Madrid | Issue #147
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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend
It’s Friday again!
And boy, are we in for a busy weekend. First of all, Bad Bunny is in town. (No tickets? Join the club!). Not only that, but La Oreja de Van Gogh is back (No tickets? Also join the club!). Ah, and there’s also Hernán Cattaneo at Brunch Electronik. It’s hard to keep up.
Those of us who haven't pawned our grandma’s wedding ring to pay for those tickets (she’s still alive, btw) still have a ton of events to choose from.
So grab a water bottle (it’s hot outside) and your cold wallet, and get ready to spend your hard-earned 0.00000001% of a bitcoin because why the hell not.
Happy weekend!
PS: The Pope is coming next week. Repent!
1. 📖 The Madrid Book Fair is back to decorate your bookshelf (and take your money)
Fun fact: Before the rise of the performative male, people used to read books for real! While such an activity is now considered uncool and passé (or is it?), some people here in Spain continue to enjoy it for some reason. If you’re one of those romanticizing the past by writing on typewriters and drinking regular Coke, we have great news… Madrid’s Book Fair is back!
The city is once again entering its most dangerous season — when people pretend they’ll “just browse” at the Feria only to leave Retiro Park carrying €140 worth of books they absolutely did not plan to buy (or even read).
The iconic Feria del Libro returns for its 85th edition, and it’s looking very interesting. After last year’s New York-themed edition, 2026 is all about humor, because apparently, we’ve looked around at the state of the world and decided laughing was the only reasonable response (either that or moving under the sea).
And this isn’t just “haha funny.” The fair is diving into satire, irony, graphic humor, podcasts, stand-up humor, absurdism, literary comedy, and the increasingly blurry line between intellectual discussion and people wearing tin foil hats.
Big names this year include Jonathan Coe, David Safier, Maitena, Ignatius Farray, Eva Hache, Joaquín Reyes, Pantomima Full, Bob Pop, Liniers, Kevin Johansen, Camila Sosa Villada, and Rodrigo Cortés, among many others (if you know at least one of them, congrats! You’re smart).
There’ll also be live podcasts, debates about humor and politics, tributes to Les Luthiers and Kurt Vonnegut, and maybe (just maybe) you may run into Queen Letizia, who loves to support independent publishers and attends every year (she’s, in fact, officially opening the fair this morning).
Even if you don’t read much, the Feria del Libro is still one of the best events Madrid produces all year. It’s crowded, yes, but attending is a great act of resistance in the age of TikTok.
🖥️ What: Feria del Libro de Madrid 2026
📍 Where: Parque del Retiro, Paseo de Fernán Núñez, Madrid
📅 When: May 29 to June 14
🎟 Tickets: Free admission
2. 💔 Love, death, and dramatic teenagers: Romeo and Juliet opera is a magnificent spectacle for the eyes
Wait, never mind. Why read when you can actually see Shakespeare? Honestly, this is probably what he would have wanted. Romeo and Juliet, the timeless story of two dumb teenagers making catastrophically bad decisions after knowing each other for, like, 14 minutes, is hitting the Teatro Real this week, and you can tell there’s a big budget for this one because holy shit, that looks good (check video above).
We’d die to see this. The Teatro Real is bringing back Charles Gounod’s lush, dramatic, and emotional opera adaptation of arguably Shakespeare’s best-known work, directed by French theater star Thomas Jolly and conducted by Carlo Rizzi.
This production intends to impress you. The cast is stacked too, with opera superstar Nadine Sierra leading the production alongside Javier Camarena, Ismael Jordi, and Laurent Naouri.
If you think opera is all stiff people singing near curtains, then you'd better go see Bad Bunny. This is pretty much the opposite of that. Trust us, you haven’t seen this much tension since that rattlesnake scene in Euphoria season 3 (we’re joking, this season sucks).
Even if you’re not usually an opera person, this is one of those productions that feels worth seeing just for the spectacle.
🖥️ What: Romeo and Juliet (Opera)
📍 Where: Teatro Real, Plaza de Isabel II, Madrid
📅 When: Through June 13
🎟 Tickets start at €18
3. 🇵🇷 No tickets to Bad Bunny? Sad! But if you’re into Puerto Rican culture, we have an alternative for you.
Yes, yes. We know. Madrid is going into full Bad Bunny mode. The reggaetón playlists are locked in, and all over the city, thousands (millions?) of people are crying over the fact that they will not get to see the biggest artist in the history of humanity (after Leticia Sabater, obvi).
But while Benito prepares to unleash 10 (10!) concerts at the Metropolitano stadium that we won’t see, Malasaña is giving us peasants an alternative — a full-on Puerto Rican cultural takeover.
This weekend, Calle Noviciado will host La Placita, a free Puerto Rican cultural festival bringing salsa and plena classes, cocktails, street food, art, coffee, workshops, DJs, and enough to make us forget that we won’t be able to come close to el conejo malo.
The idea behind La Placita is to go beyond Bad Bunny fandom and introduce Madrid to Puerto Rico itself, not just the reggaetón, but the island’s broader culture, identity, and traditions, which makes sense, because Bad Bunny’s latest album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, basically turned Puerto Rico into main character mode this year after his performance at the Super Bowl.
And shoutout to whoever decided Malasaña was the perfect place for this, because, well, it is.
