01
The Musical "Cleopatra in Love"
What to Do in Madrid This July: Festivals, Concerts & Open-Air Cinema
Midsummer in Madrid will be hot in both the literal and the figurative sense — July has a host of events planned here: from music festivals to open-air film screenings, from numerous exhibitions where you can both enjoy art and hide from the heat to theatrical performances. La Cotorra tells you which of the month's events not to miss in Madrid.
Actors Natalia Millán and Álex O'Dogherty play the roles of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. The musical tells of their passionate love story, unfolding in the final years of Ptolemaic rule.
The production breaks down the widespread image of Cleopatra as an exclusively seductive woman and presents her as a strategist devoted to her people in the face of the looming Roman threat.
02
Río Babel Festival
Río Babel launched in 2017 and has since become a significant event in the Spanish capital, one that builds bridges between cultures, genres, and generations. The festival was created to bring together the most varied genres of Spanish, Latin American, and international music.
Among the headliners are the artist Amaia from Pamplona, for whom the performance on opening day will be her only concert in Madrid; the American punk band The Offspring, returning to Madrid as part of their SUPERCHARGED tour; and the veterans of the Mexican band Molotov. On closing day, Katy Perry will take the stage for her only concert in Spain this year, along with Bomba Estéreo and La Casa Azul.
The program features more than 40 performances on several stages in the most varied styles, from pop to indie. Comedy will also be on offer — one of Río Babel's distinctive features. Every year, well-known Spanish comedians perform on the Babel Comedy stage.
03
The Ópera a quemarropa Chamber Opera Festival
This festival is dedicated to a relatively little-studied musical genre: chamber opera, or small-scale opera. It opens in San Lorenzo de El Escorial and Aranjuez with the opera "The Wedding," written for six female voices performed a cappella, and "Clara," an immersive chamber opera about artificial intelligence and the search for one's own identity.
These will be followed by the world premiere of the opera "The Closing of Love" (La clausura del amor), based on the text of the same name by the French playwright Pascal Rambert, as well as the debut of actor Oriol Pla as an opera director with the opera "Aesthetics and Massacre" (Estètica i massacre), dedicated to beauty standards and social media.
The organisers haven't forgotten about tradition either: the La Madrileña orchestra will perform Perrica e Varrone, a comic interlude by Alessandro Scarlatti. The festival will close with a performance by La Plaza, an interdisciplinary creative project.
04
Veranos de la Villa
The festival's main charm lies in the diversity of its venues. One evening you listen to a symphony orchestra in a summer amphitheatre, the next — open-air jazz at Conde Duque, then avant-garde theatre on the grounds of the former Matadero slaughterhouse.
This year, music will be the festival's main theme: the program features live performances by Lila Downs, Diana Navarro, Alén Pérez, and Ede, as well as tributes to the music of ABBA, Miles Davis, Phil Collins, and Édith Piaf. In the field of dance, Joaquín de Luz will present his Concertdanza.
For lovers of the visual arts, two exhibitions will open at Conde Duque: "Art and Mercy," which will feature Baroque paintings by Murillo and Valdés Leal, and "I Went to Primary School" — a nostalgic journey through the 1980s and 1990s. The festival also includes open-air film screenings, circus performances, and other events.
05
Mad Cool Festival
Mad Cool Festival is one of the largest music festivals in Europe, held every summer in Madrid.
The festival emerged in 2016 and quickly grew to the scale of a true giant, attracting music lovers from all over the world. It focuses on rock, indie, pop, and electronic music, combining performances by world-class stars with young artists. Over the years, its stages have hosted Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead, Metallica, Depeche Mode, and Billie Eilish.
Mad Cool 2026 will take place from July 8 to 11. The lineup includes more than 70 artists: Foo Fighters, Florence + the Machine, Twenty One Pilots, Lorde, Pulp, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Kings of Leon, Pixies, Moby, Halsey, David Byrne, and many others.
This year, for the first time, the organisers have limited daily capacity to 50,000–55,000 people.
Bruno Mars is one of the best-selling solo artists in history. His discography includes the hits Just the Way You Are, Locked Out of Heaven, and Uptown Funk, as well as a Grammy for the song Leave the Door Open together with Silk Sonic.
Bruno Mars is returning to the big stage for the first time in almost 10 years — his last world tour began in 2017. Now the artist is bringing his large-scale new show, The Romantic Tour, to the Spanish capital.
The tour is timed to the release of The Romantic, his first solo album in 10 years and his fourth overall. It will be Bruno Mars's first full-fledged stadium tour — a grand return by one of the most charismatic live performers.
On stage, he will be accompanied by Anderson.Paak as DJ Pee.Wee and singer Victoria Monét.
07
"Triana and Medea" — The National Ballet of Spain
The National Ballet of Spain's program consists of two productions. "Triana" is a ballet dedicated to the spirit of the famous Seville district of the same name. The production is inspired by the rhythms of flamenco, the culture, the urban romance, and the passion that define the soul of Andalusia.
"Medea" is a legendary one-act ballet by choreographer José Granero. It's a unique production in which the ancient Greek myth of Medea, betrayed by Jason, is combined with the drama and language of Spanish flamenco.
The legendary Italian singer Al Bano is coming to Madrid for his only (at least for now) concert in Spain this year. He will perform accompanied by a live band and will sing the hits of his career.
