Teatro Flamenco Madrid tickets

What the ticket is

The ticket is an entry to one live flamenco show, "Emotions" (Emociones in Spanish), at Calle del Pez 10, in the Malasaña district. The show lasts one hour. Doors open 30 minutes before it starts, and the ticket is a mobile ticket, so you can show it on your phone. One option adds a welcome drink. Each day's start times are listed in the booking calendar, and you pick a session when you book. The theatre says it stages the show every day of the year, so the ticket is not tied to a weekend or a season.

What you see in the hour

The Madrid tourism board describes a show that blends dance, guitar, percussion and song, with dancing in long-tailed dresses, flamenco danced in couples, singing and guitar solos, and a finale. The theatre says its cast is subject to change, so the artists you see depend on your date. Dance, guitar and song share the stage, and the room is intimate enough that the heel work carries to the back. The art form is explained in a separate note on this site.

• Dance in long-tailed dresses and in couples
• Song and guitar, with solo spots
• A closing number
• A cast that changes from day to day

A theatre, not a dinner

This is a stand-alone hour. There is no dinner built into the ticket, and the show does not run around a meal. That makes it easy to fit into a Madrid evening: eat in Malasaña before or after, then be in your seat for the show. Malasaña has plenty of places to eat within walking distance of the door, and the Madrid tourism board lists dozens in the area. If you want a dinner and a show in one booking, look at a dinner show instead. If you only want the flamenco, a one-hour theatre show leaves the rest of your evening free.

Why a theatre matters for flamenco

Through the later 1800s, the Comunidad de Madrid explains, the city's cultural elite thought flamenco unworthy of a theatre stage. It lived in cafés cantantes instead, and the first tablao in Spain, Zambra, opened in Madrid in 1954. A theatre devoted to flamenco is a later step. The venue describes itself as the first flamenco theatre in the world, and the city's tourism board repeats that description. Seeing it in a theatre is part of a long move from the cafés to the stage.

Read next: A short history of Madrid flamenco

How it compares with two other shows

Two other one-hour shows in Madrid suit different tastes. La Cueva de Lola is set in a 17th-century cave in La Latina, near Plaza Mayor and the Royal Palace, and one drink is included. Seats are assigned in booking order, and wheelchair users cannot take part. The Centro Cultural show, in Chueca, is held in a small theatre for up to 54 people, without microphones or amplification. It is wheelchair accessible, and food and drinks are not allowed. Both are on the booking cards of this page.

Seats and arriving on time

The theatre allocates seats on a first-come basis, so booking early and arriving on time both help. It advises arriving about 20 minutes before the show, and the doors open 30 minutes before. That gives you time to find the entrance, show your ticket and sit down without rushing. Your confirmation shows the start time for the session you chose, so check it again on the day, because sessions differ from one day to the next.

Choosing a day

The theatre runs several sessions on most days, so the calendar is the place to choose. Pick the slot that leaves you time to eat, either before or after. If you like to eat after the show, an earlier session leaves more of the evening for dinner. If you travel with other people, book your whole party together, because seats are allocated as bookings arrive. Check the cancellation terms in the calendar before you commit.

Booking with the theatre or through a booking site

The theatre sells tickets on its own website, which is in Spanish first, with English, French, Italian, German and Portuguese available. This page links to the same show on GetYourGuide, which gives you a mobile ticket, a free-cancellation window, pay-later booking and your own language and currency in one place. Both routes lead to the same hour of flamenco. Pick the one whose cancellation terms and checkout you prefer, and read the terms before you pay.

Classes and special editions

The theatre also teaches flamenco classes, and at certain times of the year it stages special editions of the show, such as a Christmas zambomba or a sevillanas edition. Those are separate from the standard hour on this page. If your dates fall in a festive period, check the calendar for the day you want, because an edition may be on instead of, or alongside, the regular show.

Cancelling and paying later

The booking is free to cancel until 24 hours before the show, with a full refund, and you can also hold a seat now and pay later. That makes it low risk to hold a date while your Madrid plans settle. The free window ends 24 hours before the session you booked, so do not leave a change of plan until the day itself. Each fare is for one person, and the booking page shows the full total in your currency before anything is charged.

Who this isn't for

A three-course dinner served at your table is not part of this ticket. If you want a long, late show, an hour may feel short. If you need step-free access, write to the theatre before you book, because its own booking form has a field for reduced mobility or wheelchair use. And if you plan to film, remember that phones are meant to stay away once the performance begins.