88 Best Performing Arts in Spain

One of Spain’s hottest pop and rock music festivals, BBK Live draws more than 100,000 fans each year with its lineup of big-name artists. In 2023, headliners included Florence + the Machine, Arca, Phoenix, and the Arctic Monkeys. Those who have outgrown noisy, muddy campgrounds will appreciate the “glamping” accommodation option.

The building itself, a restored textile factory, is well worth exploring (and is directly across from the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion on Montjuïc at the bottom of the steps up to the Palau Nacional). Temporary exhibits show the work of major artists from around the world, while the auditorium (and sometimes the outdoor area) hosts a regular program of world-music concerts, theater, and performance art. There are also regular workshops and special events for families.

This festival, held in the last weekend of October since 1963, celebrates the annual saffron harvest, one of La Mancha’s longest-standing traditions. Watch a saffron-plucking contest, savor locally made Manchego cheeses, and marvel at folk dance spectacles—all with a backdrop of Don Quixote–style windmills.

Prepare for a soulful invigorating show at this old-school, not-too-kitschy flamenco tablao adjacent to the Plaza Mayor. The start times are 8 and 10 pm nightly, and the festivities spill over into a flamenco-fueled foot-stomping party that starts at midnight.

Every January 19 and 20, more than 100 platoons of Donostiarras (San Sebastián natives) dress up as chefs and Napoleonic soldiers and bang drums as they parade through the streets. The tradition was born out of a mockery of Napoleon’s troops, who would march around the city in a similar fashion. Today it’s San Sebastián’s biggest street party.

If you want nonstop nightlife at its frenzied best, come during the climactic days of Las Fallas, March 15–19 (the festival begins March 1), when revelers throng the streets to see the gargantuan ninots, effigies made of wood, paper, and plaster depicting satirical scenes and famous people. Last call at many bars and clubs isn't until the wee hours, if at all. On the last night, all the effigies but one (the winner is spared) are burned to the ground during La Crema, and it seems as though the entire city is ablaze.

Open since 1963, this small basement spot is the oldest tablao flamenco in Barcelona. It spotlights some of Andalusia's best flamenco in 40-minute shows of dance, percussion, and song. These shows are a good intro to the art, and feel much less touristy than most standard flamenco fare. Shows are daily and it's best to reserve online.

Founded in 1963, this excellent venue (home to the city's Arab water deposits) has been one of the main centers for flamenco in Andalusia, and foot-stomping live flamenco and concerts are performed every two weeks. Check in advance for exact times and dates.

Less a traditional tablao and more a modern performance venue, Teatro Flamenco hosts a variety of classical and modern interpretations of flamenco dance and song. 

A self-proclaimed "gastro club," with food and live music offerings, this venue hosts events ranging from Lindy Hop dance parties to lectures on food science. It morphs into a DJ-driven discoteca most nights after 1 am.

Join Getaria locals the first weekend of May as they celebrate the moment anchovies reach their plump seasonal prime with gallons of Txakolí and mountains of grilled fresh fish.

The “Big Week,” a nine-day event celebrating Basque culture, is held in Bilbao in mid-August with a fine series of street concerts, bullfights, and fireworks displays.

This modern concert hall, north of town, has high-quality classical and jazz programs and a fine art gallery. In residence is the Royal Galician Philharmonic, which has hosted Il Giardino Armonico, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

Madrid's main concert hall has spaces for both symphonic and chamber music.

Barcelona’s cine-aficionados praise this 12-screen complex, which boasts one of the best sound systems in the city, and very comfortable seating designed to ensure no one's view is impeded. Screenings, which lean toward the latest Hollywood releases, are all in VOS.

This quarter-century old festival held in Barcelona showcases emerging talents from the Catalan region.

This state-of-the-art theater on Paral·lel—remodeled from the old Artèria Music Hall—has wildly diverse programming, with everything from performance art to the latest indie bands. There are also musicals, magic shows, and theater, though all mostly in Catalan.

In February and March, on this first major fiesta of the year after Three Kings’ Day (January 6), cities, towns, and villages across the region erupt with festive fun, including parades, parties, and wild costumes.

This venue taking up an entire city block is best known for its summer live music concerts (flamenco, jazz, pop) and has free exhibitions, lectures, and theater performances. The quiet, well-lit library is a good place for studying or working. The wing at the southern end of the complex is dedicated to contemporary art.

For approximately two weeks between March and early May, depending on the year, Spain’s prized cherry-growing region, the Jerte Valley, turns pink and white as more than a million cherry trees bloom in unison. Throughout the area, a series of live concerts, street markets, and gastronomic presentations accompany nature’s show.

A rare example of Art Nouveau architecture in Madrid, the alternative Cine Doré shows movies from the Spanish National Film Archives and eclectic foreign films, often at budget rates (and you frequently get a short film or two in addition to a feature). The pink neon-trimmed lobby has a sleek café-bar and a bookshop.

Gràcia's movie center, with bars and restaurants in the immediate vicinity, unfailingly screens recent releases (with a preference for serious-minded cinema) in their original-language versions. Sister cinema Verdi Park is just around the corner, and also shows films in VOS (original version with Spanish subs).

Concerts, theater, dance performances, art exhibitions, and other events are all part of the calendar at this performance and entertainment venue. There is also an extremely popular (and overpriced) café and rooftop restaurant-bar with breathtaking views of the city.

This venue hosts plays in Spanish, as well as dance performances and film festivals.

A Michelin-starred dinner followed by a world-class flamenco performance in the same building sounds too good to be true, but at Corral de la Morería the food (Basque with an Andalusian twist) is as invigorating as the twirling and stomping bailaoras. Opt for an elegant, market-driven prix fixe to be enjoyed during the show or splurge on an exclusive tasting experience at the four-table Gastronómico restaurant that earned the venue its coveted star. Wine pairings, which hinge on rare back-vintage sherries and other vinos generosos (fortified wines), are well worth the extra euros.

Celebrated throughout the Spanish-speaking world, this ancient festival is a highlight of Córdoba’s calendar of events, with lots of flower-decked crosses and other floral displays, processions, and music in early May.

There is no stage here, which means the flamenco shows at this venue (nightly at 9 and 10:30) take place among the spectators—who can number 150.

The Congress Center and Auditorium is a sleek assemblage of black Zimbabwean granite. It contains a concert hall of exquisite acoustical perfection utilizing beechwood from upper Navarra's famed Irati haya (beech) forest. Performances and concerts, from opera to ballet, are held in this modern venue, built on the remains of one of the five bastions of Pamplona's 16th-century Ciudadela.

Although the flamenco show is undeniably touristy, this club has an authentic olé atmosphere with good dancers. The food is reasonable, and local specialties, including paella and seafood soup, are served. Dinner shows (€38), with a three-course meal, begin at 7:30 pm on Wednesday.

Since 1970, this venerable dinner theater has thrived by catering to tour groups: visitors who may or may not know that flamenco is a cultural import here in Catalonia but relish a good show when they see one. El Cordobés maintains a high standard of professionalism, booking well-known and respected performers from all over Spain; the program changes regularly, and there are performances throughout the evening, from an early show with tapas to dinner presentations.