Fiestas

If there's something that characterizes the city of Madrid is its cosmopolitanism, how welcome its visitors feel, its ability to always place itself at the disposal of its visitors. You will never hear that visitors were poorly received, or did not feel at home. Madrid rolls out the red carpet for everyone.

We've got all the info for you in our WebMadrid Fiesta section about the fiestas in each and every district. As you can imagine, they're nearly innumerable. It's best that you know them by month instead of giving you a lengthy and boring list with all of them.

But, speaking of the largest ones, we crank it up at the start of the year and don't stop! Not in vain, but simply a statement of reality. La Puerta del Sol is where forty million inhabitants of Spain officially ring in the new year with the traditional grape ceremony. (The event is eating one grape per second the first 12 seconds of the new year.) We cannot stop talking about the celebrations without mentioning the Cavalcade of the Three Wise Kings (la Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos) which marches down the main streets leaving behind the smiles and dreams of thousands of children and adults that watch it go by. And later when Carnival arrives, with its parades and costumed celebrations, it culminates on Ash Wednesday. Rio it is not, nor is it Venice. But the enchantment of Madrid's Carnival is in its popularistic flavor. Each district and neighborhood has its own parade, with Getafe's version being highly recommended and the Fine Arts Institute (Circulo de Bellas Artes) celebration as well.

Another very important celebration is 2 de Mayo, Province day. This fiesta celebrates Spanish resistance to the arrival of the French in 1808. There are the festivals and fairs "Goyesca" and, in addition, an important series of bullfights. This name comes from the clothes the bullfighters wear which is in the style of XIX century princes of whom Goya painted in his bullfighting engravings. The day before, May 1, Labor Day (day of the worker) is celebrated and is a holiday from work in which many Madrileņos flee the city for their first taste of sun and surf for the year on Spain's coasts.

On May 15 we kick it up for the fiesta of Madrid's patron saint: Saint Isidore (San Isidro). In Madrid there is one old tradition with respect to this saint, to whom they dedicate local festivals, nearby town celebrations and the best bullfighting celebration in the world. The tradition is such that the people go down to the Manzanares River to drink the water from a tributary pond which they believe has miraculous powers. Usually they buy rolled wafer cookies, doughnuts and doughnut holes. Concerts, theatrical productions, night time celebrations... you can imagine that in our city there's something for people of all ages.

From the 6 to the 15 of August there are the famous village festivals de la Paloma (Dove). A pure-blooded celebration that represents one of the most typical figures of Madrid. The origin is in the celebrations of Saint Lawrence (San Lorenzo), Saint Cayetano (San Cayetano) and the Virgin of the Dove (la Virgen de la Paloma). Swingers, male (chulo) and female (chulapa). Figures of Spanish folklore, they get dressed in grey trousers, black checked vests, and a cap tilted to the side with a whole lot of swank. The original piropos (complimentary, flirtatious remarks) marched about the streets of Madrid as their own form of salutation. These ladies wearing the chulapa's traditional outfit adorned by a Manila shawl and handkerchief with a carnation let themselves be seduced by most striking and bold piropos.

July and August open the way to the Summers of Villa (los Veranos de la Villa), which is a good alternative for the few of us Madrileņos, as well as the many tourists, who are in the city in August. This is logical if you realize that in late summer almost 75 percent of all families in Madrid leave town for vacation.

With September's arrival you'll see the return of life to Madrid in the cinemas and theatres. New releases, new projects... and new fiestas, although to mention the important ones we must go to the month of November with the celebration of Almudena.

December adorns the streets with the celebrations at the end of the year, with thousand of possibilities: from macrocelebrations in sports complexes to the small rented premises. In addition, you will notice how the Plaza Mayor has been decorated with the traditional Christmas stalls.

And it starts all over...