Once again, and for the fifth consecutive year the Urban Culture Festival comes to Madrid and will provide 18 hours of uninterrupted music with the best of hip-hop, electronic music, break-dance and the latest trends in street art and graffiti. From May 16th the Telefónica Madrid Arena enclosure will host this festival which has become a top international urban culture festival.

This year the festival has four musical stages, an area dedicated to the urban art, another one to break-dance and contemporary dance and another to host varied activities related to the urban culture. Around 20,000 people are expected to turn up at the event and participate in any of the 40 activities.

Over the years the festival has grown and this year it presents the best line-up in its history: great national and international names such as Dizzie Rascal y Congo Natty (United Kingdom), Q Bert & Common (U.SA.), Sefyu (France) or Hablando en Plata, Nach, Rapsusklei, Dogma Crew, Hermano L, Duo Kie and L.E. Flaco from Spain.

Besides the numerous concerts and DJ sessions, artistic workshops will be held and there will be outdoor spaces for the practice of sports like skateboarding, BMX or basketball. There will also be an area set aside where you can find vinyl records and CDs and a documentary film series on urban culture (in the Casa de America on May 9th). And also the Red Bull Battle, where 32 MCs will improvise some rhymes to get a good position for the National Final and the fourth Eastpack Breakdance Battle, where 20 Bboys and Bgirls groups will face each other in a dance competition. The winning group will receive a prize of 4,000 euros.

As is customary, a famous urban artist has designed the logo of the festival. This edition 3TTMAN has designed it!

Are you going to miss it? Do not waste the opportunity to enjoy the best of urban culture (cultura urbana)  in this amazing festival. Rent apartments in Madrid for a comfortable stay and enjoy!

It was about time the Prado Museum paid tribute to one of the great masters of Spanish painting of the nineteenth century. At last, the Prado will host the first anthological Sorolla exhibition. With over one hundred paintings, until now there has never been celebrated such an important exhibition of this Valencian painter. There will be a tour of his work including fourteen canvases of the ‘Vision of Spain’ painted for the Hispanic Society of America of New York.

From May 26th to September 6th people in Madrid have a great opportunity to enjoy these colossal and beautiful pieces. After the presentation in the Spanish capital, the paintings will travel back to Valencia, where they will be exhibited at the `Centro Cultural Bancaja´. The exhibition is titled ‘Visiones de España’ (Visions of Spain).

The most representative works of the exhibition are: ‘El palmeral’ (Elche), ‘La Pesca del Atún’ de Ayamonte (Huelva), ‘La fiesta del pan’ (Castilla), ‘Las grupas’ (Valencia), ‘Semana Santa: Los Nazarenos’ (Sevilla), ‘El encierro’ (Andalucía), ‘Los toreros’ (Sevilla), ‘Chicos en la playa’ or ‘Aún dicen que el pescado es caro’.

The canvases were commissioned by the founder of the Hispanic Society, Archer Milton Huntington, who was a great lover of Spanish and Latin American culture. He created the Foundation to disseminate them. This was the way Joaquín Sorolla painted between 1912 and 1919, 14 huge murals (3.5 meter high x 60 wide) that represent different typical activities or festival of many Spanish regions.

Thanks to the expansion of the Prado Museum, people can see the best paintings of the nineteenth century that will be placed in the new temporary exhibition rooms. Besides the hundreds of works by Sorolla y Bastida, they will also display paintings by Goya, Vicente López, Jose and Federico de Madrazo, Francisco Pradilla, Mariano Fortuna, Pinazo or Antonio Muñoz Degrain.

This exhibition will be a huge hit. Do not miss the best of  Sorolla and Spanish painting at the Prado Museum and buy your tickets now. Rent apartments in Madrid to have the best accommodation.

Madrid has become an important capital of cinema. Proof of this is the great cast of stars, movies and Spanish festivals of international recognition such as Pedro Almodóvar, Penélope Cruz and the Goya Awards to name but a few. From 1st May to 10th May the eleventh edition of the International Documentary Festival of Madrid will take place which is organized by the Madrid Town hall.

