Unclear. One thing is certain, though: such a once-in-a-lifetime event cannot be enjoyed in the comfort of your living room.

• We live together; we die together. Air conditioners be damned, you need to leave your house on Sunday night and hold hands with a stranger as you suffer through those 90 minutes + plus two idiotic commercial breaks “hydration pauses” and one very infuriating “30-minute halftime show” featuring Shakira, Madonna, and God knows who else.

If you’re gonna suffer, better do it in public. So our recommendations are:

• Madrid Río. The city is again stepping up with giant screens at Puente del Rey, turning the riverbank into an open-air fan zone with two massive screens, placed right in the center of the bridge, so you can actually see what’s going on (a nice perk) while being surrounded by up to 15,000 people.

• Bring a flag (ideally a Spanish flag, not an Argentine flag unless you want to die get booed) and prepare to chant every time Spain gets near the goal. To trade insults with your Argentine/Spanish frenemies, here's a primer.

• Not near Madrid Río? You’ve still got the usual options: Plaza Colón (our fave with room for 20,000 people!), Rita’s, Oasiz, Retiro’s Florida Park, Movistar Arena and Autocines Madrid are all setting up big screens. If you’re looking for “I’m freaking out, please hug me” energy, we suggest Plaza Colón or Puente del Rey.

And if when we win? Well, two things: 1) Tell your boss you’re not going to the office on Monday, 2) head over to Cibeles with the rest of the country and celebrate until you pass out. See you on the other side!

🖥️ What: Spain vs Argentina (World Cup Final Match) on giant screens

📍 Where: Puente del Rey and Plaza Colón, Madrid

📅 When: July 19. Kick-off at 9:00 p.m. (arrive early)

🎟 Tickets: Free admission

2. 🎵 Free concerts, foam parties, and lots of fiestas hit Chamberí this weekend

Do you have time to think about anything other than football, aka soccer? Good! Chamberí is throwing its own little summer party this weekend with the Fiestas del Carmen, and it’s organizing free concerts with food and at least one very Spanish lineup. Never heard of them? Doesn’t matter! It’s all about the partying.

• Today is the official big start. Samantha Vallejo-Nágera kicks things off with the pregón at 8 p.m. in Plaza de Chamberí, which is basically the “okay, now the party has started” moment. Then comes The Music Show orchestra at 9 p.m., Siempre Así at 11 p.m., and DJ Mike Fajardo keeping things going from 12:45 a.m. So yes, expect Chamberí to be louder than usual.

• Saturday gets more local (and then nostalgic). The Decrolers play at 1 p.m., followed later by Grupo Grupo at 8:30 p.m. and Yacaré at 9:15 p.m. But the main event is Tam Tam Go at 10:45 p.m., for anyone (definitely not you) who enjoys a proper throwback and pretending they “just happened to know all the lyrics”. The night ends with Barce DJing from 12:30 a.m.

• Sunday is the wind-down, but not exactly quiet. Revlover, the official Revólver tribute band, plays at 8:30 p.m., and Los Inspectores close the fiestas at 10:30 p.m. with crowd-friendly covers. It sucks for all of these people because the game will be on, but… how could they know? Let’s try to support them, shall we?

• Someone please, think of the children: Sunday goes full summer mode on Calle de Fuencarral with magic and science at 11 a.m., foam parties at 12 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., plus a mini-disco musical at 12:30 p.m. So yeah, fun times for them too.

Pro tips. Go early if you’re bringing kids, check whether activities need prior registration, and remember: free neighborhood fiestas are best enjoyed with patience, comfortable shoes, and low expectations for personal space.

🖥️ What: Fiestas del Carmen de Chamberí 2026

📍 Where: Plaza de Chamberí, Centro Cultural Galileo and Calle de Fuencarral, Madrid

📅 When: July 17, 18 & 19

🎟 Tickets: Free (some activities require prior registration or ticket collection)

🍷 Create. Sip. Connect. An exclusive evening for Friends of The Bubble:

Want to get your hands dirty and explore your creativity? We’re hosting an exclusive Wine & Ceramics Night for all our subscribers, led by Senda Cerámica founder Felipe Ponce. (Our paid subscribers get priority access!)

• Forget copying a bowl from a pottery class. This evening is all about experimenting with clay, exploring your creativity, and meeting other members of The Bubble community over wine and cheese.

📍 Where: Senda Cerámica Studio, Calle Torrecilla del Leal 7, Lavapiés

📅 When: July 22, 7 p.m.

🎟️ Open to all subscribers · Paid subscribers get priority access · Limited spots · First come, first served.

To reserve your place, email social@thebubble.com.

3. 📸 Ouka Leele, the Movida and Madrid’s modern myths take over Alcalá 31

What better way to calm your nerves than an exhibit about the 80s? Sala Alcalá 31 has just opened Mitologías modernas: Ouka Leele & Co, a very Madrid exhibition about mythology and the kind of 80s creativity (including La Movida Madrileña) that made the city feel like it had no rules.

• The whole thing starts with Spanish photographer Ouka Leele. More specifically, with Rapelle toi, Barbara!, her iconic 1987 shoot at the Cibeles fountain, which somehow turned one of Madrid’s most photographed spots into a mythological stage set. From there, the show looks at how artists of the Nueva Figuración and the Movida used classical myths to make sense of a city changing very, very fast.

• And yes, the lineup is strong. There are more than 100 works by Ouka Leele, El Hortelano, Ceesepe, Carlos Franco, Sigfrido Martín Begué, Guillermo Pérez Villalta, Dis Berlin, Pablo Sycet, Carlos Alcolea, Costus, Patricia Gadea and many other names you never heard of (so you should get to know them).

