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Everything on the board — events, plans, places, tour maps, intercambios and guides.
The Madrid intercambio week: a free language exchange every night
We mapped Madrid’s free bar-based language exchanges across the week — when, where, who runs them, and how pop…
Carlos Aires — “Bailad, bailad, malditos”
Matadero Madrid, Nave 0. Solo exhibition by artist Carlos Aires in Nave 0, on view 11 Sep – 24 Jan.
Matadero — collective embroidery day (families)
Matadero Madrid. A day devoted to textile work — workshops and conversations for grown-ups and children, with …
Retiro Park & the Crystal Palace
Daily. 125 hectares of gardens, a boating lake and the Palacio de Cristal showing contemporary art — all free …
CentroCentro (Palacio de Cibeles)
Tue–Sun. Free contemporary art, design, architecture and photography inside the Palacio de Cibeles, plus a vie…
Your first 48 hours in Madrid
A short list, in order, of what to actually do first.
How to read a menú del día
The €14 lunch that tourists walk straight past.
The August thing nobody warns you about
Half the city leaves. Here is how to enjoy the half that stays.
Making friends in Madrid when your Spanish is bad
The honest version, from people who have done it.
Free evening hours at the big museums
The Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen all give the day away.
Dos de Mayo — Comunidad de Madrid day
The region's own holiday, born from the 1808 uprising.
Orgullo / MADO — Madrid Pride
One of the largest Pride celebrations in the world, in Chueca.
Navidad in Madrid — lights, markets and Cortylandia
The centre from late November to Reyes.
Free museum hours in Madrid, all in one place
When each of the big ones stops charging.
Your first week in Madrid: a checklist
SIM card, bank, empadronamiento, and the things that will bite you.
Getting around Madrid: metro, bus and what it costs
The transport card, the zones, and the airport supplement that catches everyone.
Working from Madrid: wifi, cafés and the unwritten rules
Where to open a laptop without being that person.
Eating well in Madrid for under €15
Menú del día, the market rule, and where not to eat.
Parque del Retiro
Madrid's back garden: rowing boats, a glass palace and a lot of shade.
El Rastro flea market
Sunday morning chaos in La Latina. Go for the walk, not the bargains.
Menú del día
Three courses, bread and a drink, weekday lunchtimes.
Cine Doré (Filmoteca Española)
€3 films in an art nouveau cinema. The best-value evening in Madrid.
Museo Reina Sofía
Guernica, and the best modern collection in the country.
Museo del Prado
The big one. Velázquez, Goya, Bosch — and free every evening.