`Documenta Madrid´ is a festival dedicated exclusively to documentary cinema that aims to disseminate and promote the genre. Michael Nyman will open the festival, which promises strong emotions because it is the festival with the largest spectators’ attendance in the city. The pianist will play some of his most famous works for the occasion. `Documenta Madrid´ will bring together the best professionals of an industry that seems to be living a golden era in recent years.

This year 1078 tapes from 86 different countries are presented (185 Spanish titles) –that supposes a record participation. In addition, and as the main innovation of the Festival, all the projected movies are unpublished in Spain up till now.

Documenta 09 has an overall budget of € 73,000 in prizes to be shared amongst the four competing categories: ‘Filmotech.com’, `Documentary Creation´, ` National Contest´ and `Documentary Competition´. In addition, there’s a new prize in the Festival: ‘The Documentary of the Month’, which the documentary that receives the Audience Award will win. Finally, AVID will give a special prize: the Best National Short Film Editing Award.

Documenta Madrid 09 seeks to become the most important international showcase of documentary film. The movies reflect the different social, economic and cultural realities of the present. Together with the projections, there will be conferences, workshops, exhibitions, and publications etc.

Documenta Madrid has become one of the most international Spanish festivals and the one with most public impact. Don’t miss it! Rent Apartments in Madrid and enjoy the best in documentary cinema.

The Museo Del Prado is one of the most interesting and attractive museums in the city of Madrid. It is one of the most important art galleries in the world, in which we can find the works of many famous artists: Italians, Spanish and Flemish such as: Botticelli, Caravaggio, Francisco Goya, Rembrant and Diego Velázquez etc. It’s a museum that preserves one of the most ancient collections of art in the world. The museum is opened to the public Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 20:00 except on: 24th December, 31st December and 6th January, when it is opened only from 9.00 to 14.00.

The building was designed on the order of Charles III who chose the best architects for the project such as; Juan de Villanueva. In the years it has seen many changes and reconstructions, such as those by – Narciso Pascual y Colomer who built the apse and the church in 1853. At the beginning it was named Real Museum, then Royal Museum of Painting and Sculpture and at the end Museum Nacional Del Prado, that opened for the first time to the public in November 1819.

From its beginnings, the museum reserved much of the space for the Spanish paintings, but today we can find very big collections that comprise of around 7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 2,400 prints and 6,300 drawings, in addition to a large number of works of art and historic documents. As we can see, visiting the museum, the works are of various nationalities including Italian, Spanish, French and English works.
If you love art you must visit this fantastic and spectacular museum of art which, in the coming months is offering some beautiful exhibitions. From the 24th February until the 1st May you can see the exhibition of “The Sleeping Beauty” from The Museo de Arte de Ponce which consists of 17 works of art. Then there is Francis Bacon, from 3rd February to19th April, which comprises of about 78 works. Another important exhibition “Among Gods and Men” will also be there to enjoy until 12th April 2009.
Don’t miss one of the greatest art exhibitions of all time, rent Apartments in Madrid. You will discover art in all its forms and at the same time enjoy one of the most beautiful capitals of Europe.

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The fact that football raises passions is no big secret. It’s such a strong feeling, that it is considered the most popular sport in the world, with approximately 270 million fans. In Spain, this king of sports moves millions of Euros just in advertising, being Real Madrid and Barcelona

the clubs with the highest advertising revenue in the league. They are also the teams with the highest number of fans. The football players become media stars – they become the prey of journalists and are gods for their fans.

Such is the passion for football in Spain that both teams’ stadiums are two of the most popular tourist attractions in each city. The Barça Museum at the Camp Nou breaks all records which is not only the most visited Museum in Barcelona, but in the whole of Catalonia. Both Real Madrid and Barça are two of the most worldwide famous clubs. Perhaps that is why in Spain they have always been eternal rivals.

