About Madrid Now
Madrid Now started as a question with no good answer, became an idea that sat for a while, and turned into a guide built by someone who lives here.
Why Madrid Now exists
The question was simple: what's on today in Madrid?
The answer, less so. Every search returned the same result: websites clogged with ads, events that read like paid placements, guides recycling the same tired list of things to do in "the Spanish capital." Generic. Incomplete. Written by no one in particular, for no one in particular.
Madrid is one of the most visited cities in Europe. Millions of people pass through every year, and millions more live here. They go to Malasaña on a Friday night, wander through the Retiro on a Sunday morning, catch a flamenco show in Lavapiés, eat late in La Latina. The city has a rhythm, a texture, a way of doing things that no algorithm has ever managed to capture. And yet the internet's version of Madrid reads like a brochure printed in 2009.
Madrid Now exists to fix that.
A Madrid guide built from the inside
The idea took shape in mid-2025. But it didn't launch immediately, and that was deliberate. A city guide written from the outside is not worth much. Before writing about Madrid, it made sense to actually know Madrid: its neighborhoods, its rhythm, its seasonal patterns, its cultural calendar, the difference between a bar that's worth your Tuesday and one that's worth your Saturday night.
That approach shapes everything published here. Events are listed with dates, times, locations and prices because that is the information people actually need. Venues and artists are named because vague references to "a great spot" or "a vibrant atmosphere" are useless. The writing is direct because Madrid residents and tourists alike do not have time to scroll through dozens of paragraphs of filler before finding out when the museum closes.
Who's behind Madrid Now
Gianluca, founder of Madrid Now, has lived in Madrid since 2024. He learned Spanish the slow, honest way: friends, colleagues, the bar on the corner, the city itself. By day, he works in marketing for a software company. Before that, years in tourism, leisure, and entertainment across Spain and other European cities gave him a practical understanding of how people move through a city and what they actually need from it.
Madrid Now is what he decided to build with all of it.
What does Madrid Now cover
Madrid Now publishes what is happening in Madrid, today, tomorrow and over the weekend. Real events. Exhibitions worth a Saturday. Concerts, markets, theatre, flamenco. The parks and museums that people who live here actually go to. The small, specific, local things that never make it onto the aggregator sites.
Alongside the events, there is a curated magazine: travel tips, neighbourhood guides, collections of the best free things to do in Madrid, and much more.
The coverage is built for everyone who spends time in this city: locals looking for something new, tourists who want to do more than the obvious, people passing through for a few days, people who have lived here for decades and still discover things they did not know existed.
A personal project, for now
For now, Madrid Now is only a personal project. The ambition is for it, over time, to become more: a place where everyone who knows and loves this city can contribute their picks, recommendations and opinions. A guide that gets richer the more people add to it.
If that's you — bienvenido/a.
Got an event to recommend, a venue to flag, or an idea to pitch? Contact Madrid Now.
