Madrid | Issue #146
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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend
It’s Friday again!
And Madrid is back to doing what it does best — hot weather! Which means your weekend plans just got way (literally) cooler.
We’re leaning all the way into it this week, either cooling off at the city’s public pools, eating your way through Madrid Food Fest (Michelin chefs!) or going full techno at Maudes Festival.
If you’re feeling more refined, there’s a surprisingly fun Hamlet remix, a low-key marimba recital, and enough cultural options to pretend you’re balanced. If all else fails, there’s always Netflix and (again, literally) chill.
Happy weekend!
1. 🍔 Madrid Food Fest: Where street food goes Michelin
You know what? We really should promote more the long-lost art of eating and sobremesa. We’re so glued to our phones all the time, when instead we should be talking to our (possibly inebriated) loved ones. Maybe it’s time to change that, and we have the perfect activity for you and your friends.
The Madrid Food Fest offers the unique opportunity of eating like a Michelin inspector but paying like a
poornormal human. This event is what happens when some of the country’s top chefs decide to ditch their fancy tablecloths and go full street food. It’s their version of sluming.The Museo del Ferrocarril turns into a playground for food people (aka all of us) for one week only. There will be chefs with Michelin stars and Repsol suns, such as Miguel Carretero, Dani Ochoa, Lucía Grávalos, and Juan D’Onofrio, serving scaled-down, street-style versions of their signature dishes.
So instead of having to make a reservation, plan logistics, and commit a sizable amount of money to an overpriced meal, the MFF offers the chance to taste the same meal while standing up, probably with something dripping down your hand. Glamorous? Nah. Cheap? Def. Delicious? Fuck yes.
But wait, there’s more. The whole thing is designed as an experience: a market packed with artisan producers (cheeses, Madrid wines, kombucha startups, even zero-waste products), live showcookings, podcasts being recorded in real time, music, DJs, and workshops (let’s be honest, you don’t care about those unless there’s, like, samples.
There you have it. High-end cuisine, stripped of its pomp and dropped into a setting where you can try a bit of everything without committing to a full tasting menu. Madrid’s top culinary scene in one go.
🖥️ What: Madrid Food Fest
📍 Where: Museo del Ferrocarril, Paseo de las Delicias 61, Madrid
📅 When: May 23–24, 11 a.m.
🎟 Tickets start at €12.50
2. 💀 Stand-up tragedy: Hamlet, now with punchlines
Now that your belly is full and you’ve recovered from your post-San Isidro drunken stupor, maybe we could do something highbrow for a change? If you’re into it, here’s an interesting option: Hamlet, but without the existential dread and a slightly… funnier.
The Teatro Español is staging a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic that does something borderline sacrilegious: it turns the Prince of Denmark into a stand-up comedian.
Written and directed by Sergi Belbel, the play takes just the first act of Hamlet and rebuilds it as a one-man show starring Catalan actor Enric Cambray. And when we say one-man show, we mean it: Cambray is alone on stage, breaking down the text, commenting on it, questioning it, and, at times, straight-up roasting it.
The innovative part is that it lowers the barrier to Shakespeare without dumbing it down. You’re still getting all of the play’s dilemmas, but filtered through humor, irony, and a very 2026 sensibility.
Instead of treating Shakespeare like a sacred, untouchable relic, this show treats it like something you can poke, question, and laugh at with. That balance is hard to pull off, and yet Belbel does.
🖥️ What: Hamlet.01
📍 Where: Teatro Español, Sala Margarita Xirgu, Calle del Principe 25, Madrid
📅 When: May 22 – June 21
🎟 Tickets start at €12
3. 🪩 Maudes Festival: Madrid’s biggest techno weekend of the year
Attention, music fans! Do you prefer basslines, lasers, and a crowd that looks like it hasn’t slept since yesterday super hot to pretentious Shakespeare stuff? Then we have great news: Maudes Festival is back! And it’s going all in.
Taking over Parque Enrique Tierno Galván across three dates, this open-air electronic festival is becoming one of Madrid’s most immersive music experiences.
This year’s theme (The Green Nation) leans into a kind of retro-futuristic, industrial aesthetic where techno meets environmental consciousness. Yes, it’s a rave and many people there probably don’t recycle, but it’s the thought that counts.
The lineup is stacked with big names in the electronic scene: Fisher, Âme, The Blessed Madonna and Argy, alongside local favorites like Les Castizos. It’s a mix of heavy-hitting international sets and crowd-pleasing energy that will carry you well into the early hours.
BTW, Maudes isn’t just about techno music. There’s also art installations, branded spaces, interactive activities, and a social/environmental angle that tries to give the festival a bit more depth than your average “stand in a field and dance” situation. Have fun!
🖥️ What: Maudes Electronic Music Festival
📍 Where: Parque Enrique Tierno Galván, Calle Meneses 4, Madrid
📅 When: May 23 (Additional dates: May 30 & 31)
🎟 Tickets start at €39,95 (€32,95 if you get in before 5:30 p.m.)
4. 🪇 Conrado Moya gives classical music a marimba makeover
If techno/EDM is not for you because you think you’re better than that, fair enough. Lucky for you we have a musical option that is probably a bit more refined (read: no bass drops, no crowds, no hangover). Get ready, this is your chance to watch someone absolutely shred a marimba.
