🎨 The Tapa Weekend: May 5
Featuring street art, a documentary festival and yet another museum for instagrammers.
By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | May 5, 2023 | Madrid | Issue #6
🎉 Welcome to a new issue of The Tapa: Weekend Edition! An English-language newsletter about what to do this weekend in Spain (plus memes because why the hell not).
🇪🇸 If you haven’t subscribed yet, hit that button below so you have some fresh ideas in your inbox every Friday about where to go and what to do.
🫶 And if you have, please share this with your friends!
☀️ 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend
We barely just started the work week to find out it’s suddenly Friday again. Not that we’re complaining, of course, but this week went by relatively fast. Maybe it’s the longer days and the tintos de verano that put us in a better mood, but we must admit we’re excited about going back to partying responsibly celebrating the end of labor. So from street art to fresh produce markets and French EDM, here are our top picks for the weekend. You’re welcome.
1. Let Your Inner Artist Go Wild at Pinta Malasaña 2023
Madrid’s urban art festival Pinta Malasaña is back for its eight edition so if you’re into letting your frustrated artist persona take over for a few hours, make sure you don’t make any plans this Sunday.
Malasaña is known for its hipster cafes and quaint streets, but also for its street art. Over 100 artists will create art interventions in the area (in storefronts and private homes), reimagining one of the coolest neighborhoods in Madrid once more. Not only that, but the Condeduque Cultural Center and the Espacio Pinta Malasaña will act as hubs for related activities that day such as free workshops, face and street painting and even prizes to the best artworks. Now that we’ve got good weather, taking an afternoon stroll while looking at people (legally) spray paint the walls doesn’t sound like such a bad idea, does it? Check their website to find out about the (many!) locations participating in it.
PS: While the event is officially only on Sunday, the Espacio Pinta Malasaña is offering a few related activities on Saturday as well, so make sure you check out their website for more information.
Pinta Malasaña 2023. All around Malasaña, special events at Condeduque Cultural Center and Espacio Pinta Malasaña. Sunday, May 7. All day. Free.
2. Museum of Dreamers: Another One For Instagrammers
Move over Balloon Museum, you’re so last month! Haven’t you heard? It’s all about the Museum of Dreamers now. What is it, you ask? Well, it’s one of those things you pay to go in and take a few cool looking selfies, post them on Instagram and get millions** of likes from your followers. (Hey, not that we’re judging. We’re no strangers to posting thirst traps and other embarrassing content in order to see our follower count go up. But we digress.)
The Museum of Dreamers has 16 “immersive installations” that you can visit with your friends to take some great photos that will look just like everyone else’s. There are swings, long dinner tables and upside down rooms. So if you think posting about street art is too pedestrian, buy your tickets and go stand in line while practicing selfies and wearing your expensive clothes. Enjoy.
Museum of Dreamers. Espacio Ibercaja. Cl. del Parroco Eusebio Cuenca, 63. Madrid. May 6 to July 30. Check website for opening hours and ticket prices.
** You will definitely not get millions of likes unless you’re, like, Kim Kardashian.
3. Madrid’s International Documentary Film Festival is Back
The International Documentary Film Festival of Madrid is back for its 20th year showcasing the best feature and short documentary films “from all over the world, focusing on contemporary films and placing special emphasis on new aesthetic approach.”
There will be three major competitive sections: International competition, National Competition and Final Cut, with each section awarding two prizes, the Jury Prize for the Best Film and the Special Jury Prize. Check the event’s website for additional information such as the program and other special activities that included exhibits and musical performances.
Documenta Madrid 2023, Cineteca, Pl. de Legazpi, 8. May 3-7. Check official website for schedules and ticket prices.
4. Get a Sample of French DJ Fakear’s Electronic Music
French DJ and electronic music producer Fakear (née Théo Le Vigoureux) is back in Madrid to present his fifth (and latest) album Talisman. Heavily influenced by East Asian sounds and fully embracing his ecologist convictions, the musician goes back to his roots in the early 2010s after a two-year absence. French media calls his music “organic” and “close to the elements” and praises his decision to combine it with the powerful voice of French environmental activist Camille Etienne.
Fakear. Sala El Sol, Calle de los Jardines 3, Madrid. May 5, 9 p.m. Tickets start at €20.50
5. Eat Something Fresh at the Mercado de Productores Planetario
This popular fresh produce market offers high quality products from growers’ farm straight to your table the first and third Sunday of every month. All fruit and vegetables sold have been grown in nearby locations, which reduces energetic consumption, respects the environment and supports the farming sector. So if you want to eat healthy while buying local, this is a great option for you. It also looks great on your Instagram stories. (Probably better than the Museum of Dreamers, anyway.)
Mercado de Productores Planetario. Av del Planetario, 16, Parque Tierno Galván, Madrid. Sunday, May 7, 10 a.m. Free admission (just remember to bring a bag).
👨🏻💻 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.
👩🍳 They probably spit in the soup too
We all suspect that waiters and cooks secretly hate us just a little when we ask for special orders, but we’re never quite sure, right? Well, a group visiting a Valencia restaurant recently learned what the eatery staff really thought of them after one member ordered off menu.
The diner, who was vegetarian, asked the waiter to separate out meat from the dishes, which involved bringing the torreznos that formed part of an appetizer on a separate plate. They commented that the dish, a €15 plate, didn’t include the truffles listed on the menu. Let’s say the vibe wasn’t great. Then the vegetarian asked for a spaghetti dish with cheese and mushrooms, but there was none that day so the waiter delivered spaghetti with plain tomato sauce but tried to charge the original price. The group complained. The mood darkened.
The meal hit its climax when the bill arrived, with an added special order commentary included under the spaghetti order: “sin carnes para la rompe bolas”—without meat for the ball-buster.
Voila!
(Twitter and Substack are fighting because Elon Musk, so we can’t embed actual tweets right now. To see the thread including the diner’s negative review on Instagram, and the bill, click here.)
🤴 Uneasy is the head that wears a crown
The gala dinner the royals gave Colombian President Gustavo Petro was always destined to be tense. Petro has not been shy about his feelings towards Spain and its history of colonization so we were all really interested in watching the dynamics at play during such a special gathering.
And it was as awkward as we expected.
First, Petro decided to break protocol and refused to wear a tux during dinner with King Felipe VI, arguing that it’s a symbol “associated with the elites and anti-democracy”.
To be honest, we don’t care. It’s 2023, there are worse things to be horrified about.
Then there’s the brief awkwardness displayed by both Colombian First Lady Verónica Alcocer and King Felipe VI while listening to the Colombian national anthem and making it look like neither of them wanted to be here. To be fair, it’s just a seven-second clip and should be nothing but anecdotal, but that didn’t stop it from going viral on Twitter.
And yet, if there’s one thing we think should definitely go viral is Alcocer breaking into dancing outside the Colombian embassy in Madrid earlier this week.
First of all, she’s got some great moves. And second (since you’re probably asking), the First Lady is seen dancing mapalé, an Afro-Colombian style of dance.
Let’s focus on the positive, people.
🙏 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.
We’ll be back next week with more.