• The exhibit includes paintings, photos, drawings, performance-related pieces, and a lot of that sweet spot between ancient gods, underground comics, fanzines, pop culture and post-Transition Madrid.

• The point is seeing how those artists borrowed from mythology, art history, romanticism, and street culture to build a new visual language for Madrid. Which sounds fancy, but also: it’s free, central, and indoors. A holy trinity in July.

And if you’re near Cibeles afterward, you’ll probably look at the fountain a little differently.

🖥️ What: Mitologías modernas: Ouka Leele & Co

📍 Where: Sala Alcalá 31, Calle de Alcalá, 31, Madrid

📅 When: Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m.–8:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

🎟 Tickets: Free

4.💦 ‘Get wet and disarm fascism!’: Vallecas’ legendary water war ‘Batalla Naval’ is back

Madrid may not have a beach, but Vallecas has never really accepted that. This Sunday afternoon, the Batalla Naval de Vallekas is back, turning the Bulevar de Vallecas into a full-on water war with buckets, water guns, soaked T-shirts, and the eternal neighborhood demand: a seaport for Vallecas (spoiler alert: that may never happen).

• Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like. A massive street water battle that started in 1981, when a few young people at the Fiestas del Carmen decided the only reasonable response to July in Madrid was to open the hydrants and drench everyone nearby (and this was even before climate apocalypse change!).

• It’s still one of the city’s weirdest, funniest, and most genuinely local summer traditions. And it’s not just chaos with water pistols. The Batalla Naval has always mixed party energy with protest spirit, so this year they are protesting against “fascist nations” around the world.

• Organized by the Cofradía Marinera de Vallekas, the event keeps that old utopian joke alive — Vallecas as a port city — while also using the day to make a neighborhood statement.

• Sunday is the big day. The battle closes the Fiestas del Carmen in Puente de Vallecas, alongside the final party atmosphere, concerts, and fireworks with big crowds, noise and water everywhere. Trust us, you will get wet.

Wear clothes you don’t care about, protect your phone and valuables like it’s a state secret, bring water to drink as well as to throw, and don’t show up expecting a cute little splash. This is Vallecas. They commit.

🖥️ What: Batalla Naval de Vallekas 2026

📍 Where: Bulevar de Vallecas / Calle Peña Gorbea, Puente de Vallecas, Madrid

📅 When: July 19, 4:30 p.m.

🎟 Tickets: Free

5. 🖼️ The Thyssen opens late and free for your Saturday culture fix

Not sure what to do this Saturday night? The Thyssen Museum has the answer: Noches Thyssen is a Saturday night free-entry slot for temporary exhibitions, which basically turns “I’m nervous about tomorrow’s game” into a very easy win.

• The idea is simple. Every Saturday from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., the museum opens its temporary exhibition rooms for free, giving you two hours of art after dinner and before pretending you had bigger night-out plans. It’s central and air-conditioned so you can’t complain.

• This Saturday’s main excuse is Carmen Laffón. The Thyssen is currently showing Carmen Laffón. Variaciones, a retrospective of the Sevillian artist’s quiet, luminous world: landscapes, domestic objects, Doñana, Sanlúcar, salt flats, soft light, and the kind of everyday scenes that somehow make you feel like you should be whispering.

• Noches Thyssen feels like a grown-up Madrid plan without requiring grown-up levels of organization. You go late, you get in free, you see something good, and you still have time for a drink after.

Book or check availability in advance, arrive before 9 p.m. if you don’t enjoy queues, and don’t treat the two-hour window like Spanish punctuality is going to help you. It closes at 11 p.m. sharp.

🖥️ What: Noches Thyssen

📍 Where: Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Paseo del Prado, 8, Madrid

📅 When: July 18, 9–11 p.m.

🎟 Tickets: Free

📺 What to watch if you are too nervous to watch the game this weekend…

🖥️ What: Miguel Ángel Blanco: The 48 Hours That Changed Spain | Documentary | 2026

📍Where to watch: Netflix

❓What’s it about: In July, 1997, the terrorist group ETA kidnapped and murdered a young Basque politician after giving the authorities 48 hours to save him. The documentary follows the frantic two days that paralyzed the country, as thousands marched demanding his release and the government refused to negotiate with the kidnappers.

🤩 Why you should watch: Because it’s a case that left a mark in Spain (ask a Spaniard what they were doing when the news broke; they all remember it) and it’s a part of Spanish history you should know. Journalist Jon Sistiaga narrates the documentary and includes statements from Blanco’s family, former PM José María Aznar and even King Felipe VI.

💬 English Subtitles: Yes.

🖥️ What: An Island Away From You | Movie | 2026

📍Where to watch: HBO Max

❓What’s it about: A heartbroken chef spends a vacation with his best friend in Gran Canaria. There he falls in love with the island, its people, its beaches, and its food - but what he didn't expect was to fall for his best friend's father.

🤩 Why you should watch: Because it's a feel-good rom-com that treats its same-sex couple's love as just... love, no conflict required, which is still rare for the genre. It also doubles as a love letter to the Canary Islands, weaving real local culture and legend into the story instead of just using it as a backdrop. If you want something warm, breezy, and a little different from the usual rom-com formula, this delivers.

💬 English Subtitles: Yes.

