Madrid | Issue #170
đȘđž The Bubble is Spain's #1 English-language, bestselling newsletter.
Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend
Good morning and Happy Friday!
Have you checked your weather app? Great. Then donât. Because we have at least, like, seven more days of heavy rain, cold winds, and overall depression.
You have two choices: grab an umbrella and brave the unbearable humidity, or stay home, curl up in bed in your pajamas, watch Netflix, and order ice cream from La Romana (this would all be a huge middle finger to me, since Iâll have spent six hours writing this whole guide for nothing).
Happy long weekend!
1. đ This fall season, get ready for non-stop drama! (Surprisingly, itâs not about politics)
If this weekâs general strike wasnât dramatic enough for you, Iâve got some fantastic news for your masochistic soul: The Festival de Otoño (Fall Festival) is back*!
*Full disclosure: itâs actually been back since Nov. 6, but honestly, there were so many other cool events happening last week that I couldnât find the time to recommend it.
Anyway, itâs one of Spainâs biggest performing arts festivals, bringing some of the world's most exciting theater and performance art to Madrid, and also itâs going to be raining like crazy these next few days, so who are you kidding? Thereâs no way in hell youâre picking an outdoor activity.
The Fall Festival features artists from Europe, Africa, and the Americas doing a lot of talented stuff. And this year, for its 44th edition, it has a distinctly American flavor: to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, the festival is celebrating the influence of U.S. artists on contemporary culture (jazz and blues to rock, pop, hip-hop, groundbreaking choreography, etc.). Sadly, no UFC fights on the Moncloa lawn, which would have been fun (not in a ha-ha way, but fun nonetheless).
There are some seriously interesting names that youâve never heard of. American choreographers Faye Driscoll and Trajal Harrell are among the highlights, alongside performers and companies from countries including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Portugal, France, and the U.K.
The festival also pays tribute to a theatrical legend youâve never heard of (and thatâs on you). Its opening production, PESSOA â Since Iâve Been Me, honors Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa through the visionary work of American director Robert Wilson, who transformed theater through his extraordinary use of light, space, and movement.
Whatâs that? You do know Fernando Pessoa? Iâm impressed. You get a gold star.
Performances are spread across some of Madridâs coolest cultural venues, including Teatros del Canal, Conde Duque, and Teatro de La AbadĂa, and the programming ranges from productions inspired by Latin American literature and contemporary interpretations of Shakespeare, hopefully not played by any of the Kardashians.
Browse the program, pick something that looks intriguing, and give it a shot. Worst-case scenario, youâll spend the evening pretending you understood a very sophisticated piece of contemporary art, guest-starring one of the Kardashians.
đ What: 44th Festival de Otoño
đ Where: Multiple venues across Madrid
đ When: Nov. 6â29
đïž Tickets: Check website
2. đ€ Eat your way around Galapagar at âŹ3,50 a tapa
Feeling adventurous this rainy weekend? Are you tired of the same cookie-cutter speciality coffee shops in Malasaña? Tired of having to interact with people in general? Do you hate your kids?
Give yourself 75 minutes to flee the city and land in the wondrous land of Galapagar, a small town that sounds like some island in Ecuador but is in fact just a few kilometers northwest of Madrid.
While most of the tapa crawls we cover here are a leisurely affair, this one has a clock. Because why relax when you can be even more stressed?
For the final weekend of Galapagarâs autumn tapas fair, 24 bars, restaurants, and pastry shops are putting their own spin on the âŹ3.50 tapa. Most of the savory dishes are served from 1:45 to 3 p.m., which means if you plan on doing lunch the Spanish way (3 p.m.), youâre fucked. Be there early.
I care so much about you that I asked ChatGPT to create the perfect tapa crawl just for you, and this is what it came up with:
Start on Calle San Gregorio. At number 6, VinopasiĂłn tops an InĂ©s Rosales olive oil cracker with Gorgonzola cream, fig jam, and walnuts. Up the same street at number 27, CervecerĂa San Gregorio is doing callos con garbanzos: tripe and chickpeas with chorizo and blood sausage.
Jesus H. Christ, in what world is that a crawl? By the second stop, you already need to call it quits (after some tripe and chickpeas, you probably need a siesta). See? This is why AI will never replace us. Back to me.
My recommendations: at Esquina 29, try the strips of Iberian pork that come with Buffalo sauce and crunchy cheese popcorn.
Or head to Restaurante Imperial for a cannelloni stuffed with secreto ibérico and topped with shavings of jamón.
If you try just one thing youâd never think youâd try, make it Vista Nevadaâs Iberian pork cheek gyoza, served over sweet potato with a tangy tamarind leche de tigre.