🖥️ What: La Placita Puerto Rican Cultural Festival
📍 Where: Calle Noviciado 4, Malasaña, Madrid
📅 When: May 29 – 31
🎟 Tickets: Free (but registration required, click on link above)
4. 🎬 Documenta Madrid Film Festival returns for people who love cinema and mild existential crises
There are film festivals where people show up to drink cava and pretend they understood a Serbian three-hour experimental movie about silence. And then there’s Documenta Madrid, where people also do that, but at least the films are usually pretty good.
This international documentary festival returns this week for its 23rd edition, once again transforming the city into a paradise for lovers of documentaries, arthouse cinema, and political filmmaking.
This year’s theme (there’s always a theme) is Tomar el pulso (“Taking the Pulse”), focusing on documentary cinema’s ability to capture reality in real time socially, politically, and emotionally. It’s incredibly intellectual. Just be aware that you are going to leave at least one screening emotionally devastated.
The program includes international and Spanish documentary competitions, unfinished film showcases, retrospectives, and live performances. There’s even a live reinterpretation of lost footage from an unfinished Pier Paolo Pasolini documentary about sanitation workers’ strikes in Italy
Since you can’t make it to sing Titi Me Preguntó with Bad Bunny (a song that’s a late-capitalist anthem about infinite choice, emotional consumption, and the ancient Greek realization that pleasure without meaning is emptiness), then here’s your chance to sit in a dark room watching stuff about social collapse and human fragility. You’re welcome.
🖥️ What: Documenta Madrid 2026
📍 Where: Cineteca Matadero and multiple venues across Madrid
📅 When: Through May 31
🎟 Tickets: Check website
5.🎉 Aluche’s neighborhood festival turns 50
Dust off your Metro card, kids! We’re going outside the M-30 beltway for this one. If you’ve never been to a proper Madrid neighborhood festival (i.e., not for tourists), let us explain the vibe: locals running around drunk (sounds great so far), grandparents dancing better than you, someone carrying a giant beer at 1 p.m., random techno at 2 a.m. and at least one guy aggressively singing along to songs you’ve never heard of.
Sounds fun? Great. This weekend, the legendary Fiestas de Aluche kick off their 50th anniversary celebrations, transforming the Parque de Aluche fairgrounds (in Latina, which is not the same as La Latina) into 10 straight days of concerts, folklore, dancing, DJs, fireworks, and wholesome neighborhood chaos.
This opening weekend alone is stacked. Friday starts with the official pregón, Celtic street music, and a big orchestral dance party. Saturday brings Zumba, clown magic shows for kids (we’ll skip that one), live pop-rock concerts, and a late-night techno session for the people who miss Berghain.
Then Sunday goes fully international, with Brazilian batucadas, folk dance festivals, and performances from groups representing Ireland, Peru, China, Paraguay, and Ecuador.
The best part of fiestas like this is the deeply local atmosphere. If you want to feel like a local, be prepared to leave Chamberí for once.
🖥️ What: Fiestas de Aluche 2026
📍 Where: Recinto Ferial del Parque de Aluche, Madrid
📅 When: May 29 to June 7, 2026
🎟 Tickets: Free admission
📺 What to watch if you’re staying in this weekend…
🖥️ What: Ravalear: Not for Sale | TV Series | 2026
📍Where to watch: HBO Max
❓What’s it about: A family business under threat in Barcelona's central (and touristy) Raval neighborhood explores how to survive an imminent buyout by an investment fund, blurring the line between resistance and criminality.
🤩 Why you should watch: Because critics say it’s one of the best TV shows of the year. And because it’s painfully relevant. Ravalear turns Spain’s housing crisis and the brutal reality of gentrification into a feverish thriller. The atmosphere, its raw realism, the pounding techno soundtrack… they all capture the feeling of modern urban Spain better than almost anything released in recent years.
💬 English Subtitles: Yes.
💃🏻 Places to try this weekend…
🇲🇽 La Xida: where Asturias meets Mexico
What’s it about: La Xida is one of those wonderfully unhinged Madrid concepts that somehow works really well: a restaurant combining Asturian and Mexican cuisine under one roof. That means sidra, guacamole, cachopo, and mole sharing the same menu.
Why you should go: Because the menu alternates comfortably between classics (Asturian chorizo cooked in cider or homemade guacamole) and hybrids like mole rojo with pitu caleya or the “Xidu” cachopo torta.
Bottom line: If you ever wonder what Asturias would look like if it had better weather and more tequila, this is your place.
Address: Calle de López de Hoyos, 11, Madrid
🍸 Grupeta is basically a Wes Anderson fever dream
What’s it about: Grupeta Bar is an all-day café and neighborhood hangout in Chamberí that feels like a combination of a vintage 1970s coffee bar and a cyclist clubhouse. The venue mixes retro aesthetics with a menu designed for sobremesa: brunches, sandwiches, torreznos, fondue, coffee, and beers. You name it, they got it.
Why you should go: Because we desperately need places like these. Good coffee in the morning, great vermú in the afternoon, and amazing beers at night.
Bottom line: If you enjoy looking like the kind of person who owns a bicycle, this is the kind of neighborhood spot you end up returning to constantly.
Address: Calle de Raimundo Fernández Villaverde 30, Madrid
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