CULTURALLY SPEAKING

Visit the Casa Encendida (House on fire), an open and dynamic Social and Cultural centre of Caja Madrid Foundation, where you will find from the most avant-garde artistic expressions to courses and workshops about the environment or solidarity. The cultural programming offers performing arts, filmmaking, expositions and other contemporary cultural creations.

Visit Tabacalera, a self managed social area, where there are theatre, music, dance, painting, conferences, meetings, audiovisual materials, workshops, events, interventions in the neighbourhood, etc. It is located in Lavapiés neighbourhood and it is mandatory to drop over if you are around and you do not want to miss one of the most inspiring initiatives of the capital.

You cannot miss Conde Duque, an essential place for the cultural activity of Madrid. It is one of the three metropolitan cultural centers of Madrid, together with Matadero de Madrid and CentroCentro, and it has its own different idea of culture and leisure and it is oriented to listen to citizens. 

The alternatives are as bigger as the city. Another example is the Thyssen nights that own the summer nights with an irresistible combination of art and gastronomy. Do not miss anything, if you can!

And if you are into museums, in Madrid you will find a wide range of museums to visit. Starting with the Museo del Prado (Prado museum), where more than 2,300 paintings and many sculptures, prints, drawings and pieces of decorative art, have entered since it was founded. Visit one of the widest art collections in Madrid.

You can either go to the Museo Reina Sofía (Reina Sofía museum), that brings together the best XX century and contemporary artists. Moreover, in the permanent collection of the museum, a core of the greater artists from the XX century stands out, especially Pablo Picasso (with the Guernica), Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró. Those three museums belong to the so-called Paseo del Arte (Art Walk) of Madrid, which in a few square meters it holds one of the biggest art galleries in the World.

If you are passionate about archaeology, you must visit the Regional Archaeological Museum, created on November 27, 1997. The headquarters are located in Alcalá de Henares, occupying the old building of the Dominic convent Madre de Dios. And since you are already in Alcalá, you can also visit the house were Miguel de Cervantes was born, a building that brings you back to where the writer born.

Furthermore, if you have another kind of taste, you can choose to go to the Wine Museum of Navalcarnero, located in a XIX winehouse with a 300 years old hand excaved cave more. It is made with brick and adobe, with vaulted galleries, and a tour is made inside it going through the history of the wine and its different production stages.

And do not forget the Atazar reservoir, in whose Commonwealth it has been created the so-called Museum Territory, where there is almost one museum with his own theme in all the municipalities that form the Commonwealth. Enjoy discovering them, since all of them have a great deal to offer. But these are some of the 37 museums in Madrid. Why don’t you have a look and check it out for yourself?

Also in the Region

The cultural offer is not only limited to the capital, since the Region of Madrid is full of museums, interpretations centers, etc. Something that you have to discover yourself and that will not let you down.

One of the most impressive Ethnographic museums in the region is “El Caserón”, in San Sebastián de los Reyes. This huge building has more than 600 m² of exposition, distributed among four floors.

Either you can let your imagination run free and visit the spectacular Lunar de Fresnedillas de la Oliva museum, the only museum in Spain dedicated to the Apollo missions, a program developed in the 60 and beginning of 70. The museum possess a collection of unique special objects, where you would be able to enjoy a guided tour that goes from the Mercury program to present, going through the Apollo, Skylab, the International Space Station, and much more.

Photography is also in the spotlight, since the famous French photographer J. Laurent took pictures of the Region of Madrid during the XIX century and he captured amazing pictures of people of old. An original idea would be to walk around all the places where he took pictures, such as Sieteiglesias and his custom pictures.

If you are into cinema, one of the best places to enjoy it is the Alcalá de Henares Cinema Festival. It is annually hold in November. It is considered one of the most important short film festivals in Spain, and it has welcomed highlighted Spanish directors like como Álex de la Iglesia, Isabel Coixet, Santiago Segura or Alejandro Amenábar. This is something that you will enjoy without any doubt.

Do not forget that we cannot tell you everything. The offering is as varied as your taste, so do not miss anything and enjoy what Madrid has for you.