📚 The Tapa Weekend: May 31
The Madrid Book Fair, a documentary festival and a lost Caravaggio painting.
By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | May 31, 2024 | Madrid | Issue #56
🎉 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
Happy Friday, everyone!
We know. It’s so hot outside… when will the winter finally arrive?! 😭
We kid, of course. We hate the winter in all its forms. Here at Tapa we’re summer creatures so even if it’s a million degrees out, we will still celebrate it. As we usually say, there’s nothing that a tinto de verano can’t cure.
Anyway, now that you (probably) got your Taylor Swift fix, here are a few other options for you to try this fantastic weekend.
Enjoy!
1. The 83rd Book Fair of Madrid
(The video above is from last year’s edition so you can get the picture)
Books! The natural enemies of DVDs and streaming services refuse to die and in fact seem to be stronger than ever. This week, just like (almost) every year for the last 83 years, the Madrid Book Fair (Feria del Libro de Madrid) is back!
This year’s theme is sports and it opens using the slogan “Train your mind, read your body” (which admittedly sounds like the kind of phrase your douchebag friend who’s into CrossFit would say), and will feature 358 booths (which is more than you can probably see but as usual, the more options the better).
117 of those booths will be assigned to bookstores (59 of them are specialized), and the other 212 will be for publishers. So if you can’t find what you’re looking for, either it’s out of print or it doesn’t exist.
And yes, just like every year, there will be a section for independent and small publishers, where you can find books that are outside of the usual commercial circuit and in which “art is the common denominator”.
Oh, and remember… usually Queen Letizia shows up to browse and buy stuff (she’s actually officially opening the fair this year), just like us peasants do so make sure you have your phone at hand in case you need a selfie (just make sure you don’t piss off the bodyguards).
83rd Book Fair of Madrid. Paseo de Fernán Núñez s/n, Retiro Park, Madrid. May 31 to June 16. Check website for opening hours. Free admission.
2. Caravaggio’s Ecce Homo at the Prado
We covered this fascinating story earlier this month in our Thursday edition, but in case you missed it, here’s a summary:
Back in 2021 someone put an oil painting of Ecce Homo for auction (see video above) for like, peanuts (actually €1,500). Turns out that — surprise! — it was a Caravaggio, meaning that it was actually worth millions. The auction was stopped in time and the painting was “saved”, but since it’s considered a Cultural Interest Asset it can’t leave the country, like ever (only temporarily and via a special permit).
A few months ago a private buyer purchased it for €36 million and said they would loan it to the Prado Museum for a few months so us peasants could go see it before it disappeared to decorate the wall of some guest bathroom or whatever. And lo and behold, the painting is now hanging at the Prado!
Yes we know that you’ve probably been there a million times but this one is definitely worth it. This is a Caravaggio after all (apparently there are only, like, 60 works by him in existence) and we don’t know what could happen once the owner claims it back so get to it ASAP!
Caravaggio’s Ecce Homo at the Prado Museum. Prado Museum, Paseo del Prado, s/n, Madrid. Through Feb. 23. Check website for opening hours. Tickets start at €15.
3. Road to Rio Babel Music Festival
You Gen Zers probably don’t know, but a long, long time ago, when at least one of us was still in high school, there was an American punk rock band called Green Day that was all the rage. (Seriously, Time of your Life was incredible).
And then they got old.
But fret not, because this weekend they are here in Madrid, along with other major bands such as The Hives, The Interrupters and Lagwagon among others.
The Road to Río Babel event is a warm-up so that the wait for the actual Río Babel Festival doesn't feel so long. This weekend Green Day is presenting their fourteenth studio album, Saviors, which features the single "The American Dream Is Killing Me."
The Swedish garage rock band The Hives (which hopefully some of you will know) will also be performing, showcasing tracks from their new album The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons.
It’s funny because we think the lineup for Rio Babel Festival, which takes place in July, is actually less interesting than this one. What do we know, we’re a couple of boomers (we’re not, but according to Gen Zers, if you’re not a Gen Zer you’re a boomer). Enjoy!
Road to Rio Babel Music Festival. Caja Mágica. Camino de Perales, 23, Madrid. June 1. 4 p.m. Tickets start at €49,50.
4. CRUZA Carabanchel Festival
If books, lost baroque art and punk rock are not for you then you must be fun at parties we have a different option for you.
The Madrid district of Carabanchel is hosting the second edition of the CRUZA Carabanchel Festival, an initiative that aims to promote the area’s local culture and bring it closer to new audiences with a program that includes visual arts and design, performing arts, music, and literature, featuring over 140 activities across 48 locations throughout the district.
CRUZA Carabanchel is designed to showcase the cultural and artistic diversity of this creative Madrid neighborhood. It’s slogan? “This is not SoHo. Esto es Carabanchel”. Just that alone merits a visit.
The extensive lineup includes exhibitions, theater and dance performances, concerts, literary recitals, workshops, and meet-ups, offering amazing activities through more than a hundred well-known and emerging artists.
Because not everything has to be in Malasaña, we suggest you give this one a chance (just check the website below for more info).
CRUZA Carabanchel. Multiple locations around Carabanchel, Madrid. Through June 15. Check website for program.
5. Documenta Madrid 2024
Alright, if the previous four options weren’t for you then maybe this one is? We hope. If not, we give up.
Documenta Madrid (aka the Madrid International Documentary Festival) is celebrating its 21st edition this year and it’s exactly the kind of festival you should go to if you’re one of those people who love to brag about doing obscure things that most people don’t know about.
This festival is exclusively dedicated to the “cinema of what’s real” and it features feature films and short films in the National and International competitive sections. All films are screened at the Cineteca Matadero.
This year’s edition presents two themes: “a reflection on what cinema is and the learning process of filming a city, in this case, Filming Madrid, as a subject of portraiture and not just a setting or location”.
Also, the national competition this year will feature 13 films, some of which explore social and personal life with different perspectives while others focus on the relationship between people and technology and the learning experiences of life.
So if you’re in the mood for some cool docs, get some tickets to this one. It will also make you look cool in front of your friends.
Documenta Madrid 2024. Cineteca Madrid, Plaza de Legazpi, 8, Madrid. Through June 2. Check website for schedules and prices.
👨🏻💻 Viral Stories of the Week (Taylor Swift edition)
🎤 Father goes to Taylor Swift show in Madrid but doesn’t know any songs. Luckily…
💪 Swift’s camera operators warm up pre-show
💍 …and the obligatory in-concert marriage proposal
🔔 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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We’ll be back next week with more.