Whether you stay in the capital or come to visit, Easter 2024 in Madrid is full of plans. Without the distressing heat of summer and already past the cold of winter, the city becomes friendly at the end of March with its warm evenings, the almond trees in bloom in its parks and the calendar full of cultural activities.
Madrid’s Easter Classics
Torrijas
Some people compare them to French toast, and their origin is not clear, but the torrija has a time and this is it. The contest that determines which are the best torrijas of Madrid each Easter has already chosen the winners. Cercadillo, Formentor and La Oriental have been the winners, but the list of pastry shops that embroider the recipe, and even reinvent it successfully, is long: Panod, the Moulin Chocolat or Mifer are some of them.
📍Several locations
Processions
The Catholic representation par excellence takes to the streets this week. The big novelty this year is that all the processions will pass through the Puerta del Sol.
As every Holy Week, the processions in Madrid begin on Monday, but the most crowded are on Wednesday with the procession of Nuestro Padre Jesús de la Salud and María Santísima de las Antiguas, on Friday with the processions of Cristo del Pozo and Nuestra Señora de los Dolores and Cristo del Perdón. And the high point is Palm Sunday, when the procession of Nuestro Padre Jesús del Amor (La Borriquita) and the procession of the Santísimo Cristo de la Fe y el Perdón (Los estudiantes) are celebrated.
📍Several locations
📅F rom March 24 to 31.
Tamborrada
On Easter Sunday a tamborrada maña will take place in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor. From here begins an itinerary in which numerous cofrades accompanied by drums and bass drums put soundtrack to the commemoration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ two days after his death.
📍Plaza Mayor (Center)
📅S unday, March 31st
XVII Cycle of Organ Music in San Ginés.
The organ, the quintessential symphonic instrument, will be the protagonist of this music series held at the Church of San Ginés. On March 17, 19, 21 and 25, 4 concerts will be held in the emblematic parish of Arenal Street (you can check here the full program with schedules).
As expected, there will be no shortage of great works by Johann Sebastian Bach or Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy among others, along with authors who had not previously been part of this cycle as Henri Muler or Eduardo Torres.
📍 Calle del Arenal, 13 (Center)
📅 March 17, 19, 21 and 25
Escape to La Granja de San Ildefonso: the fountain show returns.
As has become customary, Maundy Thursday marks the start of a great festival of light, color and water at the Royal Site of La Granja: its 26 fountains, designed by René Férminé, Jean Thierry, Dumandrè and Pitué, bloom every spring. These shows will be available on different dates from March 28 through August. We recommend purchasing your ticket in advance via digital.
💸 F rom 5€ (5,77€ advance online)
📅F rom March 28th onwards
Plans for laymen
Genesis
In a small space in the Castellana, an immersive experience of light and color is presented that recounts the first three days of the creation of the Earth through high-definition projections and video mapping. Genesis invites you to immerse yourself for half an hour and free your mind. You can enjoy it inside the church of the German-speaking Evangelical Community – Friedenskirche.
Paseo de la Castellana, 6 (Serrano).
A getaway to the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial.
The best thing about staying in this great house that is Madrid is that the possibilities of the Community are immense and, in a matter of 40 minutes, we can reach spectacular spaces such as the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial. World Heritage Site in 1984 and of Cultural Interest, the visit to this imposing building includes such amazing spaces as the Pantheon of Kings (where lie the remains of the monarchs of the dynasty of the Habsburgs and Bourbons), its great Basilica, the Royal Library…
Juan de Borbón y Battenberg Avenue (San Lorenzo de El Escorial)
Pixar World
For many people, cinema is religion. Specifically, Pixar’s animated films have that cathartic capacity to move from nostalgia, from the most primitive and innocent feelings. From the gaze of a child. In IFEMA’s Space 5.1, more than 3,000 square meters are dedicated to remembering these feelings in an immersive experience called Pixar World, the film company’s largest exhibition of its kind.
📍IFEMA’s Espacio 5.1 Avenida del Partenón, 5 (Barajas district).
Royal Collections Gallery
One of the newcomers to this great container of art that is Madrid, keeps inside paintings, sculptures, porcelain, furniture, musical instruments, armor … or tapestries signed by Velázquez, Goya or Caravaggio, among others. It is a selection of the most representative and outstanding works of the collection gathered by the Crown for five centuries.
📍Calle de Bailén s/n (Palace)
Jurassic World by Brickman
The same happens with fiction cinema and with those sagas that accompany us since we can remember. This is what happens with the universe Jurassic World films that keep us amazed with each new movie and with each rerun. In the same location as Pixar World (IFEMA’s Space 5.1) there is an exhibition that mixes the most epic scenes of the film with the recreation of more than 50 dinosaurs with more than 6 million LEGO.
📍IFEMA: Avenida del Partenón, 5 (Barajas district).
💸 Admission for adults: from 9,93 €.
The Berlin Wall. A Divided World
The Canal Foundation hosts one of the most outstanding exhibitions of the year. This exhibition presents more than 300 objects that help to contextualize an era that remains a symbol of division: the Berlin Wall. In the tour, in addition to finding more than 20 original meters of the wall itself, it also includes original testimonies of Berliners who lived on both sides, offering a unique perspective on that historical experience.
📍 Paseo de la Castellana, 214 Plaza de Castilla)
The musical journey of WAH Madrid
WAH Madrid has established itself as the most powerful entertainment event of the season from its headquarters at IFEMA and continues to break attendance records thanks to a show that does not skimp on visual media and artistic talent and has become a musical and gastronomic experience of reference at European level . Over the course of five hours, the spectator is immersed in a delirious journey through the history of music thanks to a portentous sequence of musical and scenic numbers of all genres and colors.
📍 Avenida del Partenón, 5 (Barajas district).
This article was written by María F. Carballo and Elena Francés.