The rubber duckling that presides over the entrance leaves no room for doubt: El Paticano (Travesía de la Primavera, 3), in Lavapiés, is not just any church. However, it does church things, such as celebrating masses, baptisms and also, for some years now, weddings. But it officiates them in its own way: in the Paticano, weddings are probably the most original (and the least legal) in Madrid.
It is not surprising considering that one of the highest representatives of this institution, the Papa Patólico, is Leo Bassi. The plural is not in vain: one of the principles by which this peculiar temple is governed is that of equality and that is why in this church there is also a Mamá Patólica: the cupletista Laura Inclán -La Verbeníssima- who officiates feminist masses and can also marry your partner.
Weddings at El Paticano are held on Saturdays and Sundays during the usual mass schedule (at 12 noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.) and last 30 minutes. They are, in Bassi’s words, “very funny ceremonies made with sincerity and emotion. They have no legal value but a lot of sentimental value”.
Weddings at El Paticano: how can you celebrate yours?
To make yours one of the weddings celebrated at El Paticano, all you have to do is send a direct message through their Instagram account: @iglesiapatolica. To make the reservation you will have to indicate the chosen time and the number of people you will be. You can also request (depending on the mass) that it be a multiple wedding.
At the entrance there will be no charge, but at the end of the ceremony (and only if you liked it) they will pass the brush asking for 5€ in cash per person -novixs and guests- for the chapel. And optionally you can add to the celebration a pair of ducky rings and a Marriage Certificate with your names for 5€ in both cases.
In addition, coinciding with Valentine’s Day, El Paticano has organized a big multiple wedding in which they will marry 24 couples this Friday -and, of course, they have filled the quota-: “It is part of our philosophy of sharing the joy as much as possible”, argues its Patolic Holiness.