Madrid

🏝️ What's on in Madrid: August 21

Honest answer? Not much, sadly. So let’s get creative.

Madrid | Issue #158

🇪🇸 The Bubble is Spain's #1 English-language, bestselling newsletter. We offer paid subscriptions, and we’d be thrilled to have your support!

🏝️ While the rest of The Bubble Newsletter’s team is out of office this month, this weekend guide will continue to reach your inbox every Friday.

Become a paid or free subscriber

---

Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend

It’s me again!

That’s right, you’re not getting rid of my emails. I don’t care how much fun you’re having on whatever ugly beach you’re on. If I’m stuck in Madrid this week, then you get to vicariously experience my suffocating misery (at least until next week, when I’m also gone to the luscious, dewey-sweet vineyards of Southern France).

• For those of you who, like me, are currently wandering in desperation on the vacant roads of the Spanish capital because your favorite coffee shop is closed until god knows when and who suffer the inescapable maladies of climate terror, I say repent. Help is not coming.

• However, and while I understand how tempting it is to lock yourself at home with a bucket of gelato and endless doomscrolling on Instagram (those early memes about Mariah Carey starting to defrost may trick your brain into thinking the cold weather is closer than it really is), I am here to make a series of unhinged proposals that may help you pass the time, even if you’ve given up hope.

• So get off the couch, throw on whatever clothes you can find (you will not run into anyone you know, guaranteed), and step into the tumbleweed-infested streets of Madrid. You’ll thank me later.

Happy weekend!

---

1. 💃🏻 Get into some trouble with the barber of Lavapiés (now with AC!)

Alright, the video above is not from the production happening at Teatro La Latina this weekend, but I posted it for informational purposes so you know what you’re getting into. Also, the theater has great AC, so it’s a (literally) cool option for you if you want to escape the endless heatwave we’re living in. Last but not least, zarzuelas are fun, so it’s not a bad option for you.

• El barberillo de Lavapiés (The Little Barber of Lavapiés) is one of the great classics of the genre, first performed in Madrid in 1874, with music by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri and a libretto by Luis Mariano de Larra, son of the legendary journalist Mariano José de Larra. You don’t know any of those people, and that’s OK; I just still need to mention them because it’s damn time you start learning.

• For the uninitiated, zarzuela is essentially Spain’s answer to operetta: a distinctly Spanish form of musical theater that mixes spoken dialogue with singing, orchestral music, comedy and drama. It’s like opera meets 70s sitcom (1870s, that is).

• This one is set in Lavapiés and follows Lamparilla, a quick-witted neighborhood barber with a talent for getting himself into trouble, and Paloma, a young seamstress who joins him in helping the Dukes of Medina de Rioseco after they become caught up in a political conspiracy.

• What follows is a very Madrileño collision of high politics and street life: gossip, misunderstandings, romance, scheming and music.

You’ll be watching a 19th-century musical comedy about Lavapiés in La Latina, barely a walk away from the neighborhood where the story takes place (before it was gentrified, of course).

🎭 What: El barberillo de Lavapiés

📍 Where: Teatro La Latina, Plaza de la Cebada 2, Madrid

📅 When: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 7 p.m.

🎟 Tickets start at €24.50

---

2. 🎨 Mercadillo de Pintores: Buy some art in central Madrid

I know what you’re thinking. “An outdoor activity? In this weather?!” And yes, you’re right. But maybe it’s time to get off the couch and start posting Instagram stories so your beach-ridden friends can also think that you’re having fun. Think about it: you can grab a couple of tourists and take a selfie with them, making everyone else think these are your new cool friends and that, unlike the rest of the sheeple, you can leave Madrid any time of the year you want. You just choose to be here now. See? It’s all about believing your own delusions, like I do.

• But I digress. Turns out that Madrid has plenty of markets where you can spend a Sunday browsing for vintage clothes, 4K Blu-rays (physical media is making a comeback!) and Belgian chocolate. But how about an original painting?

• Every Sunday, the lovely Plaza del Conde de Barajas becomes the Plaza de los Pintores, an open-air art market where around 40 Madrid artists exhibit and sell their original work.

