Fiestas in Madrid

San Isidro – 15 May

Madrid’s great party around the 15th of May is in honour of St Isidore, the humble 12th century farmworker who became the city’s patron.

With a corrida every day, this is Spain’s biggest bullfighting event. Throughout the city, there are also art exhibitions, open-air concerts and fireworks. Many people dress in castizo folk costume for the occasion.

San Isidro is the patron saint of peasants and of Madrid. On the day of the Saint, May 15th, the people of Madrid embark on a pilgrimage to the meadow of San Isidro’s to drink the holly water from the fountain in hermitage’s patio and to celebrate the festival. People arrive dressed in chulapo or chulapa which is the traditional dress of Madrid. They bring food and drink to picnic and celebrate for several days.

The Passion – Easter Saturday – Chinchon

A passion play is performed in the town’s atmospheric arcaded Plaza Mayor.

Dos de Mayo – 2 May

This four-day holiday marks the city’s uprising against Napoleon’s troops in 1808. New Year’s Eve – The nation focuses on the Puerta del Sol at midnight as crowds gather to swallow a grape on each chime of the clock.

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