🐑 The Tapa Weekend: October 20
Sheep in downtown Madrid, a contemporary art fair and a tapas festival in Lavapies.
By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | October 20, 2023 | Madrid | Issue #26
🎉 Welcome to a new issue of The Tapa: Weekend Edition! An English-language newsletter about what to do this weekend in Madrid (plus memes!)
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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend
If you’re confused by the photo above, fret not my fellow newcomer, and get ready to enjoy a Sunday morning like no other. Yes, it’s that time of the year again! So get ready to celebrate the weekend before Halloween with sheep (actual sheep, not animatronics), a green film festival and many other cool options that Madrid has to offer. Get ready! This weekend is pretty intense.
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1. The Transhumancia Festival: Sheep Invade Downtown Madrid
Have you ever wanted to go to a petting zoo but were too lazy to do so? Well, you’re in luck. Because this weekend you don’t need to go to a farm to hang out with a bunch of sheep, the bunch of sheep actually come to you! (Well, actually they come to downtown Madrid, but you know what we mean).
This Sunday, the Transhumance Festival returns to the streets of Madrid, a traditional celebration in which thousands of sheep get moved along the city streets "blocking" the main roads of the capital (if you’re planning on taking the car out this Sunday, stay away from downtown). Oh and by the way, while “transhumance” sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, it actually means “the seasonal movement of livestock”. So… the opposite of a sci-fi novel.
Since 1994, this festival has been used to advocate for the role of extensive livestock farming as “a tool for biodiversity conservation and the fight against climate change”. It started 29 years ago after the passing of the Livestock Roads Law, which recognized cattle tracks as public domain assets. So come see the sheep at the Puerta del Sol and Cibeles! (Careful with the sheep poop though).
Transhumancia Festival. Downtown Madrid. See flyer for times and locations. Sunday, October 22. Free admission.
2. Another Way Film Festival: a Festival about Sustainable Progress
Are you, for some reason, not into hanging out with sheep? Would you rather seem them on the big screen? Then we have the perfect option for you!
The ninth edition of Another Way Film Festival, which is dedicated to sustainable development and the environment, features 43 titles and is happening from October 18 to October 25 (so yes, it started two days ago but you can still make it, don’t worry). Just like in previous edition, part of the program will be dedicated to children, and it will also include non-competitive sections.
The festival features documentaries, fiction films, and short films with themes such as climate change, the relationship between humans and nature, human rights, and the conflict between tradition and modernity, and it aims to inform, educate, and raise awareness about the challenges of the climate crisis and the regenerative potential that lies in the hands of society. This event also features parallel activities related to other artistic and cultural aspects linked to sustainability and social, economic, and environmental issues.
The Another Way Film Festival takes place in various locations around the city, including Cineteca Madrid, Cines Golem Madrid, Filmoteca Española and the Institut français de Madrid.
Another Way Film Festival. Multiple locations around Madrid. Check program for more information. Through October 25. Tickets start at €3.
3. Tapapiés: 13th Tapas and Music Festival in Lavapiés
I know what you’re thinking. “Another Tapas Route”. Well, you’re wrong. Because this is actually a Tapas Festival (which is basically the same thing, except apparently there’s live music in this one).
The Tapapiés Festival (Tapas in Lavapiés, get it?) is back for its 13th edition, and once again over 100 bars and restaurants are ready to partake in it, filling the neighborhood with endless, delicious tapas and over 30 live concerts, drumming bands, parades and some sort of entertainment for the kids. (Is it puppets? It’s usually puppets. We don’t know. But yeah, there’s some stuff for kids too if you can’t find a babysitter in time).
The premise is simple: you pay €3 and you get a tapa served with a small bottle or El Águila beer. Then the public can vote for their favorite tapas on enlavapies.com, where they can also find information about each tapa and venue. And yes, before you ask, most of them offer vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free versions.