💃🏻 Places to try this weekend…

🇲🇽 El Bajío brings Michelin-level Mexican cooking to Madrid

What’s it about: A Salamanca outpost of El Bajío, the storied Mexican restaurant founded in Mexico City in 1972 by chef Carmen "Titita" Ramírez Degollado. This is its first European spot. It's traditional Mexican cooking done with real rigor: panuchos yucatecos, huarache con solomillo, mole Xico and empanadas de plátano macho.

Why you should go: Because it earned a spot in the Michelin Guide España 2025 within months of opening, and because Ferran and Albert Adrià have publicly admired this kitchen for years. The space itself helps, but the real draw is a menu that respects ingredients, cooking times, and generations of tradition rather than chasing trend-driven "Mexican" clichés.

Bottom line: One of the most authentic, well-regarded Mexican restaurants in Madrid, backed by serious pedigree and a genuinely warm setting.

Address: Calle Juan Bravo, 23, Madrid

☕️ Frutas Prohibidas: Where vegan brunch finally gets specialty coffee to match

What’s it about: A 100% plant-based brunch spot in Malasaña that's been running since 2016, pairing an all-day brunch menu with specialty coffee roasted in Madrid. Everything is made in-house, using mostly local, organic, and fair-trade ingredients. The kitchen stays open all day, so there's no rush to catch a "brunch window."

Why you should go: Because it manages the rare trick of being genuinely excellent on two fronts at once — the coffee (rotating beans from Spanish roasters, a confident flat white, an espresso with real body) and the food (creative, fully vegan dishes like the "huevos benedictinos," pulled pork sandos, and açaí bowls).

Bottom line: A standout for anyone who wants specialty coffee and serious plant-based cooking in the same sitting, without either one feeling like an afterthought.

Address: Calle del Conde Duque, 26, Madrid

👨🏻‍💻 Viral Memes of the Week

🤫 Wait, how are the 90s the "good old days"?

👋 Neighbors!

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Oh, brother

🚔 PM Sánchez's brother just made history (for all the wrong reasons)

Just in time for the summer holidays. Spain has never had a prime minister’s brother sentenced by a court before, but hey, there’s a first time for everything. David Sánchez — musician, opera buff, and yes, the little brother of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez — has been banned from holding public office for nine years after being found guilty of “administrative misconduct” related to his hiring in 2017 at the Badajoz Provincial Council for a, um, job that required no work but did come with a paycheck.

• Not just him. Ten (10!) other defendants got the same sentence, while Miguel Ángel Gallardo, the former head of the council and former leader of Extremadura’s Socialist Party, got hit hardest — 18 years for two counts of malfeasance.

• But, but. but. The court ruled out influence peddling, the original core accusation (and one that comes with prison), saying it wasn’t proven. But the nepotism? Apparently yes.

• Is “administrative misconduct” a big deal? Well, it’s certainly another headache for PM Sánchez, that’s for sure. This is the fourth member of his inner circle to be convicted of something in under a year — after his attorney general Álvaro García Ortiz, former minister José Luis Ábalos, and former socialist party bigwig Santos Cerdán — and it comes while his wife, Begoña Gómez, waits to hear if she’ll face trial, and former PM and ally José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is in the midst of a corruption scandal. It’s just not a good look.

How it started. Back in 2016-2017, Badajoz’s council (then run by Sánchez ally Gallardo) created a brand-new high-level post — coordinator of the province’s music conservatories. David Sánchez got it.

• The charge. The court has found that the job was designed with the sole purpose of giving it to the brother of the now-PM (who was just a PSOE grandee then), with an administrative file built afterward to dress the decision in legalese.

• Evidence. Emails uncovered by the Civil Guard’s anti-corruption unit (UCO) referred to him internally as “el hermanísimo” (the “supreme brother”). In 2022, the job got renamed “Head of the Performing Arts Office,” which the court says was really just a tailor-made adjustment so he could keep pursuing his opera career without showing up to an office.

Not a great look. David Sánchez took the stand at trial and, by most accounts, didn’t do himself any favors. As we all saw in those cringe-inducing videos, his statement barely shed any light on how he actually landed the job. Oh, and at one point, he struggled to explain what his daily responsibilities were.

• No defense. Since he refused to say much during the trial, the prosecutors’ star witnesses, two UCO officers who’d spent months poring over intercepted emails, went largely unchallenged.

Official response. Fury, basically. The PSOE’s line, echoed by ministers and regional leaders, is that this is a “hunt” against the PM via his family. Transport Minister and Sánchez pit bull Óscar Puente called it an attempt to “topple a government that can’t be beaten at the ballot box” (though it has been very eager to avoid the ballot box, but that's another story…).

The right’s reaction. PP boss Alberto Núñez Feijóo, unsurprisingly, is enjoying this one. He called it a “historic” day for Spain’s rule of law, tweeting that “nobody is above the law, whatever family they belong to.”

• Who has “mafia” on their bingo card? Far-right Vox’s Santiago Abascal, never one for subtlety, called the whole government “a mafia.”

About that “lawfare” thing. Legally, David Sánchez wasn’t found guilty of trading on his brother’s influence. The court explicitly said that the charge wasn’t proven and stressed that nepotism, while ethically rotten, wasn’t automatically a crime unless it fits a specific criminal statute.

• That distinction makes the verdict look goofy to Sánchez supporters. And it’s a card the government is playing. The “lawfare” narrative — the idea that judges and prosecutors are being used as a political weapon against a government — is a belief genuinely held by many PSOE voters and officials.

• But, but, but… David Sánchez’s lawyer says “there’s no reason” to think lawfare had anything to do with the verdict and warns that his client will appeal.

Politically, it won’t change much. It barely matters whether the charge was influence peddling or malfeasance. Sánchez will keep marching ahead with his sights set on postponing elections until the last minute possible (that's mid-2027).