The white team was appointed in 2000 as the Best Club of the Twentieth Century by the FIFA. They’ve won 31 league titles, 17 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Supercups, 9 Champions League titles, 2 UEFA cups, 1 European Supercup and 3 Intercontinental cups. Meanwhile, Barça has been the only European team that has taken part uninterruptedly in the continental competitions since its beginnings in 1955. In addition, it has won 18 league titles, 24 Copas del Rey, 7 Spanish Supercups, 2 European Supercups, 2 Champion Leagues, 4 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and 3 Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, among others. Both the meringues, and the culés have signed great football stars such as Zidane, Di Stefano, Casillas, Raul, Ronaldo or Puskas for Real Madrid, and Messi, Cruyff, Maradona, Laudrup, Ronaldinho or Kubala for Barcelona.

Currently, they are playing for the first and second positions of the League, with Barça leading by only four points over the meringues. What seemed to be unimaginable a few games ago was an unbeatable Barcelona FC with a 12 point advantage is now within reach of Real Madrid.

Next May 3rd the eternal rivals will face each other yet again in the most exciting game of the League. Everyone is talking about the azulgrana’s crisis, while the meringues are enjoying a good run of games without defeat. Who knows how the League will finish? In the final three months you can expect a lot more emotion. Rent Apartments in Madrid if you don’t want to be left without any accommodation to enjoy the game on May 3rd. And may the best team win!

Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week 2009: creativity anti crisis

From today, February 20th, the forty-ninth edition of Madrid Fashion Week starts which lasts until February 24th. The event that will take place at the IFEMA and as always promises an intense calendar. Up to 55 designers will show their collections for next autumn/ winter 09/10.

This edition will include a more dynamic, wide and global catwalk show where young and acclaimed designers will present their proposals. Cibeles occupies the fourth place among the best catwalks of the world, after New York, Milan and Paris. In order to become strong in the international fashion calendar, Cibeles will be celebrated every year on a weekend, as their counterparts do.

For the first time, El Ego (a space for the young designers) will inaugurate the Cibeles catwalk, instead of closing it, as had been happening up till now. Marta Montoto y Roberto Piqueras will open the Neptuno catwalk.

Finally, José Castro y TCN will close the fashion week with their shows. Other acclaimed invited designers are: Amaya Arzuaga, Miguel Palacio, Elio Berhanyer, Hannibal Laguna, Victorio & Lucchino, Devota & Lomba and Ángel Schlesser. Spanish fashion has been hurt by the current economic crisis, which has detected more than 20% drop in sales. Nonetheless, Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week aims to stimulate a strong economic activity in Madrid. It will bring together more than 25.000 fashion companies and contributes roughly 4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the region. Creativity anti crisis!

Calendar Friday, February 20th,  2009
EL EGO
11.30 Bohento y Karlotalaspalas
14.30 Ida Johansson y Potipoti
18.00

María Escoté y Alberto Tous
Cibeles
20.45 L’oreal Prize
21.00 Jose

Castro
Neptuno
19.30 Tcn
Saturday, 21st February 2009
Cibeles
10.00 Victorio

& Lucchino
13.00 Francis Montesinos
16.00 Devota & Lomba
19.00 Angel

Schlesser
22.00 José Miro
Neptuno
11.30 Agatha Ruiz De La Prada
14.30 Jesús Del

Pozo
17.30 Amaya Arzuaga
20.30 Miguel Palacio

Sunday, 22nd February

2009
Cibeles
10.00 Alma Aguilar
13.00 Lydia Delgado
16.00 Miriam Ocariz
19.00

Ana Locking
22.00 Ailanto
Neptuno
11.30 Antonio Alvarado
14.30 Kina

Fernández
17.30 Lemoniez
20.30 Carmen March
Monday, 23rd February

2009
Cibeles
10.30 Juanjo Oliva
13.30 Duyos
16.30 Elio Berhanyer
19.30 Toni

Miro
Neptuno
12.00 Andres Sarda
15.00 Roberto Torretta
18.00 Javier

Larrainzar
21.00 Hannibal Laguna

Tuesday, 24th February 2009
Cibeles
10.30 El

Delgado Buil Krizia Robustella
13.30 Nicolas Vaudelet Juana Martín
16.30 Josep

Abril
19.30 Carlos Díez
Neptuno
12.00 Toni Francesc María Barros
15.00 Anke Shlöder

Jan Iu Mes
18.00 Sita Murt
20.45 Premio L’oreal
21.00 Miguel Marinero-Jesus Lorenzo

Rent your apartments in Madrid now so you don’t miss it!