At Manhattan Bar (yes, very Spanish), the New York chopped cheese gets the tapas treatment: ground beef, onions, melted American cheese, and house sauce on brioche.
CafeterĂa Lima 21 is serving octopus tiradito, while Encanto TradiciĂłn PerĂș&España gives chicken wings a ceviche-inspired treatment with lime, ajĂ, and onion.
Save dessert for after 3. The pastry shops keep their regular hours, so thereâs no need to stuff your face with a strawberry Chantilly brioche from PastelerĂa Cueto.
PastelerĂa Segado has mini cheesecakes, and PastelerĂa Mayca is filling a croissant with chocolate pastry cream.
Oh! And if youâre feeling competitive, pick up a voting leaflet and collect at least five stamps from the local venues to enter the draw for a âŹ300 hamper of olive products.
Enjoy.
đŽ What: Feria de la Tapa en Galapagar
đ Where: 24 participating bars, restaurants, and pastry shops around Galapagar
đ When: Through Nov. 15. (Savory shops close at 3 p.m.)
đïž Tickets: âŹ3.50 per tapa; drinks sold separately
3. đ Nazi puppets! Inside the bunker with Magda Goebbels (No, itâs not a play for children)
If you thought âdamn, these Instagram-friendly immersive experiences are getting out of handâ, donât worry, this isnât about taking a cute selfie with the Goebbels for your stories. Itâs actually a play! A weird one, that is. And you should definitely go see it, even if it is in Spanish (itâs time you start learning).
Meet the Goebbels (Google them, kids!). Itâs Berlin in 1945. The Nazi regime is collapsing, Magda Goebbels is in a bunker with her six children, and sheâs already decided they wonât live to see what comes next. (The hint was in the pill emoji at the top.) Until now itâs all pretty much according to the history books. But then⊠a Glovo rider shows up! (And that, my friends, is called an anachronism).
Thatâs right, thatâs the kind of weirdness you can expect from Magda, a new play opening today at the Teatro MarĂa Guerrero. Written by Chela De Ferrari and Luis Alberto LeĂłn and directed by De Ferrari, it puts the final days of the Third Reich and the
racismanxieties of contemporary Europe on the same stage.Like the Annabelle doll, but scarier. The most unsettling part is how the Goebbels children are played: Theyâre lifelike puppets, designed by Natacha Belova and operated by actual immigrant performers.
Magda, played by MarĂa Morales, doesnât see the people bringing her children to life, but we do (See what they are doing there? The woman who sees a more diverse world as a threat depends on people from that world to animate the family she claims to be protecting, before murdering them all, that is).
If youâre going this weekend, give yourself time to get there: the theater wonât let you in once the performance starts. It runs about 95 minutes, which leaves plenty of time for a drink (or several, considering the subject matter) in Salesas afterward.
đ What: Magda
đ Where: Teatro MarĂa Guerrero, Sala Grande, Calle de Tamayo y Baus, 4, Madrid
đ When: Nov. 13 to Dec. 27
đïž Tickets start at âŹ12
4. âœïž Round two: Spain and England take their Wembley rivalry to Madrid
Spain and England apparently have unfinished business at the Metropolitano this weekend, and if youâre going to give up your Sunday evening for a Nations League game, make it this one.
Look. All you need to know is that Spain is playing against England. Iâve done the research, but I hate football/soccer, so donât @ me if I make mistakes. I have no idea what Iâm writing about. (Trump didnât know what a red card was and he still got to host a World Cup, so cut me some slack.)
The reigning world champions (Spain, that is) host England, who finished third at this summerâs World Cup, in the final match of the group stage.
Apparently there was a game in September at Wembley Stadium, and we won again. Now, for some reason (Iâm guessing money), thereâs round two even though weâve already booked a place in the quarterfinals of this Nations League championship, which to me sounds exactly like the World Cup, but I canât be bothered to Google the difference. I also donât know (or care) what a UEFA is.
Whether Sunday decides who tops the group depends on Thursdayâs games: Spain play Czechia, and England face Croatia.
A warning: The published prices on the website start at âŹ30, but that doesnât mean the cheapest seats are still available. Tickets are mobile-only through the RFEF Tickets app, so set it up before heading out.
Oh, and if youâre supporting England, the English FA handles the away allocation: England shirts and scarves are only allowed in the designated away section. (Also, now that the gays appear to be taking over football culture too, I can guarantee all these shenanigans will be over soon and replaced with something fabulous.)
✠What: Spain vs. England â UEFA Nations League
đ Where: Riyadh Air Metropolitano, Avenida de Luis AragonĂ©s, Madrid
đ When: Nov. 15, at 8:45 p.m.