The singer became a symbol of Italian pop, having managed to organically combine traditional pop music, melodic chanson, and classical operatic arias. His creative and family union with Romina Power (daughter of the Hollywood actor Tyrone Power) became a global cultural phenomenon. Their hits, for example, Felicità and Sempre Sempre, were heard around the world and became anthems of entire generations.
Thanks to his outstanding tenor, Al Bano brilliantly performs both light pop hits and the most complex classical works. He has been on stage for more than 60 years. In that time, the singer has released dozens of platinum albums and still fills concert halls.
09
Ye (Kanye West)
Kanye West is returning to Spain after a twenty-year absence. His only Spanish concert took place in 2006 in Barcelona. Now, two decades later, he is taking the stage at Madrid's Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium.
This is his only performance in Spain as part of the current tour. Audiences will be able to hear tracks from the rapper's new album Bully, which features collaborations with artists such as Peso Pluma, Playboi Carti, and Ty Dolla Sign.
West began his music career in the late 1990s as a hip-hop producer in Chicago. He gained fame thanks to his work with well-known artists and his contribution to Jay-Z's album The Blueprint. In 2004, he debuted as a rapper with the album The College Dropout. His style combines rap with elements of soul and profound lyrics, which allows him to stand out on the music scene.
10
Summer Cinemas
All July
Across the city
Fescinal
Madrid's oldest open-air cinema will operate from June 26 to September 6, 2026, in La Bombilla park. Each evening, two films will be shown there. Screenings begin at 10:15 PM, and the capacity of the main hall is 900 people.
Program and tickets on the website.
La Estival
The series of film screenings returns to the Plaza de España from July 12 to September 14. The program features a wide selection of premiere films, special screenings, stand-up performances, and live podcast broadcasts, as well as other events on a screen measuring 120 square meters.
The program hasn't been announced yet; it will appear on the event's official website.
Summer Cinema at the French Institute of Madrid
Until July 23, the best examples of contemporary and auteur French cinema will be shown here, always in the original version with Spanish subtitles. Screenings take place on Wednesdays and Fridays at 10:00 PM.
Full program and tickets on the website.
Open-Air Cinema at La Casa Encendida
Until August 1, as part of an open-air film festival, films offering an original and contemporary view of the world will be shown. The screenings are often accompanied by concerts, presentations, and events for viewers of all ages.
Program and tickets on the website.
Summer Cinema Venue at Matadero
The famous Matadero Madrid cinema is hosting the ninth CinePlaza festival, titled Superestrellas 3. It will run from July 2 to 26, with screenings held from Thursday to Sunday. This year,r the program combines cinema and live music: the cycle will feature two film concerts with the participation of well-known Spanish musicians, three sessions with films accompanied by live commentary, and a selection of 11 films.
Program and tickets on the website.
Other summer cinemas will also be set up in Madrid, for example on the squares La Corrala de Lavapiés, Plaza de Las Vistillas, and Plaza de Las Comendadoras — where free film screenings will take place, including for a children's audience. The Barajas district is also holding an open-air film festival with free screenings every weekend until July 13.
11
The Exhibition "The Prado. 21st Century"
Over the past 25 years, almost 1,000 new paintings have come into the Prado Museum's collection, including absolute masterpieces by Fra Angelico, Bruegel, Velázquez, and Goya. During this time, the Prado has developed in every area — artistically, financially, and in terms of social influence and audience reach.
The exhibition brings together 98 items: paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, books, and archival documents. Among them are a 1st-century BC torso of Aphrodite, Ribera's "The Resurrection of Lazarus," and others. The display tells the story of the museum over the past quarter-century and concludes with an overview of the Prado's departments, illustrating its evolution.
12
An Exhibition of Works by the Cuban-American Artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres
The Reina Sofía Museum is hosting the capital's first major exhibition dedicated to the Cuban-American artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres. The exhibition aims to show and analyse the contradictions and tensions of the artist's visual language, shaped by his experience as a queer creator during the AIDS crisis.
The exhibition presents more than 50 of the artist's works in an exhibition space specially equipped for the occasion. Its title, "Sweet Revenge," refers to a 1991 installation by Gonzalez-Torres, in which he set up a sculpture made of blue candies in Madrid.
The object consists of a pile of glittering candies in transparent wrappers, weighing several dozen kilograms in total. By the artist's design, visitors can take candies with them, and the installation is regularly replenished.
13
The Exhibition "American Latinos 1935–1945"
Casa de América is hosting the exhibition "American Latinos 1935–1945."
Its creator is filmmaker Alberto Ferreras, creator of the documentary series Habla for HBO. Around 300 portraits from the holdings of the US Library of Congress document the lives of Spanish families in New Mexico, Mexican farmers in California, hunters from the Canary Islands in Louisiana, Puerto Rican peasants, and Basque shepherds in Idaho and Nevada during a key decade in American history.
Through photography, music, and narrative, the display offers a journey through the US of the 1930s and 1940s, presenting works by such outstanding photographers as Dorothea Lange, Jack Delano, Russell Lee, John Collier Jr., and Arthur Rothstein.
The exhibition offers a documented look at the diversity, complexity, and historical trajectory of Spanish-speaking communities in the United States.
