🤤 The Bubble Weekend: April 11
Repent, sinners! The Holy Week is here. Also: Torrijas. Lots of them.
Madrid | Issue #93
🎉 Welcome to a new issue of The Bubble: Weekend Edition!
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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend
It’s Friday again!
We’re a little more than a week away from binge-eating chocolate eggs while pretending we care about religion celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ so don’t be surprised if you run into a virgin being carried on top of a float while heading over to the supermarket. Remember, totally normal.
This weekend is Holy Week Part 1. It all culminates next weekend with the sequel, Holy Week Part 2. There are more exciting things to see then but we won’t spoil it. You’ll have to wait until the next issue.
We at The Bubble very much enjoy this time of the year in Madrid (mostly because of the torrijas, which we cover below) and we hope you will too.
Enjoy!
1. The beginning of the Holy Week in Madrid 2025
It’s that time of the year again! When devout Catholics take to the streets to participate in some of Spain’s most iconic displays of religious tradition. At the same time, tourists from all over the world come to check out the processions, eat some torrijas and marvel at the confraternities. The best part of it is that you don’t have to be Catholic to appreciate the beauty of it. Overall it’s a pretty cool experience (and visually stunning).
From today (Viernes de Dolores or Friday of Sorrows) to Easter Sunday (April 20), Madrid is home to many processions that pass through key locations in the city. One goes through Puerta del Sol, there’s the procession of the Santísimo Cristo del Pozo in Vallecas, the Silent Procession in Carabanchel, or the Nazareno in Villaverde.
Processions are when the so-called brotherhoods (also called confraternities, congregations or guilds) and the costaleros and anderos carry the religious floats through the streets.
The first ones taking place today are the Cristo del Pozo and Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, and that of the Santísimo Cristo del Perdón and María Santísima de la Misericordia. These will be followed by countless others in the city.
As Mayor Almeida says in the event’s official program (download below), this is a unique opportunity to see many religious statues adorned with candles, flowers, and mantles that during the rest of the year remain housed in the city’s basilicas and churches.
There’s live music with trumpets, organs and drums and seasonal culinary specialties like chickpea stew, torrijas or bartolillos, which you can get in many pastry shops and restaurants across the city.
For now, this is what you need to know (more is coming next week). Oh, and remember: the guys on the street wearing the capirotes (those pointy hoods) are not the KKK.
🖥️ What: Madrid’s Holy Week 2025 (Official program in Spanish)
📍 Where: Multiple locations throughout Madrid
📅 When: Through April 20.
🎟 Tickets: Free admission
2. 🥮 The Torrijas Route is back and this is your chance to try them
For those of you newcomers and apostates, this may need some explanation:
Torrijas are the Spanish version of French toast. So, like… Spanish toast? True, you eat them all year round but they are especially in demand during Holy Week.
And rutas (routes), well… we’ve covered many times. It’s when several food venues come together to offer a menu or special dish for a fixed price (usually with a drink!). And since during Easter in Spain you eat torrijas, many pastry shops, bakeries, bars, restaurants and food markets come together to offer their traditional and innovative recipes in the year’s only Ruta de las Torrijas.
There are endless variations of torrijas and they include oreos, dulce de leche, fruit, chocolate and many more! (Drooling yet?)
The basic recipe is simple: you grab a slice of bread that’s going stale, soak it in milk that’s been previously seasoned with cinnamon, lemon or orange peel, heat it and then leave it to rest, and then coat it with egg and fry them in oil. Add some honey or syrup on top and voilà: you just gained weight tried a Spanish delicacy.
Remember, everyone is buying them this week so make sure you get them before they are sold out.
🖥️ What: Ruta de la Torrija
📍 Where: Multiple locations around Madrid
📅 When: Through April 20. Check website for participating venues.
3.🏛️ The Madrid Metropoli Exhibit: Antonio Palacios’ Dream
Ever wondered how Madrid came to be so amazingly beautiful? You can blame Antonio Palacios for that.