More news below. 👇👇

🔔 Don’t miss the latest episode of The Bubble Podcast!

Episode 3 of The Bubble Podcast is out! We discuss the potential PP-Vox national coalition with political scientist Pablo Simón and whether it’s easy for foreigners to make friends in Spain.

Subscribe and listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube!

💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🛃 Gibraltar and Spain are one again! (Fine, we’re exaggerating)

Back together after all these years! One hundred and seventeen years after it was built by the English, 57 years after it was weaponized by Franco to blockade Gibraltar, and 44 years after it was reopened in part by Prime Minister Felipe González, the verja — the border fence — of Gibraltar is coming down.

• Why? At its root, this is a Brexit fix: Gibraltar voted 96% to stay in the EU in 2016, then found itself stranded outside Schengen when some geniuses in the U.K. decided to leave anyway.

• The treaty. Tuesday in Brussels, EU commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and U.K. Secretary of State Stephen Doughty signed a 1,117-page agreement defining Gibraltar’s post-Brexit relationship with Spain, with Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares and Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabián Picardo watching on. It entered provisional force at midnight.

What changes. The 15,000 Spanish workers who commute into Gibraltar daily no longer have to queue for passport checks at the land border. But Gibraltar still says it’s a self-governing territory, and Spain still wants it back, Albares and Picardo confirmed.

• But, but, but… Gibraltar is now, practically speaking, inside the EU’s Schengen zone. Passport controls have moved to the airport, where Spain’s Policía Nacional will run EU entry/exit checks mirroring the St Pancras model, where French police check Eurostar passengers on British soil.

• No more tax dodging? Gibraltar is also shedding its tax haven status after 35 years: a new VAT starts at 15% and rises to 17% over three years. Making it almost, kind of, a little bit part of Europe.

Boots, yes or no. Picardo had spent years insisting Spanish police on Gibraltarian soil — “boots on the ground” — would never happen. The solution: a joint facility at the airport, straddling the border.

• You say shack, I say policía on The Rock. Picardo calls it the Schengen shack. “The boots will be contained within that,” he said. The mayor of the Spanish town of La Línea was more philosophical. “Everyone has to give a little. And obviously, if you’re going to enter Schengen via a land border with Spain — who is going to check you?” he asked the FT. “The Lithuanian police?”

What’s next? Provisional is the key word. The treaty needs formal ratification by the EU and the U.K. to become permanent. Picardo has said Gibraltarians will also have the right to vote in a referendum on whether to terminate the agreement in the future. History, as they say, is long.

2. 🔥 Why was the fire in Almería so deadly?

The sudden, deadly fire in Almería that claimed 13 victims riveted the eyes of the world, from the U.S. and Britain to France, Australia, and beyond. And as Andalucía dug out from the destruction and identified the victims, a giant question hung over the tragedy: How did such a relatively small fire become so deadly, so quickly?

• What happened. Shortly after 4:30 p.m. on July 9, a fire broke out near Los Gallardos, apparently from a downed electrical wire — though the power companies say the wires weren’t live. In less than two hours, the fire had traveled nearly 10 miles.

• Victims. By Sunday, when it was finally stabilized, 13 people were dead: four British, three Belgian, one French, one Spanish, and three still unidentified — most of them foreign retirees in isolated hillside homes around Bédar, a village of 973 residents, more than half of them foreign.

A small fire. The fire burned between 3,200 and 7,000 hectares — a fraction of the dozen-plus Spanish fires exceeding 20,000 hectares since 1968. So what caused such a tragedy?

• The weather. An El País analysis shows a rare triple combination — 38°C, 12% humidity, wind gusts above 40 km/h — matched only twice in all Julys recorded since 2015. Spain’s minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, said the fire advanced at 100 meters per minute: “We have never seen such ferocity here.”

• No warning. Andalusian authorities did not activate the national mobile alert system, saying different areas needed different instructions and it couldn’t target scattered communities precisely enough. Many foreign residents — isolated, some with limited Spanish — turned to Facebook groups instead. Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt, the son of Stanislas, a Belgian victim, was blunt: “The people who died did not disobey any order because no order was given.” (Andaluz authorities say some residents ignored evacuation instructions.)

• The trap. Seven victims followed what seemed like an escape route from El Curato — actually a dead-end track a beekeeper used to tend his hives. They were found at four in the morning. Two survived with serious injuries.

• The deeper problem. Bédar’s hillsides are full of isolated homes — many built by British immigrants over decades, some legally, some less so, in areas with no mandatory evacuation plans. Locals also say they’ve been blocked or fined for clearing brush. One neighbor’s goats, grazing the hillsides all year, apparently contained the fire where the authorities didn’t, or wouldn’t.

In Bédar. The town has opened an emergency office to help survivors with paperwork and claims. Hunters and volunteers are laying food and water across the scorched hillsides for surviving wildlife — tortoises, which cannot outrun fire, are being collected. Three bodies remain unidentified. “About the fire,” the village pharmacist said, “there is only one thing to talk about: those who are gone.”

3. 🇫🇷 Former PM Rajoy apologizes to no one, fools!

Former PM Mariano Rajoy (2011 to 2018) has a talent for opening his mouth and stuffing his foot in it. For example, last week, days before Spain played France in the World Cup semifinal, he managed to offend an entire country with half a sentence, outdoing himself once again.

• Mouth, meet foot. In his regular column for El Debate, Rajoy praised France’s squad as playing at “a very high level”, but added “sin franceses.” Without French people.

