By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | June 16, 2023 | Madrid | Issue #12

🎉 Welcome to a new issue of The Tapa: Weekend Edition! An English-language newsletter about what to do this weekend in Madrid (plus memes because why the hell not).

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Here are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend

The warm weather is back! Enjoy the first 48 hours, because we’re certain you’ll soon be feeling nostalgic for last week when it was brisk and rainy. But we always want what we never get. At least this week we have some pretty good options to celebrate the arrival of summer.

Here are five cool things to do this weekend.

1. ITAMAE Balfegó: Celebrate Japanese Culture and Gastronomy

Finally a break from tapas and tinto de verano! If you feel the need for a change of (culinary) scenery, make sure you don’t miss the second edition of ITAMAE Balfegó, Spain’s biggest Japanese culture and gastronomy event. For two days only, you can feel closer to Japan by participating in traditional tea ceremonies and dances, koto concerts and workshops for kimono dressing, geisha makeup and Japanese calligraphy. On top of that, the event features the second edition of the Sushi Championship for professional chefs, and live karate demonstrations.

Oh, and there will also be the live carving of a 170-kilogram bluefin tuna (known as kaitai) and you’ll be able to sample some of the different bluefin tuna dishes created by different Japanese restaurants from all over Spain.

ITAMAE Balfegó. Espacio Ibercaja Delicias, Calle del Párroco Eusebio Cuenca, 63, Madrid. June 17-18. 10 a.m. Tickets: €21.50.

2. Madrid Urban Sports 2023: How’s Your Skating?

Attention thrill seekers and adults trying to stay cool! The Madrid Río international festival is back for its third edition, combining street sports, urban art, and music, with a focus on popular genres like rap and trap. What’s cool about it is that it brings together professional athletes from various street sports disciplines, as well as local up-and-coming talents—and while you can enjoy sports demonstrations, there are also open practice areas for activities like skateboarding and BMX.

The festival also celebrates urban art (you know, graffiti), providing artists with a platform to exhibit their creativity through various artistic mediums. Oh, and there’s also the Breaking For Gold competition, which is the breakdancing international world championship. This discipline will be featured for the first time in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, so expect pretty exciting stuff.

Madrid Urban Sports 2023. Madrid Río. P.º de la Chopera, Madrid. Check the official website for schedule. June 16-18. Free admission.

3. Adlib Fashion at the Ibiza Street Market

If you’ve been to Ibiza, you’ve probably noticed that many people there follow the so-called “adlib fashion”, a trend influenced by the island’s hippie movement in the 70s that urges people to dress how they like but in style. This weekend, the Mercado de Ibiza (Ibiza Street Market) in the Retiro area offers you a chance to buy the kind of clothes you’d wear daily if you were one of the lucky people who live on the famous (and sometimes infamous) Balearic island. Expect to see a lot of white clothing for sale, but also food samples and cooking lessons of Ibicenca cuisine, raffles, activities for kids and (of course) DJ sessions. Let’s face it, it wouldn’t be Ibiza without a DJ.

Mercado de Ibiza. Calle Ibiza 8, Madrid. June 15 to June 18. Opens at 9 a.m. (except on Sunday when it opens at 12 p.m.). Free admission.

4. Soplavivo Deluxe: Poetry Open

Have you ever wondered how a poet’s mind works during their creative process? Now you have a chance to see it in real time with Soplavivo Deluxe’s Poetry Open, a show in which improv meets poetry.

In this so-called “poetic olympics”, six poets are paired up and compete in three rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals and finals) and must complete oral, written and recitation challenges while engaging with the audience. Oh, and here’s something you probably didn’t expect: at one point during the show, artificial intelligence is used in the creative process. Soplavivo claims to “recover the thrilling power of words” and that “every show is a surprise”. Their last five shows sold out so hurry up if you intend to go (oh, and it’s adults only, so leave the kids at home).

Soplavivo Deluxe: Poetry Open. Teatro Luchana, Calle Luchana 38, Sala 2, Madrid. Saturday, June 17, 10:30 p.m.. Tickets start at €14.90.

5. Fake News: The Factory of Lies

We in journalism try not to use the term “fake news” anymore, especially since a certain U.S. president redefined the term to refer to any news that was unflattering towards him. Right now we prefer to simply call it “mis/disinformation” (or “bullshit”). And this exhibit aims to help you fight it. From what it is to how it spreads and what tools we have to fight it, “Fake News: The Factory of Lies” examines the phenomenon of “fake news” throughout the centuries—from Ancient Rome to the post-truth mess we live in today thanks to social media and clickbait headlines—in the hope that people will reflect on how it is impacting society, shaping public opinion and hurting democracy.

And that WhatsApp audio message your uncle just forwarded you, warning about the rapture happening tomorrow? Probably not true.

Fake News: The Factory of Lies. Espacio Fundación Telefónica, Calle Fuencarral 3, Floor 3, Madrid. June 15 to Nov. 19. Check website for opening hours. Free admission.

👨🏻‍💻 Other Headlines of the Week

These are some of the most ridiculous or viral stories in Spain this week that didn’t make our Thursday edition but we felt deserved a (dis)honorable mention today.

🐊 You’re not from around here, are you?

A farmer in Yuncillos (Toledo) came in for quite a shock last week when one of his family members told him he’s seen something odd in one of the farm’s irrigation water ponds. “A crocodile?” the farmer responded. “How’s there a crocodile in one of our ponds?”

It was in fact a caimán, and the alligator-like reptile was clearly lost—it’s native to South and Central America. And the “rescue” that followed? Well, it didn’t go quite to plan.

The farmer called the Guardia Civil, who came to look at the beast and, measuring it at about a meter long, decided, no, not really my thing.
They called specialists at the Fundación Zoo Koki and Safari Madrid. The six wild animal specialists who came tried repeatedly to catch the beast, until they finally succeeded on the third day, at 10 p.m. on June 12, after one of them was bitten in the process. “It’s been a bit of an odyssey,” one said.

The caimán has now begun a new life at Safari Madrid. The speculation is that it was an illegal, black-market pet that was tossed into the pond by its owner to be rid of it.

👶 ‘Bugsy Malone’, Spain style…

Awwww, so cute! Economy Minister Nadia Calviño on Tuesday tweeted a photo that had been sent to her and that, using A.I., had turned a photo of Pedro Sánchez and part of his cabinet into kids. Just like Bugsy Malone, kinda (for those not cognizant then—i.e. most of us—that was a 1976 gangster movie spoof that used child actors like Jodie Foster and Scott Baio in adult roles). Here’s an annotated photo from El Mundo of who was in it.

🎬 And the campaign ads begin

Perhaps the ~~best thing~~ only good thing about election season is the proliferation of funny, cringey, nasty and nutty political ads. To whit, here are two that caught our eye so far.

The PSOE takes advantage of a word stumble by PP spokesman Borja Semper to remind voters of things not to like about the PP.

VOX reminds voters to vote against Sánchez before they head on vacation.

🙏 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.

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We’ll be back next week with more.

🛹 The Tapa Weekend: June 16