💥 What's on in Madrid: May 1

Madrid | Issue #143

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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend

It’s Friday again (and a holiday)!

• This weekend is basically a collision of everything: history spilling into the streets with 2 de Mayo reenactments, rooftops opening up all over the city, and a lineup of cultural plans that range from thoughtful to chaotic (in a good way).

• Are you in the mood to time-travel to 1808? Or maybe sip something overpriced on a rooftop? Or just wander into whatever’s happening and call it a plan? We have great news, because this XL weekend is offering lots of possibilities (even the Madrid Open tennis tournament!).

Happy weekend 🧐

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1. 🪭 Community of Madrid Day: the city goes full 1800s with history, chaos, and a massive party

Madrid’s big moment is here! If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about this city’s history but opening a book feels soooo 20th century, you’re in luck: the 2 de Mayo celebrations are here to show you what happens when a national uprising that left hundreds of people dead gets rebranded as a long weekend of concerts, sun, and fun!

• History lesson. May 2, 1808, was the day that the population of Madrid rose against Napoleon’s troops occupying the city. It didn’t go so great (Goya created one of his most iconic paintings to make sure we never forget), but fast forward several centuries, and it’s now one of the most symbolic (and fun!) dates in the city’s calendar. It is, now, officially considered the Day of the Community of Madrid.

• Across Madrid, things get very busy. The Explanada de Puente del Rey turns into the unofficial HQ of the celebrations, with live concerts, crowds, and people who say they are there to learn history, but really, they just care about the beer.

• Elsewhere, you’ve got traditional folklore performances, brass bands popping up in different towns, and even a full-on drone show lighting up the sky in La Latina.

• If you’re into animal cruelty “tradition”, there’s a bullfight in Las Ventas (honestly, very on-brand for the day).

• There are smaller, less brutal more local traditions like the Mayas festivals (not related to Mexico’s Maya culture) happening across the region, where things get a bit more folkloric as they involve a young girl adorned with flowers (often wearing a crown) who sits on an altar or in a decorated spot during May festivals.

So yeah, it’s one of those weekends where the past and present collide, and where history gets just enough of a glow-up to make you actually care. (The rest of the year, you can go back to watching Ancient Aliens on the History network).

🖥️ What: Madrid’s 2 de Mayo Festivities

📍 Where: Multiple locations around Madrid. See links above.

📅 When: May 1-3

🎟 Tickets: Mostly free entry (some events ticketed, access subject to capacity)

2. 🥁 Muskets in Madrid: the uprising returns, with a reenactment playing live in the streets

If you’ve ever wondered what Madrid looked like when things got deadly, this is your chance to see it live (except for the actual killing, obvi). The city is once again recreating the 2 de Mayo uprising, when locals decided they’d had enough of Napoleon’s troops, and things escalated quickly.

• For two days, Madrid turns into a historical film set, with committed performers, real uniforms, and gunfire. The whole thing is led by the Asociación Histórico-Cultural Voluntarios de Madrid 1808–1814, a group that’s been doing this for over 20 years, which means they’re either passionate or just really into uniforms. Or both.

• Things kick off today with reenactments in Torrejón de Ardoz and Vicálvaro, where you’ll see full-on street battles between locals and French troops. Then, tomorrow (May 2), things move into central Madrid, and that's when it gets good.

• At 12 p.m., right next to the Banco de España metro station, you’ll get a pasacalles down Alcalá (yes, actual soldiers marching through modern Madrid), followed by a dramatic reenactment at the Puerta del Sol at 1 p.m. of the iconic “¡Que nos lo llevan!” (“They are taking him away!”) moment — basically the spark that lit the whole uprising after the French troops attempted to remove Infante Francisco de Paula—the last remaining member of the Royal Family in the city.

• And then, the main event: the defense of the Monteleón artillery barracks at Puente del Rey, which is as intense as it sounds.

So if you’re into history, or just want to watch people in period costumes scream at each other in the middle of the street, this one’s for you.

🖥️ What: 2 de Mayo Historical Reenactments

📍 Where: Puente del Rey, Puerta del Sol, Torrejón de Ardoz and Vicálvaro

📅 When: May 1–2

🎟 Tickets: Free entry (access subject to capacity)

3. 🌞 Madrid a Cielo Abierto: rooftops, drinks, repeat

Indoors is for the winter. Rooftop lovers, rejoice! Madrid A Cielo Abierto is back, and for 11 days the city’s hotels basically unlock their best-kept secrets — rooftops, terraces, gardens, pools — and invite you in like you belong there.

• Now, this isn’t your average “grab a drink and leave” situation. We’re talking sunset sessions with views that make you reconsider your current apartment, rooftop workouts (yes, that’s a thing), jazz nights, open-air cinema, brunches that start civilized and end in fights similar to the ones you see on Real Housewives, and enough tardeos to justify calling it a lifestyle.

• More than 50 different plans are spread across some of Madrid’s best hotels. From the polished elegance of the Four Seasons to the effortlessly cool Only You or the classic rooftop vibes of H10 Puerta de Alcalá.

If you’ve been meaning to explore the city’s rooftops but never quite made it past the Azotea del Círculo, this is your best time to do it.

🖥️ What: Madrid A Cielo Abierto (Open-Air Hotel Rooftop Festival)

📍 Where: Multiple hotels across Madrid

📅 When: May 1–10

🎟 Tickets: Free entry/pay per drink

4. 🎭 Trauma, inheritance, and secrets nobody asked for: ‘I just want to go to France’ is a play that digs deep

If you’re in the mood for something a bit heavier than rooftop cocktails and muskets being fired, this one hits differently. Elisabeth Larena’s debut play is a story that starts like a mystery and slowly turns into something much more uncomfortable: the kind of past that refuses to stay buried.

• It all begins with a funeral and a very weird inheritance. Inés shows up at the wake of a woman she’s never met, only to discover she’s been left her house… instead of the dead woman’s own granddaughter. What follows is a slow excavation of everything that went wrong.

• As the main characters start digging into the woman’s past, they uncover a story shaped by the final years of the Spanish Civil War and the suffocating influence of Francoist institutions and the kind of ideological machinery that didn’t just control lives back then, but quietly echoes into the present.

• This play is about the emotional leftovers of a bygone era that get passed down without anyone consciously choosing them.

It leans into a female, multi-generational perspective that feels intimate, reflective, and at times a bit too real.

🖥️ What: I just want to go to France

📍 Where: Gran Teatro Pavón, C. de Embajadores 9, Madrid

📅 When: Through May 23 (Wednesday to Sunday)

🎟 Tickets start at €24

5. 🗿 Giant sculptures, hidden gardens, and a rare excuse to snoop inside Banca March