ARCO- the International Contemporary Art Fair in Madrid

Is it true that you don´t want to spend anymore superficial all inclusive vacations? I´m sure that you neither can´t stand the typical tourist guides in the cities, right? You don´t want to spend your vacationes only at the beach or the swimming pool of your hotel? Well, why are you complaining? Madrid offers you a huge amount of different cultural events for everyone who wants to spend a real authentic holiday. If you are interested in contemporary art, then come to Madrid, discover the world of art at the International Contemporary Art Fair.

Between the 11th and 16th of February 2009 the International Contemporary Art Fair, the most important one in Spain regarding the artistic area, celebrates its 18th edition. It is one of the most important gatherings of contemporary art which attracts each year more than 200.000 visitors and more than 3.000 journalists. ARCO offers you a huge amount of interesting expositions, performances, acts and projects of different kinds, which you will have never seen before. Let yourself be carried along by your feelings and discover the works of internationally famous or still unknown artists.

This year India will be the host country and so the fairground Feria Madrid will be transformed into a spectacular area. The Spanish capital offers you the posibility to admire works of art, sculptures, installations, photography, video, new media, drawings, engravings and a lot of more works of uncountable types of art. More than 250 galleries from more than 30 countrys make it possible for you to escape from your everyday life and be captivated by the world of creativity!

This year new projects will start, like for example ARCO URBANO, which represents the aim of the Fair to create a platform for the promotion of Public Art on the street. Besides, the programme will be expanded by a series of special expositions, innovative artists and live shows.

The fair enjoys different thematical artists areas, which you shouldn´t miss out on:

ARCO 40
Solo

Projects
Expanded Box
Performing ARCO
ARCO Institutions
Panorama:India
Magazines

and digital magazines
Editorials and bookshops

All these thematic areas will broaden your horizons!

If you still spend your vacations locked in a luxury hotel, well, then it’s your fault. But if you want to get to know the world of contemporary art and you want to enjoy the huge amount of expositions, then come to Madrid and discover the International Contemporary Art Fair. And for having a comfortable place to relax and think about all the new impressions, rent apartments in Madrid and remember: in this fair you can be the witness of new artistic creations which will change the world.

Goya Awards Madrid 2009

The Goya Awards are the Spanish equivalent to the American Academy Awards and the main national film awards in Spain. The city of Madrid last night held the prize-giving ceremony where the best Spanish cinema stars, including Penelope Cruz, turned out.

Javier Fesser’s drama “Camino” became the big winner at the 23rd Goya Awards. It won six Goya awards out of seven nominations, including best picture and best director. The movie also took home nods for the best original script, for the best actress (Carme Elias), for the best supporting actor (Jordi Dauder) and for the best new actress (Nerea Camacho), which plays the major role in the film as a dying ultra-catholic girl, Camino. Penélope Cruz was the star of the show at this year’s Goya awards when she picked up her Goya for supporting actress in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona“, the Woody Allen film. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar for the same Anglo-Spanish production, in which she stars alongside Javier Bardem and Scarlett Johansson.

But Cruz was not the only international star who made shine the ceremony: Benicio Del Toro won the best actor award for his portrayal of Che Guevara in both “Che” films. Alex de la Iglesia English speaking movie, “Los crímenes de Oxford“, won three awards. Other success stories on the night were Christian Mungiu’s drama, “4 meses, 3 semanas y 2 días”, who picked up the best European film award. “Mortadelo Y Filemon, misión salvar la Tierra” won the special effects award. Santiago Zannou’s music drama “El Truco Del Manco” picked up three emotional awards.

“Los Girasoles Ciegos” suffered a disappointment when only picked up an award for the best adapted screenplay, having received 15 nominations. Agustin Díaz Yanes’ film, “Sólo Quiero Caminar” also won just one Goya for the best cinematography from 11 nominations.