• An explanation for the hard of thinking: he meant the French national team doesn’t really count as French. Is it because, uhm, many of the players don’t look like they belong to the Gallic Roman Empire? 🤔 Unclear. Actually, clear. To us (and, honestly, many others), there was only one way to read it: skin color and family history define who is French.

• Fun fact. 23 of the team's 26 players were born in France. The other three are naturalized French citizens. So, what's up? Hmmm. Many are of African ancestry. Maybe that was it? Again: 🤔

Whoopsie. Once the column was published, it caught fire on both sides of the Pyrenees. Turns out such, ahem, “controversial” logic is the same as the far-right Front National used back in 1998.

• Jean-Marie Le Pen’s far-right party back then dismissed France’s World Cup-winning squad (Zidane, Thuram, Desailly, Vieira) as not representing the “real” France because too many players were Black or descended from immigrants from former French colonies. Faux pas!

How things have changed. This time, everyone in France — yes, including the far right — was furious. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that “France doesn’t have a skin color,” adding that any claim otherwise is “stupidity, racism, or both.” Sacré bleu!

• Spain enters the group chat. PM Pedro Sánchez didn’t hold back from taking an easy layup on the guy he tossed out of office, posting that Spain “belongs to whoever loves it and works for it, not to whoever embarrasses it with xenophobic statements.”

• Easy shots. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares demanded PP leader Feijóo publicly disown Rajoy. Transport Minister Óscar Puente (aka Sánchez's social media troll) called Rajoy a “post-Francoist idiot” (because when in doubt, say "Franco").

Relax, guy! The PP, not being good at easy things, instead ran defense. Spokesperson Borja Sémper insisted the comment was “sarcastic.” Now, that argument raises an obvious question: sarcastic about what, exactly? The PP never actually explained what the joke was supposed to be; they just kept repeating that it was one. Haha? 🤔

• What Rajoy said next. After Spain beat France to reach the final, Rajoy wrote a follow-up column — praising France’s team, praising Spain’s team, and notably not apologizing for anything.

• Look over there. Instead, he accused the Spanish government of manufacturing outrage to “distract attention” from things that actually matter to Spaniards, complaining that officials had preferred to “snitch to a foreign minister” (⁉️).

We’re not sure Rajoy knows how the internet works. Actually, we're sure he doesn't.

4. 💩 TV meltdown ends with journalist saying she’d ‘rather eat sh*t’

What is happening? Spanish TV had an awkward moment last weekend that nobody saw coming — with a panelist breaking down in tears, quoting Gabriel García Márquez, and walking off set mid-broadcast.

• What happened. During Saturday night’s Malas Lenguas, journalist Marta Gómez Montero told host Jesús Cintora she wouldn’t answer his question, said she felt humiliated, started crying, and then delivered the quote of the week.

• Woah. Invoking the ending of García Márquez’s No One Writes to the Colonel, where a starving woman asks her husband what they’ll eat and he answers “shit”, she told Cintora she’d rather eat shit than be humiliated by him again. Then she got up and left the studio, live, mid-show. Epic 🎤-drop.

What is Malas Lenguas, anyway? It’s Cintora’s political talk show on La 2 (TVE’s second public channel), built around a panel of journalists and commentators hashing out the day’s news — usually all talking at the same time, Spanish tertulia style.

• Awkward. On the Saturday night edition (which has been climbing the primetime ratings), Cintora asks uncomfortable questions meant to generate friction.

Montero snaps. The topic was Feijóo’s recent comments on labor absenteeism (which we covered last week). Montero, who leans conservative, was defending a softer reading of his remarks, insisting he’d only targeted fraudulent sick leave, not sick workers generally.

• When Cintora pushed the panel on Feijóo’s harder line about Spain being a “subsidized country,” Montero seemed visibly tense. Then the dam broke, with Montero giving an exhausted admission that she’d tolerated this “to pay the bills” and “for her kids” and couldn’t anymore.

• Cintora’s response could have been better. “What’s wrong with you, Marta? She’s decided to leave — she’ll know why,” he told the camera before moving on to the next panelist as if nothing had happened.

• Cintora later interrupted the broadcast again as social media reaction exploded, insisting he’d only gestured for Montero to wait her turn and that he didn’t understand what had triggered the reaction — while still inviting her back “with affection.”

We’re sowwy. RTVE president José Pablo López stepped in the next day, posting his own public apology and support for Montero, calling her an excellent professional and person.

• Me too. Cintora also posted a public apology on X, calling Montero “a good journalist and colleague” and saying the show’s doors remained open to her.

• Opposition chimes in. PP spokesperson Ester Muñoz accused the show of “constant on-air humiliation and mistreatment, paid for with our money,” framing it as punishment for Montero not following a pro-Sánchez line.

Montero returns. On Monday night, she was back, saying, “We’re human, and there are days you have an impulse.” She added she was reassured by López’s and Cintora’s reactions.

• The two shook hands on camera, and the show moved on to its regular news lineup. As far as we know, no one had to eat anything they didn’t want to.

5. 🐂 New movie idea: Joker: Folie à…Bulls?

Fine, we admit it. We tune in every morning to the TV broadcast of the running of the bulls during San Fermín, which is either a beautiful expression of Pamplona culture or a frat party with animals. Usually there’s one doofus who makes it clear he doesn’t know what he’s doing by wearing, like, a ninja costume or by slapping a bull in the head. But this year, that doofus was even doofier. He was…the Joker?

