Vermouth and cheese anyone? Join La Vermutería on March 12 at Rocklette to sip on Vermú Petroni and eat artisan grilled cheese sandwiches at Rocklette, a stall inside Mercado de Vallehermoso. The event is sure to be tasty!
Madrid’s navideño spirit is as bright and festive as in any other European capital. Rows of lights down Paseo de la Castellana, chocolate con churros on New Year’s Day, the Three Kings’ parade… But before all that, there are the Christmas markets setting up all over the city and stocking their stalls with handcrafted wares, jewelry, gourmet delicacies and unique gift ideas from independent designers. Here are some of the best Christmas markets to mark in your calendars and flock to when you start your holiday shopping:
image from el club express
image from La Vermutería
For the curious and nosy ones out there, an excuse to peek into a beautiful Madrileño home seems too good to be true. After the success of last year’s pop-up market, ‘The Apartment’, this year brings ‘The Hovse‘ – one house, three floors, and 80 designers selling one-of-a-kind creations. There’s also a bar on the top floor run by pop-up La Vermuteria – a great excuse for those who aren’t into shopping but want to tag along anyway. Now open until 24 December.
Calle General Arrando 40
Check out our events page for more details.
Hosted in the old train museum, ‘Museo de Ferrocarril’, this market takes place in between old tracks and steam engines. Vintage clothing, a live band, artisanal products and trendy crowds are all to be found. The next and last running weekend for this market is the 20-21 December.
Paseo de las Delicias 61
Also check out our full post on Mercado de Motores
There is something of a recent trend in transforming train stations into markets. Nomada is a great place to find original creations and craftsmanship from emerging designers, alongside DIY workshops; all below the glass ceiling of Madrid’s Chamartin train station. Pull out the sweater Grandma gave you last year and join in on National Ugly Christmas Sweater day for the market’s funniest Christmas edition, which only lasts for a few days. 12-14 December.
Attic of Estacion de Chamartin, Calle Agustín de Foxa
Check out our events page for more details.
A tiny market in comparison to the rest, but a great place to hunt for gifts you won’t find anywhere else. From hand-made bags printed with the map of the world to note books bound in Japanese origami paper, this Malasaña market is not one to miss when shopping for that quirky, special friend. Throughout December.
Calle San Andres 8
image from Ciento y Pico
Now in its fifth year, Ciento y Pico unites over 30 small, local brands under one roof to sell their handmade crafts, original jewelry, vintage goods, or home decor worthy of any hipster’s haven. 18 – 21 December
Calle Velarde 14
One of Madrid’s most established city-guide blogs is branching out into retail and hosting its own Christmas pop-up. With the name ‘Diferente Market’ we can only imagine that it will be stocked full of curious knick-knacks and unusual gift items. It will run over two weekends: 11-14 December and 18-21 December.
Calle San Vicente Ferrer 33
The pop-up gallery, 1001 Atmosphera, is holding three high-end Christmas Market editions. The first Le Marché de Noël will be held this weekend 27-30 November in honor of Black Friday! Among over 90 participating vendors, you’ll find designer handbags, shoes, accessories and more from brands such as Eme-Ele, Letter&U and Molé Molé, as well as gourmet food stalls from the likes of Ma Petite Creperie, BorchCakes and El Rincón del Pirineo. Don’t worry if you can’t make it out this weekend, because the market will return for two weekends in Decmeber: 11-14 December and 18-21 December.
Calle General Pardiñas, 50
Image from Blog Es Madrid
One of the oldest and most well-known Christmas markets in the Spanish capital, we couldn’t forgo mentioning it. Wooden huts take over Madrid’s most prominent square for a month to sell Christmas decorations, live trees, costumes and the elaborate Spanish nativity scenes. Worth a stroll through the crowds, even if it’s just for a bit of contagious holiday buzz. 28 November – 31 December
Plaza Mayor
Also known as the “Christmas Card Market” this mercadillo is best known for, what else, its elaborate Christmas cards, among other handicrafts. Traditional “casetas” are set up throughout the square to mimic a medieval town and there’s also a bar serving not-so-traditional, crowd-pleasing mojitos. 28 November – 6 January
Plaza Jacinto Benavente
This “Feria Dulces de Navidad” sets up shop in front of the Royal Opera House and sells sweet Spanish delicacies. Turrón lovers rejoice! Right next to it is also an ice rink, which opens every holiday season with a view of the Royal Palace. 28 November – 6 January
Plaza de Oriente
As you may have already noticed, Madrid has a thriving pop-up events culture including markets, restaurants, shows, and more. On this occasion, we’re looking at #TheHovse 2014, hosted by La Vermutería, a travelling vermouth bar, and Better Es Mejor, an agency that is also currently organizing The Table, a pop-up restaurant at Hotel Urso.
Open from 12pm-9pm and located in a “house” on Calle General Arrando 40, you should pop up for some vermouth, tapas and music spun by a live DJ. It’ll be here until December 24th but it’s looking pretty packed already, so go!
What are you doing on Sunday? Because La Vermutería Pop Up is hosting a vermouth party at bar Muy Placer en Conserva in Malsaña at 1pm. Free entrance! Expect lots of people, great music spun by Orlando Djs, vermouth from Bodegas Valdovinos (2€) and tasty tapas (1-4€).
La Vermutería Pop Up is a travelling vermouth bar founded by two foodies — Paula Móvil & Roberto Castán — and created in collaboration with the online food magazine, Plateselector.com. The idea is to take over different Madrid venues to throw aperitivos, mini-cocktail parties where the star drink is the one and only: Vermouth.
Each party features a different brand of vermouth, usually not (yet) well known amongst Madrileños. For parents who don’t want to miss out on the party, there will be child-friendly play areas, places to park strollers (as long as the venue allows it), games and butanos (a famous orange drink from León).
