🍫 The Tapa Weekend: November 3
The Meninas, a chocolate fair and an Italian fashion exhibit.
By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | November 3, 2023 | Madrid | Issue #28
🎉 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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🎸 BONUS NOTE: Bruce Spingsteen tickets for his June 12 and 14, 2024 concerts in Madrid go on sale Tuesday, Nov. 7, at 10 a.m. at Doctormusic.com and Entradas.com.
Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend
Well, now it's official. The warm weather is officially gone and between the Storm Ciarán and the time change this past weekend, seasonal depression is here to stay. Shorter days, really cold mornings and a little bit of rain is all we need to cancel all plans and just stay home watching The Crown on Netflix under a blanket with some hot cocoa.
But then again, this newsletter is about defying the cold, rainy weather and putting ourselves out there. So here are five cool options for you this weekend.
1. Menina’s Madrid Gallery 2023
They’re back! The iconic Meninas that invade the streets of Madrid once a year are taking over public spaces sporting a wide variety of designs created by local personalities from the music and entertainment industry, fashion, gastronomy, sports, and even social media.
If you have no idea who these Meninas are, you should. It all goes back to the 1600s, when legendary Spanish artist Diego Velazquez created one of his most popular works: Las Meninas. Centuries later, the characters in the painting in the hoop-like dresses (the infanta Margarita and the ladies-in-waiting) have become sort of iconic in Spain.
Now, in the sixth edition, the Meninas Madrid Gallery returns with 33 new versions of the sculptures strategically located around the downtown so people can take selfies with them and upload them on the Tiktoks. The personalities who created their own designs include Natalia Jiménez, Guitarchello, José Perea, Miguel Ángel Lirón, Roca Rey, Cristina Oria, Alberto Bueno, Eduardo Valcárcel, Tomás Paramo, and María G. de Jaime.
Once the exhibit is over, the Meninas will be put up for action (just like every year), with 80% of the proceeds going to charitable foundations.
Meninas Madrid Gallery. All around downtown Madrid. Check official website for locations. Through Dec. 15.
2. Madrid Hotel Week 2023
Not just for sleeping! This is an interesting concept that is definitely worth a try. Hotels are usually seen as a place for snoozing after a long day day of tourism or business. But many of them offer so much more than that. And that’s why the Hotel Business Association of Madrid (AEHM) decided to create the Madrid Hotel Week, which returns this weekend for its seventh edition featuring over 60 really fancy hotels offering over 80 cultural activities.
Establishments such as the Four Seasons Hotel, the Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid and The Principal will be offering activities related to art, sports, delicious cuisine, music, entertainment and technology starting today and continuing until November 12.
There will be family workshops, musical performances, wellness sessions, guided tours inside iconic hotels and yes, amazing cocktails if you’re looking to take the edge off. And the best part of this is you don’t need to stay in any of them to experience this. Face it, we had you at “cocktails”.
Madrid Hotel Week. Multiple locations around Madrid. Check program for schedules and participating establishments. Through Nov. 12.
3. Chocomad: Madrid’s International Hall of Chocolate
Sweet mother of God. Here’s one you won’t want to miss (unless you’re weird and hate chocolate).
Madrid’s International Chocolate Fair (aka Chocomad) is back for its sixth edition this weekend and for the love of all things sacred, please go. As their website very much says, this is a “must-attend event for chocolate enthusiasts” as it is “the largest Spanish-speaking chocolate event in the world”. Yes, the chocolate speaks Spanish.
So get ready, because once you enter that magical land nothing you can expect it to be pretty much like this:
But we digress. Not only you can admire the raw talent and creativity of chocolatiers as they create incredible chocolate sculptures, but you can also try samples from all over the world and experience all the nuances, flavors, and scents of each product. From the most traditional to the most exotic. Need we say more?
Chocomad. Pabellón de Convenciones, Casa de Campo. Avenida de Portugal, s/n, Madrid. Through Nov. 5. Tickets start at €5.10.
4. Italian Fashion in Movies Exhibit: Fotogramas de Moda Italiana
Calling all Italian fashion and film lovers! The Italian Institute of Culture in Madrid is currently hosting a fashion exhibit featuring 38 Italian haute couture dresses that were worn by legendary silver screen actresses like Audrey Hepburn, Liz Taylor, and Sophia Loren in Hollywood in the 1950s.
The exhibit focuses on the relationship between cinema and fashion, which has always been “an effective tool to showcase and promote the Made in Italy brand abroad”.
Hollywood began showing the world that a new “couture” trend was emerging in Italy back in the 1950s. A short time later, Rome was transformed into the “Hollywood of the Tiber” and became the setting of countless Italian classics (“Roman Holiday”, anyone?).
Now, this new exhibit curated by Stefano Dominella brings together dresses that were worn by iconic actresses such as Lana Turner, Audrey Hepburn, Anita Ekberg, Monica Bellucci, Gina Lollobrigida, Charlotte Rampling, Liz Taylor, Claudia Cardinale, Penélope Cruz, Silvana Pampanini and Sophia Loren. Ciao, bellas!
Fotogramas de Moda Italiana. Palacio de Abrantes, Calle Mayor 86, Madrid. Through Jan. 13. Check website for schedule. Free admission.
5. VinoKilo: Your favorite vintage clothing
Get ready for the ultimate sustainable experience! VinoKilo is your chance to update your closet with unique and sustainable clothing while sipping some wine and getting some tapas.
As you may have guessed, this place not only offers you the chance to drink some vino while browsing through jeans, bomber jackers, dresses, bags, shoes and more, but also you pay for the clothing you buy by the kilo.
That’s right. You choose the clothes you like and head to the weighing station, where the staff will tell you the total weight of what you want to buy and the total cost. Once you’ve paid… boom! New clothes.
This itinerant event also features collaborations with local creators and vendors in every city it takes place (if you do some googling you’ll see that VinoKilo is taking place all around Europe), offering unique insights and experiences at each event. Enjoy!
VinoKilo. Truss Madrid, Jorge Juan 99, Madrid. Nov. 4-5. Limited free admission (€3 after free tickets are no longer available). Check website for opening hours.
👨🏻💻 Viral Stories of the Week
🥘 One-upping Jamie Oliver
Those of you who’ve lived in Spain for more than a minute know that British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is public enemy No. 1 for the Spanish culinary establishment. His crime? He published a recipe for paella that included chorizo WHICH IS JUST NOT DONE!
We’ll let you look up why, but it is quite literally a crime in Spain to paint outside the lines when it comes to paella.
To test those boundaries, El Confidencial journo (and Friend of Tapa) Jesús Díaz asked various AI image bots to create paella. And…OH MY GOD:
There is the classic above, with gigantic snails and an entire chicken. The others are equally fantastic, but in the name of giving Jesús credit (and traffic) we’ll just link to the story here.
👸 Memes fit for a princess
Leonor’s 18th birthday swearing-in generated several metric tons worth of memes. We leave you with one—and a link to more.
🔔 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
🙏 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.
We’ll be back next week with more.