So if you’re in the mood for tapas after hanging out with the sheep (we know we will), head over to key Lavapiés locations such as the Ana Diosdado Square, Arturo Barea Square, Lavapiés Square, Nelson Mandela Square, and the corner of Argumosa Street with Doctor Piga. Go nuts! (Just leave the kids at home. Or with the sheep).
Tapapiés Festival. Multiple locations around Lavapiés, in Madrid. Check website for more information. From October 20th to October 22, 1 pm to 8 pm.
4. Estampa Contemporary Art Fair 2023
A new edition of the Estampa Contemporary Art Fair is here, featuring a general program and curated sections that bring together both national and international galleries, along with a series of debates, and workshops. The fair’s goal is to establish itself as a major event in the art market and become a reference for local and international galleries and collectors.
Participating in the fair are leading national galleries, along with new, up-and-coming ones in an effort to reflect the ongoing changes in the national art market. Additionally, the programs for national and international collectors are expanding, showcasing the vitality and interest in gallery art in Spain.
The 2023 edition has Secundino Hernández as the guest artist, who will present his latest work in a series of large-format stencil paintings. The artist's work is rooted in the tradition of pictorial practice and is characterized by “a desire to explore and experiment, driven by a curiosity about the essential aspects of constructing and developing pictorial discourse”.
Estampa Contemporary Art Fair 2023. IFEMA, Avenida del Partenón 5, Madrid. October 19 to October 22. Tickets start at €20.
5. Suma Flamenca 2023: The Madrid Flamenco Festival
Attention all flamenco fans! If you’re looking for the real deal, this is it. Forget about those tourist traps around the Royal Palace or the Puerta del Sol. The Suma Flamenca Festival is happening this week and until November 5, and it features countless performances by leading contemporary flamenco figures such as Estrella Morente, Rocío Márquez, Eva Yerbabuena, Manuel Liñán, and Arcángel.
In its 18th edition, the festival this year features 40 performances, including thirteen world premieres by artists such as Niño Ricardo with guitarist Rafael Riqueni; Mayte Martín and her intimate and essential flamenco, and José el de la Tomasa celebrating 50 years on stage with an anthology.
The Teatros del Canal and a few theater venues in Madrid will serve as a meeting ground for flamenco singers and those from related genres, all with different vocal styles, cultures, senses of space and time, and customs.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, no. There will be no sheep present at this festival so you better go see them live on Sunday.
Suma Flamenca 2023. Multiple locations around Madrid. Check program for locations and times. October 17 to November 5. Tickets start at €9.
👨🏻💻 Viral Stories of the Week
🤬 Spain gets angry!
Judging from our Thursday newsletter on the spat between Spain and Israel, you might have gathered that it was a crabby week in Spain. And it was! So here are 3 examples…
Madrid regional governor Isabel Díaz Ayuso suggested leftwing Más Madrid was “antisemitic” for not supporting Israel strongly enough in its fight with Hamas. In response, Más Madrid head Mónica García Gómez allegedly called Ayuso a “retard” and “shameless.”
Second, two drivers arguing (by cutting each other off) on Madrid’s M-40 got in a big accident (below).
And third, the French poured out Spanish wine at the border because…less expensive, competition, that’s what happens (further below).
🔔 A Message From Our Sponsor
Secret Kingdoms is your English bookstore in Madrid. It specializes in Spanish history and literature, contemporary and classic novels, books for children and young adults of all ages, history and historical fiction, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, biographies and much more.
Located on Calle de Moratín 7 — a few blocks away from the Prado Museum — and with over 20,000 new and used books, Secret Kingdoms has something for everyone.
Find out more at www.thesecretkingdoms.com
🙏 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.
Thank you Dominique! We missed this because we were both out of town but I heard it was great...
I forgot to tell you guys that there is a Jumble Sale happening tomorrow (Saturday 21st Oct) at St George's Anglican Church (Calle Núñez de Balboa 43, Metro Velazquez) from 11am to 2pm). I can send you the poster if you fancy tweeting about it. Thanks.