• Wait, what? If you watched the encierros, you couldn’t help but catch sight of a guy with green hair, white face paint, a sinister red smile, and metal teeth. Full-on Joker, Joaquin Phoenix-style. But with the traditional white clothes and red pañuelo, natch.

The Joker’s name is Lacey Mrzena. He’s a social media influencer from Chicago — some version of @straightdroplace on the socials — and he came to Pamplona to run with the bulls dressed as the comic-book supervillain. Which is something he does at a lot of other iconic events and locations (Mardi Gras, mariachis of Garibaldi, etc).

Dedicated prankster. Mrzena tried to run every single encierro at this year’s San Fermines. (There are eight, for non-obsessives.) He also ran the vaquillas afterward, where a young cow knocked him to the ground on day four, to sustained crowd applause.

• Not everyone was amused. Thing is, the San Fermines have rules, and Lacey didn’t follow them. On day five, he filmed himself next to a bull’s horns (filming is a big no-no because it’s, um, dangerous as shit for you and everyone else), got fined up to €6,000 and banned from the next run, ruining his goal of eight. Then, on day seven, he climbed onto a balcony on the Plaza Consistorial and was pulled down by the police.

• Lynch mob (not quite). After the final encierro, local runners confronted him in the street — “You’re a stupid boy. This is serious” — and police stepped in and detained him before the crowd turned. While being led away, he pretended he was handcuffed, fell to the street, and started shouting “I can’t breathe” à la George Floyd (in very poor taste, in our opinion).

Lacey’s defense? He was not filming, he said, and was being discriminated against. “Fake news” made him a target, he added. He titled one post “Prison Break 2026” and claimed his costume was justified by “religious and cultural reasons.” (We love Joaquin Phoenix too, but we’re pretty sure that’s not a religion.)

• The dress-up was fine, guy. The encierro ordinance runs eight pages. It bans phones, backpacks, and inappropriate footwear. So he did break the phone rule. But it says nothing about dressing as the Joker.

Here he is, just having his fun:

@straightdroplace1@Marta Armada Ruiz @caanxus @Lola Enríquez #love #spain #straightdroplace

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Corruption scandals continue to pile up around his party, Parliament remains paralysed by political deadlock, and most polls suggest a PP–Vox coalition could become Spain’s next government.

But is that really inevitable?

This week on The Bubble Podcast, we sit down with one of Spain’s best-known political scientists, Pablo Simón, to unpack what lies ahead for Spanish politics—and what it means for everyone living, working or investing in Spain.

Listen, watch and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you enjoy the show, leave us a rating, review or comment. It helps more people discover The Bubble and allows us to keep making episodes that explain life in Spain.

💼 Autónomo or company?

But that’s not all.

We also answer one of the questions we receive most often from readers:

Should you register as an autónomo or set up a company in Spain?

Together with Héctor López Vázquez, Head of Corporate Law at Lexidy, we explain the differences, tax implications and common mistakes that freelancers and entrepreneurs should know before getting started.

And finally…

🍻 Making friends in Spain

Why is making friends in Spain sometimes harder than people expect?

We discuss Spanish social culture, why dinner parties aren’t really a thing, whether it’s normal to talk to strangers at a bar, and what newcomers often misunderstand about building friendships here.

This episode is brought to you by Lexidy, helping founders and companies navigate the legal side of doing business in Spain.

Hosted by Adrián Bono, Ian Mount and Ignacio de los Reyes.

We’d love to hear from you.

• Do you think Spain is heading towards a PP–Vox government?

• If you’re an entrepreneur, are you registered as an autónomo or do you run a company?

• And if you’ve moved to Spain, what’s been the biggest surprise about making friends here?

  Leave us a comment below

  

🚨 Welcome to Props — The Bubble's real estate newsletter. You're here because Spanish real estate is fascinating, insane, occasionally enraging, and — if you have a little money and play it right — profitable. Every week we bring you the data, the deals, the people making it happen, and the ones making it worse.

So sit back and enjoy! And send your tips, comments, suggestions, and all-cash offers to ian@thebubble.com.

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As sales slow, prices will _____

We banged on about this last week. And in our inaugural edition.

The number of home sales is slumping, dropping 7.6% in May compared to the same month a year ago, for the fifth monthly drop in a row.

The question is when a slowdown in sales translates into a slowdown in prices. Every increase in prices, or in interest rates, pushes more potential buyers out of the market — and, as we'll see, investors too. And yet the prices keep rising.

Let's dive into what's holding the market up — and what could finally bring it down:

Read more

🇪🇸 The Bubble is Spain's #1 English-language, bestselling newsletter. We offer paid subscriptions, and we’d be thrilled to have your support!

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Here Are 6 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend

It’s Friday again!

Look alive, people! Spain is one game away from the World Cup semis, and the city is turning into a big, slightly anxious watch party today. On top of that, Mad Cool is taking over Villaverde with one of its strongest lineups in years. And when you need to refuel? We’ve found you spots that actually deliver. Just scroll down.

• Last but not least, Episode 2 of The Bubble Podcast is out! We talk about true crime (maybe), how to enjoy this summer’s verbenas, and mistakes foreigners make when moving to Spain.

Happy weekend!

1. ⚽️ Watch Spain vs. Belgium tonight (and root for La Roja, duh)

Alright, everyone. Spain is through to the World Cup quarter-finals after knocking out Portugal — and now shit is getting real comes a proper test: Belgium. Madrid is turning into a collective living room this evening, and it will be loud and hot. Have a few cold beers ready to calm your anxiety, and if you want the full emotional breakdown experience, skip the sofa and go outside.

