💃🏻 The Tapa Weekend: February 7
More Chinese New Year celebrations, flamenco ballet and a "bad movies" film festival.
By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | February 7, 2025 | Madrid | Issue #85
🎉 Welcome to a new issue of The Tapa: Weekend Edition! An English-language newsletter about what to do this weekend in Madrid (plus memes!)
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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend
It’s Friday again!
We hope you enjoyed last weekend’s Chinese New Year celebrations in Usera because — you guessed it — it’s not over yet! This week there are multiple options for you. From an amazing flamenco ballet to a photo exhibit on surrealism, Madrid has it all.
Enjoy and let us know how it goes!
1.🇨🇳 Feria del Templo Chino in Plaza España
Thought the Chinese New Year celebrations were over? You were wrong!
The Chinese Temple Fair is celebrating its 12th edition in Plaza de España with some amazing decorations that will illuminate the plaza, creating “a magical atmosphere filled with positive energy”.
This spectacular event is an opportunity for the Chinese and Spanish communities to celebrate the Chinese New Year together, which this year marks the Year of the Snake.
The fair will offer traditional Chinese cuisine at various food stalls, where visitors can try their favorite dishes. The event also features a diverse program of activities such as theatrical performances, live shows, and traditional culture and art exhibits.
The Year of the Snake represents an opportunity to attract wealth, success, and happiness. All things we all desperately need in this miserable Year of our Lord 2025.
So get to downtown Madrid and immerse yourself in Chinese traditions, connect with their symbolism and start the year with hopefully at least one of those three things (fingers crossed for wealth).
Feria del Templo Chino. Plaza de España, Madrid. Feb. 8 & 9. Free admission.
2.💃🏻 Andalucia’s Flamenco Ballet presents: ‘Pineda’
If you’re looking for something more close to home, here’s a great option for you.
The Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía presents a new adaptation of Federico García Lorca’s play Mariana Pineda, which pays tribute to the historical figure of Mariana Pineda, a 19th-century Granadian heroine who became a symbol of the liberal movement against King Fernando VII’s absolutist rule (ooohhhh, history!)
Lorca’s play was originally written between 1923 and 1925 and premiered in 1927, exploring themes of freedom and equality against authoritarianism (so we guess it’s also pretty current, considering the times we’re living in). The narrative focuses on Mariana Pineda’s arrest at the age of 26 for supporting the liberal and democratic cause.
Amid public protests, she was tried and sentenced to death by garrote (just like James Bond in The World Is Not Enough!), cementing her status as a popular icon of resistance against oppression.
The performance is choreographed by Patricia Guerrero, also a native of Granada, and it offers a fresh interpretation that honors Pineda’s legacy as a martyr for freedom.
Founded in 1994, the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía is the official flamenco institution of the region and has been an international ambassador of flamenco art, performing in many countries around the world.
Ballet Flamenco de Andalucia’s Pineda. Centro Danza Matadero, Paseo de la Chopera 14, Madrid. Thursdays to Sundays, through Feb. 16. Check website for schedule. Tickets start at €28.
3.🎥 The Madrid International Trash & Exploitation Film Festival
Oh, here’s a fun one! (Maybe we should have saved that James Bond reference for this one). CutreCon is Madrid’s international festival of terrible cinema, a humorous annual event of ironic consumption that has been running for twelve years.
The five-day festival showcases low-budget films that are “so bad they’re good” (we know a few of those) in lively, interactive screenings designed for maximum audience enjoyment.
But believe us, there’s more. CutreCon goes beyond simply screening films. It hosts world and European premieres and serves as a platform for the revival of cult films, many of which have gained a dedicated following over the years.
Organized by the team behind the long-running Cinecutre cinema and humor website, the festival attracts about 7,000 attendees annually, solidifying its place as a major event in Madrid’s film scene.
The festival offers audiences a unique cinematic experience rarely available in commercial theaters, with films sourced from all corners of the globe. There are also interactive games and live performances, so if you’re a film lover get ready for a hilarious and unforgettable experience.
Cutrecon XIV. Multiple locations around Madrid. Through Feb. 9. Check website for venues and schedules. Tickets: €7.50
4.📷 1924: Otros Surrealismos Photo Exhibit
Yet another cool photo exhibit!
The Fundación Mapfre Sala Recoletos is hosting 1924: Otros Surrealismos, which analyzes the reception and influence of the first Surrealist Manifesto, written by André Breton in 1924.
The exhibit explores the idea that Surrealism took on multiple interpretations and manifestations across different cultural contexts. In 1924, Breton published the First Surrealist Manifesto, and now, 100 years later, this exhibition examines its impact in Spain and the broader Surrealist movement.
It showcases major Surrealist figures with Spanish connections, such as Salvador Dalí and René Magritte while also emphasizing lesser-known creators like José Alemany and Amparo Segarra.
It also highlights how Spanish artists engaged with and contributed to Surrealism, despite the country’s peripheral position in relation to European avant-garde centers. Oh, and it also features the contributions of women to the movement.
The exhibit is curated by Estrella de Diego and is part of the global celebration of Surrealism’s centenary. After its run in Madrid, it will continue at the Hamburger Kunsthalle, in Hamburg, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the U.S.
1924: Otros Surrealismos. Fundación Mapfre, Sala Recoletos, Paseo de los Recoletos 23, Madrid. Through May 11. Check website for schedule. Tickets: €5.
5. 🚂 Mercado de Motores: Fun Times at the Train Station
The Mercado de Motores is back. The second weekend of every month, the Mercado de Motores market takes over the Madrid Railway Museum (which used to be a train station) to bring you live music (see video above), food trucks, vintage clothing, used vinyl and more.
Over 200 designers and entrepreneurs showcase their products—kind of like a flea market but a whole lot better.
Mercado de Motores has been gathering hundreds of artisans, designers, creators, book vendors, artists, gourmet food producers, and vintage/second-hand specialists for over 10 years. There are tons of used vinyl if you’re into physical media!
This market/fair has become a benchmark for sustainable and local trade, providing visibility to entrepreneurs who, for the most part, do not have physical stores. Let’s show them our support, shall we?
Mercado de Motores. Museo del Ferrocarril. Paseo de las Delicias 61, Madrid. Feb. 8 & 9, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Free admission.
6.🖊️ Mini Lab of Creativity and Technology
Here’s one for the kids, because they need to have fun too.
And it’s offering a discount for Tapa readers—so read on to see how you can get it!
The Mini Lab of Experimentation is a creative lab designed to spark the imagination of parents and children aged 6 to 10.
In this workshop, kids will put on their “explorer binoculars” to better understand the world that’s coming. Led by experts in art and technology, parents and children can combine hands-on and digital activities in a mini lab of experimentation. They will learn tips and tricks to boost creativity and make the most of technology as a creative tool.
Studies increasingly show the importance of developing skills and learning through hands-on activities: painting, writing, creating, and experimenting. Everything that is physical and tangible should be explored freely and intensively during the early years of life.
In a world that is increasingly digital and automated, we ask ourselves: are we losing our ability to be creative, or will technology help us unlock even greater creativity?
So if you’re looking for a parents-children activity, this is the one. Oh, and if you use the promo code TAPANEWS you get a 50% discount. How sweet is that?
Mini Lab of Creativity and Technology. Institución Libre de Enseñanza, Paseo del General Martínez Campos, 14, Madrid. Feb. 15 & 16. Tickets: €15.
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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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