Do you want to feel like a movie star? Go to Madrid and discover the Spanish capital! Rent Apartments in Madrid, well located, full equipped and at the best prices!

In 2006 the City Council decided to give the old cattle slaughterhouse in Madrid, which was built in 1910 by architect Luis Bellido, a complete facelift. The council decided to turn it into one of the most avant-garde centres of contemporary art of its time.

El Matadero’s facilities which cover approximately 148,000 square metres are designed to accommodate all types of art: painting, sculpture, photography, design, fashion, concerts, debates, film, architecture, urban design, landscaping, workshops, dance and theatre.

During this period of refurbishment which has been scheduled until 2011, will have four areas open to the public so that visitors can get an idea of what will be the new creative centre of innovation of the Spanish capital.

Apart from this, the Matadero will host important cultural events each year such as the ARCO fair or La Noche en Blanco. In addition to the innovative exhibitions and activities offered by El Matadero, the building itself gives off a unique and special charm. It currently has 4 spaces that can be visited and that will not fail to impress any curious visitor who dares to approach. The most striking area is the old refrigerator in which the artists have to adapt their work in an area with very specific characteristics.

Also, you can visit the Naves del Español or “Spanish Ships” – three ships dedicated to the performing arts, “Intermediae,” an area dedicated to creation, and “Design Centre”, a ship dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of design. And when the warm weather arrives, the outdoor patio is perhaps one of the best bars and restaurants in the city. What more could we ask for? Art, culture, drinks and an intellectual atmosphere in one of the most historical buildings in Madrid.

El Matadero is located in the working class district of Legazpi, close to the Manzanares River and away from the downtown area and tourist district of Madrid. However, this is the intention of the Madrid City Council; to develop the artistic potential of other Madrid neighborhoods in the city and transform them into centres of interest.

The centre is open Monday to Saturday from 11:00 a.m to 21:00p.m and Sunday from 10:00a.m to 15:00p.m. If you plan to use the Metro system the stop closest to the Matadero is called Legazpi. If you are going by train then the closest stop is called Ambassadors.

Enjoy the artistic and cultural life of Madrid whenever you want. Discover the new Matadero in Madrid and relax in the best apartments in the city. You’ll find plenty of options in Madrid apartments.

Rastro Market in Madrid

Flea markets are deeply rooted in centuries of history and this is one of the traditions that we can say remains faithful to its origins has been preserved over time. If we go back two hundred years ago, we will notice just a few differences between a modern flea market and an old one: noisy, crowds everywhere, sellers shouting, and all kinds of stalls… In Spain the markets have a long and popular tradition, maybe because in a flea market the products are cheaper than in the traditional shops. Madrid can boast of being one of the cities with most flea markets in Spain. In addition, it hosts the most famous flea market in the country: the Rastro Market.

The Rastro has its roots in medieval origin. Every Sunday and festive morning, between 9 and 2, thousands of street stalls shape the biggest market in Spain. There is no tourist or Madrileño who hasn’t heard of it. Unlike conventional retailers, in a market you never really know what you are going to find, let alone in this gigantic one. In this market you can buy the most absurd junk, to clothes, food, books, paintings or antiques … In addition, a visit to the Rastro is like visiting the heart of Madrid. In its streets you’ll find a mix of the most authentic and emblematic traditions of the city.

Every Sunday more than 100,000 people go to buy and stroll through the Rastro streets. Besides being a market of international reputation, it is one of the biggest tourist attractions of the capital. Its reputation has become known so much, that it belongs to Madrid’s Cultural Heritage.

But the Rastro market is not the only unique and important flea market in Spain. Els Encants flea market is

the equivalent of the Catalan Rastro. The Boquería market is very important too although this is the most famous food market in Spain. Other markets have become known for specializing in just one product, such as stamps, coins, antiques or books.

There are some traditions that fortunately remain imperishable: this is the case of the markets and flea
markets. This old fashioned and original way of buying goods has established itself as an
escape route to the cold and pompous way of the commercial world we have become accustomed to.

Come to the Spanish capital and visit the Rastro Market, but before you come you should look out for some apartments in Madrid. Enjoy the city!