• The good news is that this isn’t some TikTok-era pop-up. The tradition dates all the way back to 1984, when the Centro district gave the Taller Abierto association a space near the Arco de Cuchilleros to exhibit and sell paintings.

• More than four decades later, it has low-key become one of those beloved city traditions that you can easily walk past without realizing how much history is behind it.

• You’re browsing paintings outdoors in one of the city's oldest parts, just steps from Plaza Mayor, with the artists themselves on hand displaying their work. Plus, there’s a Five Guys nearby, in case you need to counterbalance your cultured outing with a greasy burger.

So if you’re looking for a Sunday plan that involves art but doesn’t involve opening Filmín to watch The Saragossa Manuscript, go for a wander. Worst-case scenario, you pass out from the heat. Best-case scenario, you go home with an original piece of art painted by (maybe) the next Picasso.

🎨 What: Mercadillo de Pintores

📍 Where: Plaza del Conde de Barajas, Downtown Madrid

📅 When: Sundays

🎟 Tickets: Free

---

3.🚂 Madrid’s Railway Museum: at least you’re not watching paint dry

Oh, I’m just being dramatic. You’ve probably been to the Mercado de Motores at the beautiful old Delicias railway station. Well… great news, weirdos train fans! Throughout August, the museum is running its summer program for those of us left behind, with special activities celebrating 175 years since Madrid’s first railway opened in 1851, an event that feels prehistoric by now.

• But since I’m sending you there this weekend, there’s an added reason to go: Saturdays and Sundays are devoted to the station’s surprisingly impressive relationship with cinema.

• The themed “Delicias, una estación de cine” tour explores how this 19th-century station became a filming location for Spanish and international productions. And we’re not talking about obscure movies nobody has heard of like The Saragossa Manuscript. Nah… David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago (google it, kids!) filmed here, as did Nicholas and Alexandra, Travels with My Aunt, Tormento, Amantes and, much more recently, David Trueba’s Saben aquell.

• Families can also tackle a self-guided treasure hunt devoted to Madrid’s 175 years of railway history and see Territorio Ferroviario, the largest model railway in Spain, in action.

• There are also two temporary exhibitions worth catching: La mirada de Wyrsch, featuring Swiss photographer Karl Wyrsch’s images of railways during the 1950s and ’60s, and Viajar en el tiempo, which uses 85 years of Renfe advertising to show how both train travel and Spain itself have changed.

Honestly, stop being a snob. You’re complaining about spending a Sunday looking at vintage train ads, but if you were in, I dunno, Cinque Terre, you’d be buying a damn copy for €35. Just go and enjoy.

🚂 What: Verano en el Museo del Ferrocarril

📍 Where: Museo del Ferrocarril de Madrid, Paseo de las Delicias 61, Madrid

📅 When: This Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.

🎟️ Tickets: Free admission

4. 🏃 Run from a 300-kilo ball in the mountains. Because apparently that’s a thing.

Growing up in the ’80s, television taught children like me that there were three very real and pervasive threats to our daily survival: lava, quicksand, and a giant round ball chasing us out of a lost temple in the Peruvian jungle.

Fast forward to 2026 and, as it turns out, adulting unfortunately doesn’t involve any of those things (unless you live in, like, Indonesia or something). Except… maybe it does? Turns out that the town of Mataelpino, in northern Madrid, each year offers intrepid adventurers the opportunity to be crushed to death chased by a giant ball, just like Indiana Jones would have wanted.

• I’m not kidding. If Pamplona’s running of the bulls has always sounded exciting but the actual bull part scares the shit out of you gives you pause, a little town in the Sierra de Guadarrama has come up with a very Spanish solution: replace the animal with a gigantic ball hurtling down the street.

• Welcome to the Boloencierro de Mataelpino, the centerpiece of the town’s San Bartolomé festivities. The tradition started more than 15 years ago when Mataelpino couldn’t afford to organize a conventional bull run. Instead of canceling it, someone had the inspired idea of rolling a giant ball through town while people ran ahead of it.