đïž Tickets: From âŹ30, subject to availability; booking fees included
5. đȘ The art of safekeeping: Sounds boring but bear with me
Have you ever said, âscrew the crown jewels, I want to see the box they came in!â? You, along with the rest of humanity, probably havenât. And yet, thereâs an exhibit at the GalerĂa de las Colecciones Reales thatâs exactly about that.
Look, I get it. No one cares about boxes. We usually throw them away (except for the iPhone box, for some reason), but this exhibit is actually pretty cool. El arte de guardar (âThe art of safekeepingâ) brings together more than 50 chests, cases, and reliquaries from the Royal Palace, El Escorial, and Madridâs royal monasteries.
The premise is simple: museums usually put the jewels on display and send the box to storage. This time, the box gets the glass case.
Packing for a royal road trip was a job in itself. The Spanish court moved between palaces with the seasons (as one does), and somebody had to make sure the good tableware got there in one piece.
Craftspeople made fitted cases out of leather and fine woods, while some of the larger trunks used metal studs to spell out which royal household office they belonged to.
If you decide to go, look for the case made in 1829 for a set of jewels commissioned for MarĂa Cristina de BorbĂłnâs wedding to Ferdinand VII. It still carries the label of the jeweler, Narciso Soria. Thereâs also an inlaid chest thought to have belonged to Carlos III.
Some boxes changed jobs! An Italian jewelry box made of ebony and silver ended up at the Descalzas Reales convent, where the mirror inside its lid was swapped for a portrait and the box was turned into a reliquary for Saint Francis Borgia.
Another piece, signed and dated 1577, is decorated with hunting scenes and still has the compartments that reveal its earlier life as a writing cabinet.
I know this isnât all terribly exciting, but at some point you need to learn more about Spainâs royals. Itâs either this or reading ÂĄHola! magazine, so stop complaining.
Our advice: Head for the Bourbon gallery, in the Philip V section. The exhibition is part of the permanent collection, so give yourself time to see more of the museum while youâre there.
đïž What: El arte de guardar
đ Where: GalerĂa de las Colecciones Reales, Plaza de la ArmerĂa, Madrid
đ When: Through Feb. 21, 2027.
đïž Tickets start at âŹ14
đș What to watch if you want to escape the rain this weekendâŠ
đș TV Show: Infamy (Infamia) | November 13, 2026
đWhere to watch: HBO Max
âWhatâs it about: Still haunted by guilt over her sisterâs death, attorney Emma Cruz becomes obsessed with the case of two girls who vanished 20 years ago in a small Basque town. As she digs into their disappearance, she discovers just how far some locals will go to keep her from finding out what happened.
đ€© Why you should watch: Because itâs a mystery in which the town is as suspicious as any of the suspects. In this six-episode adaptation of Ledicia Costasâs novel, the more Cruz digs, the harder it gets to separate what she knows from what she wants to believe. Give it a couple of episodes: the show takes its time introducing the locals, but that patience pays off in the atmosphere.
đŹ English Subtitles: No
đŠ Who says you have to be in the US to celebrate Thanksgiving?
The American Club of Madrid is bringing Thanksgiving to the capital on Thursday, Nov. 26, with a festive dinner at the Novotel Madrid Center.
You can be from the U.S. or just love a good Thanksgiving feast. Everyoneâs welcome!
Save your seat and get all the details here!
đđ» Places to try this weekendâŠ
đ Chalaco: A taste of Peruâs biggest port by the Puerta de AlcalĂĄ
Whatâs it about? Chalaco is the latest restaurant from Grupo Quispe, just steps from the Puerta de AlcalĂĄ. Named after the people of Callao, Peruâs main port, it pairs seafood from Spanish fish markets with Peruvian coastal cooking.
Why you should go: The Andalusian ceviche is the dish that sums up the place: corvina, scarlet prawn, and cockles in a tigerâs milk made with ajoblanco. Thereâs also a Peruvian potato roll topped with crispy squid, avocado, and tuna tartare, plus charcoal-grilled octopus with purple potato chips.
Bottom line: Go for the Andalusian ceviche, grab a seat at the counter, and see what came in from the fish market that day.
đ Address: Calle de Salustiano OlĂłzaga 12, Madrid
đšđ»âđ» Viral Videos of the Week
đ Broncano trying to stop himself from making a big mistake
đ« Things people from Madrid will never do (and you probably have)
đ Donât forget to follow us on Instagram!
If youâre not following us on Instagram yet, youâre missing out. Weâre posting exclusive content with our collaborators across Spain, breaking news updates, and pop culture coverage. Click on the post above and come hang with us!
đ Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information weâll be able to offer each week.
Gracias por las recomendaciones! Stormy weather brings out a whole other personality dimension and Iâm here for it đ