This temporary exhibit at the CentroCentro Cultural Center revolves around the concept of the metropolis that was envisioned by architect Antonio Palacios for the city of Madrid.
The exhibit is one of the events celebrating the 150th anniversary of Palacios’ birth and offers a reflection on what was actually built from the architect’s dream.
It highlights the most notable features and values of the buildings that have been preserved to this day and delves into Palacios’ life, his unique architectural style, and the most significant works he created in the city.
The project allows visitors to explore Madrid through the main axes that structured Palacios’ architectural contributions: Calle de Alcalá, the area surrounding Puerta del Sol, Gran Vía, the Prado–Castellana axis, and the construction of the Metro and its connections with the surface (he was a busy guy).
The exhibition goes beyond his four major works—Palacio de Comunicaciones, Hospital de Jornaleros, Banco Español del Río de la Plata, and the Círculo de Bellas Artes—to explore his role in shaping the modern metropolis as we know it today.
Definitely a must-see if you love modern history and architecture.
🖥️ What: Madrid Metropoli
📍 Where: CentroCentro, Plaza de Cibeles 1, Madrid.
📅 When: Through July 6.
🎟 Tickets: Free admission
4.🎭 A play: Lucy Prebble’s El Efecto
Rómulo Assereto and Juan Carlos Fisher adapt this play by Lucy Prebble (writer and executive producer of the hit HBO series Succession), a tragicomedy that explores love, neuroscience, and the ethics of medical experimentation.
At its heart, the play presents a provocative question: is love a genuine human experience or simply a chemical reaction in the brain?
The story follows Connie and Tristan, two volunteers participating in a clinical trial for a new antidepressant. As the experiment progresses, they begin to fall in love but a lingering doubt haunts them: is their connection authentic, or just the result of the drug?
This emotional uncertainty not only challenges their beliefs but also tests the moral boundaries of the doctors conducting the study, who must face difficult questions about manipulating human emotions.
The play stars Alicia Borrachero, Elena Rivera, Itzan Escamilla, and Fran Perea.
🖥️ What: El Efecto
📍 Where: Teatros del Canal, Calle de Cea Bermúdez 1, Madrid
📅 When: Through April 20. Check website for schedule.
🎟 Tickets: €16-€25
5.👗 Rethink Vintage: Pop Up Second Hand Fashion Market
This is great news for bargain hunters and vintage lovers: Madrid’s most popular second-hand fashion event is back this weekend and it’s bringing over ten thousand pre-owned pieces with it.
Rethink Vintage returns to the city this weekend and is turning Calle Aniceto Marinas into a pop-up thrift heaven. Now, this isn’t your typical pop-up market, but rather a European touring phenomenon where you pay by weight (not by tag).
At €35 per kilo (or €3.50 for 100g), that Levi’s jacket or retro Adidas windbreaker might just be the best deal you score all season.
The space is sorted by clothing type, with scales scattered throughout the venue to help you keep track of what you’re spending. And yes, there are fitting rooms so you don’t take home something just hoping it will fit.
Now, it’s important to remember that spots fill up fast, so you’ll need to reserve a ticket on Eventbrite (one per person). It’s the perfect moment to shop smarter, greener, and cheaper.
🖥️ What: Rethink Vintage Pop Up Market
📍 Where: Calle de Aniceto Marinas 10, Madrid.
📅 When: April 12-13.
🎟 Tickets: Free admission (but book quickly)
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🔔 A Message From Our Sponsor
Secret Kingdoms is your English bookstore in Madrid. It specializes in Spanish history and literature, contemporary and classic novels, books for children and young adults of all ages, history and historical fiction, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, biographies and much more.
Located on Calle de Moratín 7 — a few blocks away from the Prado Museum — and with over 20,000 new and used books, Secret Kingdoms has something for everyone.
Find out more at www.thesecretkingdoms.com
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