• Madrid Río is again stepping up with giant screens at Puente del Rey, turning the riverbank into an open-air fan zone and adding two massive screens this time, placed right in the center of the bridge, so you can actually see what’s going on (a nice perk) while being surrounded by thousands of fans.

• Bring a flag (ideally a Spanish flag, unless you want to die get booed) and prepare to chant every time Spain gets near the goal.

• Not near Madrid Río? You’ve still got the usual options: Plaza Colón (our fave!), Rita’s, Oasiz, and Autocines Madrid are all setting up big screens. If you’re looking for “I’m freaking out, please hug me” energy, we suggest Plaza Colón or Puente del Rey.

Remember to light up a candle for la virgencita tonight. We’re getting close.

🖥️ What: Spain vs Belgium (World Cup quarter-final) on giant screens

📍 Where: Puente del Rey and Plaza Colón, Madrid

📅 When: July 10. Kick-off at 9:00 p.m. (arrive early)

🎟 Tickets: Free admission

2. 🎸 Mad Cool Festival takes over Madrid

Not into the football madness? Fret now, fellow weirdo… Mad Cool (aka Madrid’s coolest music festival of the year) is back for its 10th anniversary, and the city turns into a four-day music marathon this week (but let’s be honest, you’re reading this on Friday morning, so this is all about what’s happening tonight and tomorrow).

• Friday is packed with cool artists. You’ve got Twenty One Pilots and Kings of Leon headlining, which already guarantees a packed crowd screaming every lyric like it’s 2013 again. But the real problem? The clashes. Pixies, Halsey, Interpol, even A Perfect Circle — at some point, you will miss something you wanted to see, and you will complain about it later. Consider it part of the experience.

• Saturday, though, is when things get even cooler, darker, and more iconic. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are closing the whole thing, and if you’ve ever seen him live, you know this is more than just “a concert”. Add Pulp, The Black Crowes, Kasabian, and David Byrne, and you’ve got a lineup that looks great on the ‘gram.

Mad Cool is known for multiple reasons: the dust, overpriced beers, long walks between stages, and seeing your favorite band at 7:30 p.m. while waiting for someone else.

• Pro tips. Wear comfortable shoes, pick your non-negotiables in advance, and accept that everything else is improvisation.

🖥️ What: Mad Cool Festival 2026

📍 Where: Iberdrola Music, Calle Laguna Dalga and Avenida Real de Pinto Villaverde, Madrid

📅 When: July 10 & 11

🎟 Tickets: From €89 (day pass) — still available online

3. 🏺 Meet the artists shaping Madrid’s contemporary ceramics scene.

If your mental image of Spanish ceramics is a blue-and-white plate with “Madrid” written across it… this is your chance to completely reset it.

For one evening only, Senda Cerámica Studio is opening its doors for a pop-up exhibition that offers a glimpse into Madrid’s creative community. Established artists, emerging creators, and students will all be exhibiting together, surrounded by sculptural lighting, contemporary ceramics, flowers, music, and a glass of wine rather than a museum where you’re afraid to breathe too loudly.

• Felipe Ponce, the Chilean artist behind Senda Cerámica, presents a collection of lamps and sculptures inspired by the Atacama Desert, weathered minerals, and objects that look as though they’ve been unearthed after centuries underground. His work deliberately embraces cracks, erosion, and imperfection, turning brand-new clay into pieces that already feel full of history.

• This is where Madrid’s creative community comes together. Alongside Felipe’s work, you’ll find paintings by Isabel Moltó, a floral installation by Carlos Domínguez, bites by chef María Granda, music from DJ Zalo Gálvez, and sculptures by Senda Studio’s students — architects, designers, creatives, and first-time ceramicists learning to work with clay side by side.

• Unlike most exhibitions, you can actually take a piece home. Everything on display is available to buy, from Felipe’s sculptural lamps to one-of-a-kind ceramic works created by the artists and the studio’s community. So whether you’re looking for something unique for your apartment or simply an excuse to discover one of Lavapiés’ most creative corners, this is a pretty good way to spend a Friday evening.

Some of Madrid’s best creative events aren’t the ones with queues around the block — they’re the ones where you leave having met the artist.

🖥️ What: Senda Cerámica Studio - Pop-up exhibition & contemporary ceramics showcase

📍 Where: Casa Madre, Calle Esperanza 5, Lavapiés

📅 When: Saturday, July 11, 7 p.m. – 11 p.m.

🎟️ Tickets: Free admission

🍷 Create. Sip. Connect. An exclusive evening for Friends of The Bubble:

Want to get your hands dirty and explore your creativity? We’re hosting an exclusive Wine & Ceramics Night for paid subscribers, led by Senda Cerámica founder Felipe Ponce.

• Forget copying a bowl from a pottery class. This evening is all about experimenting with clay, exploring your creativity, and meeting other members of The Bubble community over wine and cheese.

📍 Where: Senda Cerámica Studio, Calle Torrecilla del Leal 7, Lavapiés

📅 When: July 22, 7 p.m.

🎟️ Paid subscribers only · Limited spots · First come, first served.

To reserve your place, email social@thebubble.com.

4.🎺 Whatever: Old-school jazz, Madrid-style (and it’s free)

If your idea of a perfect Friday isn’t a sweaty festival crowd but something a little cooler (literally and culturally), this one’s for you. Whatever Jazz Band is bringing their proper 1920s jazz energy to Madrid, to remind you of New Orleans, Chicago, smoky bars, and what good music is supposed to sound like.