• DO NOT underestimate the ball. The adult version (yes, there’s also a child version 💀) now weighs around 300 kilos, measures more than 2.7 meters across and can reportedly reach speeds approaching 50 km/h.

• Participants run along a roughly 700-meter course beginning on Calle de la Iglesia and ending near the bullring. In other words, being flattened by a giant red ball is unlikely to improve your weekend, so participation is restricted to adults and the safety rules should be taken seriously.

• This weekend you actually get two chances to see it. Both Saturday and Sunday begin with the children’s run at 11 a.m., using smaller balls and supervision, before the considerably more unhinged adult version starts at noon.

And since these are proper village fiestas, the giant ball is only part of it. There will also be DJs, food, bingo, theater, and plenty of late-night partying throughout the weekend.

🔴 What: Boloencierro at the Fiestas de San Bartolomé

📍 Where: Mataelpino. The Boloencierro starts on Calle de la Iglesia.

📅 When: Saturday, Aug. 22 & Sunday, Aug. 23 at noon

🎟️ Tickets: Free to watch. Adults must be 18+ to participate.

5.🏎️ EPIC Racing Weekend Jarama: Pretend you’re at the Spanish Grand Prix for €21

Disclaimer: Look, I have no freaking idea what a Formula 4 is, nor do I care to learn about it at 46 years old. But a few basic, straight friends people have been recommending this, so after reading about it, here’s why it’s so cool, even though I still don’t personally care.

• The Circuito de Madrid Jarama-RACE is hosting the EPIC Racing Weekend this Saturday and Sunday, turning one of Spain’s most historic racetracks into two days of racing, overtaking (whatever that means), and pit-lane action.

• More than 40 young drivers will be competing in Formula 4 single-seaters, one of the key entry points into professional formula racing and the category where some future F1 hopefuls begin making a name for themselves.

• And if you’ve only ever watched motorsport on television, seeing it live is a very different exper-zzzzzzzzzzzz— Sorry, I just fell asleep writing that.

• There’s also a covered grandstand, food around the circuit (the best part of this whole thing, at least for me) and a more luxurious option if spending an August afternoon outside sounds slightly insane: tickets for Sala y Terraza Edificio 3 give you access to an air-conditioned room and private terrace overlooking the track.

Basically, it’s your chance to spend the weekend pretending you’re at a Grand Prix without paying Grand Prix prices — or having to wait until Madrid’s actual F1 race comes around next month.

🏎️ What: EPIC Racing Weekend

📍 Where: Circuito de Madrid Jarama-RACE, Vía de Servicio A-1, exit 26, San Sebastián de los Reyes

📅 When: Saturday, Aug. 22, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sunday, Aug. 23, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.

🎟️ Tickets start at €21

📺 What to watch if you still don’t want to leave the couch this weekend…

📺 Movie: To the Max (La Fiera) | 2026

📍Where to watch: Netflix

❓What’s it about: Three skydivers died in similar accidents within five years. Director Salvador Calvo wanted to tell their stories with the sole survivor, Carlos Suárez.

🤩 Why you should watch: Mainly, for its spectacularly shot BASE-jumping sequences and its surprisingly dark look at the obsession that drives people to keep risking their lives even after watching friends die. It’s an adventure movie that understands the thrill of extreme sports while also asking an uncomfortable question: when does chasing adrenaline stop being passion and start looking like addiction?

💬 English Subtitles: Yes.

📺 Movie: Calle Málaga | 2025

📍Where to watch: Movistar+

❓What’s it about: An aging Spanish woman in Tangier resists her daughter's decision to sell her home. Determined to stay, she does everything she can to keep her place and reclaim the belongings of a lifetime. Along the way, she rediscovers love and desire.

🤩 Why you should watch: Because it features a superb Carmen Maura as an older woman fighting for her right to love, companionship and sex on her own terms. It’s a warm, intimate celebration of the little things that make a life worth living.

💬 English Subtitles: No.

💃🏻 Places to try this weekend…

🥩 La Hípica: Come for the horses, stay for the steak