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Madrid starts summer with concerts, cinema and popular festivities
Madrid enters the summer with an agenda that is difficult to summarise in a single plan. Open-air concerts, classic cinema, popular festivities, exhibitions, night races and gastronomic proposals fill the city during a weekend designed for going out from morning until well into the night.
The atmosphere will get off to a strong start thanks to Music Day and several free events spread around the city. Matadero Madrid hosts the DEMM26 festival, with names such as María Arnal and Alizzz, while the Madrid en Vivo venues join the celebration with more than 20 special concerts.
Classical music will also leave the auditoriums. On Saturday there will be 16 free concerts in different parts of Madrid, with urban stages such as Ortega y Gasset and Puerta de Alcalá. The idea is simple: to turn the city into an open concert hall and bring music to people who might not have planned to look for it.
Plaza Mayor will be one of the weekend's major hubs with classic cinema outdoors. The free screenings of El Verdugo and Cría Cuervos will make it possible to see two essential titles of Spanish cinema in a monumental setting, with that special quality films have when watched under Madrid's sky.
On Sunday, Plaza de Colón will become a meeting point for football fans, with a giant screen and activities from midday. Very nearby, the car park at El Corte Inglés de Castellana hosts La Plaza NEW, an ephemeral space with concerts, workshops, fashion and gastronomy.
The neighbourhoods will also take centre stage. Retiro, Ciudad Lineal, Villaverde, Puente de Vallecas and Usera celebrate popular festivities and activities linked to San Juan and other neighbourhood events. They are local plans, with free concerts, a family atmosphere and a more local way to experience the start of summer.
The cultural side is completed with new exhibitions and special visits. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum shows the restoration process of Rubens's Venus and Cupid, while Palacio Longoria opens its doors with a proposal about the building's history and legends. Casa de México and Centro Sefarad Israel also add plans for those who prefer to take refuge from the heat among exhibition rooms.
The programme extends to theatres, nightlife and gastronomy. Proposals arrive such as La magia de la Zarzuela at Teatro Albéniz, theatrical adaptations of La escopeta nacional and Los lunes al sol, the A Summer Story festival at Ciudad del Rock, night races at the Hipódromo de la Zarzuela and family plans at Quinta de los Molinos.
The first weekend of summer leaves Madrid especially active, but it also makes it necessary to choose well. The city offers free plans, neighbourhood events, major events and quieter proposals for those seeking shade, a museum or a table at which to prolong the afternoon. The key will be deciding whether to experience this start of summer among music, cinema, popular festivities or simply by walking until you come across something unexpected.