🏠 The Tapa Weekend: September 27
Open House and Sonido Madrid are back. Also, you can try a real life arcade game.
By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | September 27, 2024 | Madrid | Issue #68
🎉 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
Happy Friday, everyone!
As you may have probably noticed 🙄, we’ve gone from a scorching hot summer to winter-like weather. We don’t know what happened to the fall, but we’re not happy about this.
Fortunately for you, no extreme weather can stop us (well, maybe Filomena) so we have a few interesting options for you.
Enjoy!
1.🏠 Open House Madrid 2024
Madrid once again offers the opportunity to legally invade some of the city’s most iconic architectural marvels. After a long wait, the tenth edition of Open House Madrid is here, offering guided in-person tours through over 100 buildings and architecture studios that are normally closed to the general public.
Curious onlookers can explore the insides of legendary locations such as the Palacio de Maudes, the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain, the Iberia Airlines hangar or even the Palacio de Cibeles. But do it quickly—it’s for a few days only.
The theme for this year’s international festival is “A year that’s a 10”. OH director Paloma Gómez Marín says they have spent “the last 10 years opening the most iconic and inaccessible spaces in the capital, striving each year to surpass ourselves and proving that architecture is for everyone.”
This year’s program includes more than 140 free activities, ranging from visits to buildings and architecture studios to outdoor tours and other cultural events such as exhibitions and the City Awards. Most of the visits are guided, thanks to the collaboration of over 800 volunteers who participate in the festival.
Open House Madrid 2024. Multiple locations around Madrid. Through Sept. 29. Some locations charge an admission fee. Check the website for more information.
2.🪀 Bombastik: A Crazy Game You Can Enjoy with Your Friends
Have you ever dreamed of taking part in a giant immersive adventure with your friends that feels like an arcade-style video game on a life-sized scale?
No? Well, tough luck because this is suggestion number two.
Bombastik offers the chance to enjoy the craziest team game in the world, where participants must avoid falling into lava pits (not real lava, obviously), crack secret codes, avoid laser beams and prevent a bomb from exploding. The best part? The game is also in English and you can bring teams of 4 to 8 people.
As the organizers say, “it’s not just a game; it’s an experience that challenges the senses and immerses participants in a world full of excitement and obstacles” for 75 minutes. In total, you must complete six puzzle/skill-based games spread across six rooms. Each room features a different challenge, and points are awarded based on how well the tasks are completed.
The game is developed by Fox in a Box (whom you may know because of their escape rooms) so the fun is guaranteed. On top of that, Bombastik is located at Spoiler bar, where visitors can enjoy a selection of craft beers, cocktails, and snacks either before or after the experience.
Bombastik. Calle de Ancora 12, Madrid. Check website for schedules and tickets. Tickets: €22 for 8 people group.
3.✉️ You’ve Got Mail (From Christopher Columbus)
Every week we like to make a recommendation that is pretentious (yet genuinely interesting) and intellectual (so you can look down on your friends who want to go to Bombastik). This week is no exception.
Behold the first exhibition exploring the American heritage of the Casa de Alba Foundation collection, showcasing the family’s close connection with the Americas dating back to the 15th century and that includes… (wait for it) 20 original letters signed by the Christopher Columbus (aka Cristobal Colón).
This is the largest collection of Columbus autographs ever assembled by any institution, and they are being displayed together for the first time.
The exhibit is curated by Consuelo Varela, a researcher at the Spanish-American Studies School of CSIC specializing in Columbus, and Álvaro Romero Sánchez-Arjona, cultural director of the Casa de Alba Foundation.
It also offers a chronological journey to explore the relationship between the Casa de Alba and the Americas through more than 150 pieces.
You can also check out pre-Columbian and colonial-era artefacts, portraits, and decorative arts, all of great historical and artistic significance.
Carta de Colón. America en la Casa de Alba. Palacio de Liria, Calle de la Princesa 20, Madrid. Through Feb. 16, 2025. Check website for opening hours. Tickets: €8.
4.🎵 Sonido Madrid en Vivo 24
Music lovers, rejoice! Sonido Madrid en Vivo is back for its third edition, bringing together a fantastic variety of music styles in multiple venues around Madrid.
Just to be clear, this isn’t an event. It’s more of a series of local, national and international artists and bands playing throughout the city under the same goal: to enjoy an evening of good music.
Sonido runs the gamut of genres such as jazz, rock, flamenco, fusion, alternative rock, urban, indie and blues. So as you can see, there’s something for everyone. Some of the artists participating are Leo Middea, Alex Hijo, La Cuerda Floja, Jürgen, Benny Sharoni Quartet and Lino Suricato.
Where? The list of participating venues includes Café Central, El Intruso, Café La Palma, Clamores, Vesta, Sala Villanos, El Sol, Fulanita de Tal, Maravillas Club, Contraclub, Tablao Flamenco Torero and Tempo Audiophile Club.
Sonido Madrid en Vivo 24. Multiple locations around Madrid. Through Oct. 12. Check website for schedules and tickets.
5.🎥 A Screening of ‘Dressed to Kill’
Listen up, Gen Z! Head over to Cine Dore tonight to enter a world of suspense with Brian De Palma’s iconic film, Dressed to Kill.
This thriller from 1980 is a stunning homage to Hitchcock’s mastery of psychological tension, weaving together a gripping mystery, edge-of-your-seat thrills, and the bold, stylish direction that made De Palma a master of the genre.
The film follows the chilling story of an upper-class housewife, a mysterious murder, and a web of deceit that will keep you guessing until the very last scene. The movie stars Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, and Nancy Allen (all people you probably don’t know) and 40 years later, it’s still a great movie.
Don’t miss out on this rare chance to see one of the most stylish thrillers of all time in its full cinematic glory. Invite your friends, grab some popcorn, and prepare for a night of unforgettable tension and drama.
Dressed to Kill. Cine Doré, Calle Santa Isabel 3, Madrid. Sept. 27, 9 p.m. Tickets start at €3.
👨🏻💻 Viral Stories of the Week
🏴☠️ Johnny Depp visited a San Sebastian hospital as Jack Sparrow
He did not appear to mention Amber Heard. Which is nice.
👯♂️ Well, wasn’t expecting quite such a big welcome
A Spanish Tiktoker jokingly asks why everybody is in Colombia—like, what’s so special about it anyway? Colombia’s tourism ministry gets wind of his upcoming visit and things go a little cray-cray…
🔔 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
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We’ll be back next week with more.