January

Madrileños celebrate on January 1st. the "New Year's Day". New Year's Eve ticks away at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, where crowds of mainly foreigners & tourists gather to eat 12 grapes, one on each stroke of midnight to guarantee good fortune in the coming year. Thousands of people flock together at Puerta del Sol in "Noche Vieja" (New Year). After midnight, all the city becomes the scenery of a great party.

Cabalgata de los Reyes, on January 5th, is held in towns throughout Spain. The Three Kings, or Los Reyes, parade in floats, the cabalgata, tossing out sweets and presents to children. Children get their Christmas presents the following day, the Día de los Reyes. In fact, Epiphany, on the 6th, is a Spanish child's Christmas. Youngsters leave their shoes on the doorstep to be filled with gifts by the three wise men, or Three Kings.

February, March & April

"Los Carnavales", a carnival with parades and costume parties culminating on Ash Wednesday with the traditional burial of the Sardine, marks the beginning of Lent. In fact, carnival is held in the week before Lent and is a good excuse for a party with dressing-up, floats, parades and street parties. The festivities finish up with the bizarre ritual of the "Entierro de la Sardina" (Burial of the Sardine), which marks the beginning of spring. La Alternativa is an alternative theatre and dance festival is held some time in February or March at venues throughout the city. Check with the tourist office for exact dates.

On March 19 is the Fiesta de San José (Feast of St. Joseph). Also, depending on the year, Semana Santa or "Holy Week" takes place throughout Spain at the end of March or early in April, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. The Holy Week is celebrated with solemn processions and masses in Madrid. It’s not such a big event as in southern Spain, but you’ll still see some processions of venerated statues, such as the procession of the brotherhood of Jesús Nazareno el Pobre which parades around the neighbourhood of La Latina. However, processions are fewer in Madrid but are most popular in Seville and throughout Andalucía.

On 23 April the King and Queen present the prestigious literary prize, the Premio Cervantes de Literatura, at Alcalá University.

May

This is the best time to see bullfights in Madrid. On May 15th, spaniards celebrate San Isidro Labrador's day (Madrid's patron saint) and with this celebration begins four weeks of the best bullfighting in Spain. Bullfights are held everyday during the festivities of San Isidro from the middle of March to the middle of June, and every Sunday, and public holiday, the rest of the season. This festival includes different types of fight: With novillos (young bulls), rejones (bullfights on horseback) and Goyesca fights (in period costume).

Madrid hosts the largest Plaza de Toros (bullring) in Spain, Las Ventas del Espíritu Santo, or more simply, Las Ventas (Alcalá street, Metro: Las Ventas. http://www.las-ventas.com/), which was established in 1931 and has a seating capacity of almost 25,000 persons. This amazing bullring also hosts music concerts and other events outside of the bullfighting season.

June

Madrid (and all Spain) celebrates the "Corpus Christi" (Body of Christ) on June 10.

The 13th of June, the day of San Antonio de la Florida, young girls have a date at the hermitage of San Antonio de la Florida. This day is celebrated with a big street party near the hermitage of San Antonio de la Florida, which is decorated with Goya’s frescoes.

Día de San Juan (24 June) is a midsummer festival which is not such big news in Madrid as it is elsewhere in Spain, but there are fireworks and musicians in the Parque del Buen Retiro. The "Fiesta de San Pedro y San Pablo" (Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul) is celebrated on June 29.

Between Mid-June and mid-July Madrid hosts an international photography festival, "PhotoEspaña", with exhibitions, workshops and talks.

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