• Before you ask, this isn’t a “modern jazz with a twist” situation. These guys are fully committed to the classics: Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Johnny Dodds. These guys not only play the kind of music that built everything that came after, but they also recreate it in the same style, same arrangements, and same vibe.

• The band is a mix of international musicians based in Madrid, all deep into traditional jazz, with backgrounds in different swing and dixieland projects (which means they know what they are doing). They play trumpet, clarinet, and banjo, which makes them sound like the kind of band that no longer exists (they do).

Oh, and good news: it’s outdoors; it’s free. Don’t miss it. You’ll likely go there for 15 minutes and stay there all night.

🖥️ What: Whatever Jazz Band (Dixieland)

📍 Where: Avenida del Presidente Carmona, 3, Madrid

📅 When: July 10, 9 p.m.

🎟 Tickets: Free

5. 🎭 Las Que Gritan is a play about family therapy and what happens when it goes wrong

Have you managed to polish your Spanish yet? Because honestly, it’s time you started going to a play here. Especially because this one feels a bit too real (but still funny enough to handle). Las que gritan, at Teatro Maravillas, might hit closer to home than you’d like.

• The premise is simple. A mother decides to organize a weekend getaway with her three daughters so they can reconnect, talk things through, and, you know, get along. Except it all goes very wrong.

• What follows is a full emotional unpacking disguised as a comedy. Old tensions resurface, things that were never said finally come out, and suddenly this wholesome family retreat turns into absolute drama.

• The tone jumps all over the place — one minute it’s genuinely funny, the next it’s brutal, then it’s surreal, in an effort to reflect what family dynamics are actually like: messy and unpredictable.

Also worth noting: the cast is stacked, and the staging leans more experimental than your typical commercial comedy, so expect something a bit sharper than your average night at the theater.

🎭 What: Las que Gritan

📍 Where: Teatro Maravillas, Calle Manuela Malasaña 6, Madrid

📅 When: Through Aug. 30

🎟 Tickets: From €22

6. 🇵🇷 A colorful deep dive into Puerto Rico’s identity, pop culture, and its complicated relationship with the U.S.

Looking for something a bit more… intellectual (but still super-fun)? This one’s worth your time. Casa de América is hosting a new exhibition by Puerto Rican artist Bernardo Medina, and it’s 100% worth visiting.

• This exhibit plays with a very specific tension: Puerto Rico and the U.S. Not in a textbook way, but through irony, symbolism, and a lot of pop culture references that work on multiple levels. You’ll walk in thinking “this looks cool” and walk out quietly questioning history, identity, and the concept of cultural influence.

• You’ll see plátanos turned into cultural symbols, reworked Campbell’s soup cans (yes, Goya beans), and even traditional toy horses. Medina calls his style “jíbaro pop” (basically Caribbean pop art), and he mixes identity, politics, and culture into something that feels light on the surface but isn’t really.

Go, wander, think a bit, then grab a drink nearby and keep thinking about what you just saw.

🖥️ What: Bernardo Medina “Tengo un Coco Contigo” Exhibition

📍 Where: Casa de América, Plaza de Cibeles 2, Madrid

📅 When:Through Sept. 30

🎟 Tickets: Free admission

📺 What to watch if you are staying in this weekend…

🖥️ What: Torrente for President (Torrente Presidente) | Movie | 2026

📍Where to watch: Netflix

❓What’s it about: The sixth installment of a satirical comedy that pokes fun at Spanish social and political stereotypes, featuring parodies of real events and special guest appearances from the political sphere. Torrente is the typical racist, homophobic, misogynist “cuñao” who is suddenly tapped by far-right party “Nox” (lol) to run for office. Hilarity ensures.

🤩 Why you should watch: Because it’s the perfect movie for those who follow Spanish politics and will get every single joke related to the current scandals affecting Vox, PSOE, PP and all the others. It includes multiple cameos from Spanish politicians, celebrities, journalists, a former Spanish PM (seriously), and even Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey (no, seriously).

💬 English Subtitles: Yes. (If you’re easily offended, skip this one).

💃🏻 Places to try this weekend…

🦉 Gallobúho: Coffee by day, cocktails by night — and somehow both actually work

What’s it about: A hybrid café-bar in Madrid that pulls off the rare trick of being genuinely good at both. By day, Gallobúho leans into brunch territory (croissants, cinnamon rolls, yogurt bowls, solid toasts). By night, it flips into a proper bar menu with croquetas, jamón ibérico, mini burgers, and a full spread of shareable plates.

Why you should go: Because the morning menu is tight and actually appealing (the Nordic sandwich with salmon and egg is a standout, and the smoothies are legit), while the evening offering goes beyond basic bar food — there’s brioche de chipirón, and even a 600g entrecôte if you’re going all in.

Bottom line: A rare all-day spot that doesn’t feel like a compromise. Come for brunch, stay for drinks, or just pick your side. Either way, it delivers.

Address: Plaza de las Salesas 7, Madrid

☕️ Urbano: Where Madrid’s coffee snobs actually agree

What’s it about: A proper specialty coffee spot that takes its beans seriously, working with high-quality coffees from places like Colombia and Myanmar, and pairing them with homemade pastries from Sucre that are just as much of a draw as the coffee itself.

Why you should go: Because the coffee menu goes beyond your standard latte (cold brews, filter coffee, pistachio cappuccinos if you’re feeling adventurous), and the sweet side delivers — think almond flour orange cakes or dulce de leche + pistachio combos.

Bottom line: It’s just a very good café that does everything right.

Address: Calle de Santa Bárbara, 8, Madrid

👨🏻‍💻 Viral Memes of the Week

🔥 Ancient Spanish fashion

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