A what now? If you thought marimba was just an annoying iPhone ringtone, you’d be wrong. And if you thought it was just a fancy xylophone, you’d also be wrong! (Although they are part of the same mallet percussion family, so points for trying.) If you’re still wondering what a marimba sounds like, think of the first few seconds of The Little Mermaid’s Under the Sea. That’s it.
But we digress. Conrado Moya, one of the instrument’s top international performers, is taking over the Salón del Ateneo with a recital that turns the marimba into the center of a full classical experience. And not just any program; this one jumps from Bach to Gershwin to contemporary compositions, all filtered through an instrument most people still think belongs to a singing crab with a Trinidadian accent.
What makes this interesting is that this is a kind of personal map of Moya’s artistic journey. The pieces he’s chosen are the ones that shaped him, the ones he’s grown with, and in some cases, the ones written for him. It all builds toward a Madrid premiere, Las ninfas de Nisa, which closes the night.
Want niche? This is niche. Solid cultural flex.
PS: Is Under the Sea stuck in your head now? It is in ours and can you blame us? It’s a bop.
🖥️ What: Conrado Moya’s Reminiscencias
📍 Where: Ateneo de Madrid, Calle Prado 21, Madrid
📅 When: May 23, 7:30 p.m.
🎟 Tickets start at €14,28
5. 💦 It’s officially pool season in Madrid!
Pool season is here! And it means two things: the city is about to get unbearably hot, and everyone suddenly becomes very strategic about where to cool off. The lucky ones will flee to Mallorca or Marbella, while the plebs (i.e. us) will stay in the city. The good news? The municipal pools are back, and there are lots of them.
22 of Madrid’s 25 public outdoor pools are already open, with the remaining three joining in early June. Prices are staying the same, with full-day tickets at €4.50 for adults—or €2.25 for a tactical half-day escape from the heat. (You’ll need to plan ahead: most tickets are sold online in advance, and the good spots go fast.)
The system is the usual controlled chaos. You pick your slot—morning, afternoon, or full day—scan your QR code, and try to claim a decent patch of grass before someone else does. But once you’re in, it’s peak Madrid summer energy: people swimming, friends pretending they’ll “just stay an hour” and leaving at sunset.
This year there’s also a bit more going on beyond just floating in water. The city is rolling out free “express classes” like aquafitness and stretching sessions, plus even CPR workshops if you’re feeling unexpectedly productive mid-heatwave.
If the municipal pools are packed, you’ve also got the regional ones—slightly pricier, same idea, equally necessary.
🖥️ What: Madrid Municipal Pools 2026 Season
📍 Where: Multiple locations across Madrid
📅 When: Through Sept. 6
🎟 Tickets start at €4.50 (even cheaper for kids!)
📺 What to watch if you’re staying in this weekend…
🖥️ What: Many People Need to Die (Se tiene que morir mucha gente) | TV Series | 2026
📍Where to watch: Movistar+
❓What’s it about: Don’t be misled by the title. This is actually a comedy about three women in their forties who deal with midlife chaos: addiction, career struggles, and marriage to a wealthy older man. As one friend's life unravels, their longtime bond faces its biggest challenge.
🤩 Why you should watch: Because, if you’re tired of polished, feel-good comedies where everyone learns a lesson and hugs it out, this show is your antidote. Comedian and screenwriter Victoria Martín goes full savage here, delivering a brutally honest (and often uncomfortable) look at friendships, mental health, and the quiet chaos of everyday life, where people are messy, selfish, and occasionally unbearable. It’s not here to make you feel good, it’s here to make you laugh at how bad things can get.
💬 English Subtitles: No.
💃🏻 Places to try this weekend…
👨🏻🍳 ABYA: Fine dining turned all the way up
What’s it about: ABYA is simply a full-blown spectacle set inside the Palacio de Saldaña in Madrid’s Golden Mile. Add caviar and luxury ingredients sitting comfortably next to a very well-executed burger, and it feels more like an art gallery than a restaurant.
Why you should go: Because it’s theatrical, over-the-top, and unapologetically extravagant, without losing sight of the food. Even if you need to splurge (seriously), and the project screams luxury, there’s a clear attempt to make it feel like more than just a place for the ultra-rich.
Bottom line: ABYA is big, bold and expensive, but it’s absolutely worth checking out at least once, if only to see what happens when ambition runs wild in a kitchen.
Address: Calle de José Ortega y Gasset 32, Madrid
☕️ WOLFØX: The Chueca coffee spot worth stopping for
What’s it about: WOLFØX is one of those places you don’t plan to find but once you do, you kind of want to keep it to yourself. Tucked away on Calle Pérez Galdós, it’s a tiny specialty coffee spot with barely any indoor space and a small terrace.
Why you should go: Because the coffee is seriously good. It’s one of those rare espressos that actually makes you stop mid-sip and go, “damn!”. Credit goes to the baristas behind the machine, who treat coffee like a craft, not a routine.
Bottom line: It’s small, it’s simple, and that’s exactly the point. Go, order an espresso or a latter, enjoy it, and leave feeling like you just discovered one of Madrid’s better-kept coffee secrets
Address: Calle de Perez Galdos 2, Madrid
👨🏻💻 Viral Memes of the Week
😎 Flex, Ahhhhhnold
💃🏻 God bless Ava Gardner
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