Things to Do in Madrid in December 2026: Lights, Markets and Festive Plans

December 2026 in Madrid at a glance

December opens with a long weekend and closes with the most famous night of the year at Puerta del Sol, with the Christmas lights on from late November to 6 January. Bear in mind that much of the 2026 Christmas programme is not out yet: the City Council usually announces it in late November.

• Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 December: long weekend. The 6th falls on a Sunday, so the holiday moves to Monday 7.
• Tuesday 22: the Christmas lottery draw.
• Thursday 24 and Friday 25: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with shorter opening hours.
• Monday 28: Day of the Holy Innocents, Spain's April Fools' Day.
• Wednesday 30: the preúvas, a rehearsal of the New Year's chimes, at Puerta del Sol.
• Thursday 31: the San Silvestre Vallecana race and the midnight chimes.
• Tuesday 5 January 2027: the Three Kings parade. The 1st and the 6th are public holidays.

The December long weekend: 5 to 8 December

Spaniards call a long weekend a puente, a bridge, and in 2026 the December one works out perfectly: Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 are the weekend, the Constitution Day holiday moves to Monday 7, and Tuesday 8 is the Immaculate Conception, a holiday across the Comunidad de Madrid. Four days in a row means a packed centre, busy shopping streets and popular restaurants booked days ahead.

The local trick is to explore in the morning and save the evening for the lights. Early on, the squares are quiet: perfect for the Madrid Essentials free tour through the old town, with morning departures every day in December (check the times on its page). If you have already seen the classics, the Madrid Medieval free tour, in English, digs into the Muslim town of Mayrit that came long before the Habsburgs; check its departures on its page. And the long weekend is the perfect excuse for one of our day trips from Madrid to Toledo or Segovia. Book early, because places go fast.

Christmas lights: when they go on and how to see them

The Christmas lights are the big show of the month, and seeing them costs nothing. In 2025 they were switched on on 22 November in Plaza de Cibeles and stayed on until 6 January, across more than 240 locations in all 21 districts. The 2026 date is announced in November, but the pattern repeats.

On foot, the classic route starts at Puerta del Sol, heads up Calle de Preciados or Calle del Carmen to Gran Vía and down Calle de Alcalá to Cibeles: an easy 20-minute stroll, and by around 6pm it is dark. If you would rather hear the stories behind it, the Madrid Monumental free tour covers Gran Vía, Cibeles and the Puerta de Alcalá, and on its afternoon departures night falls during the walk.

To see the lights sitting down, Naviluz is the City Council's Christmas bus: in 2025 it ran from 23 November to 6 January, except 24 and 31 December and 5 January, from Calle de Felipe IV, next to the Prado. The other option is our night sightseeing bus, which leaves every evening at 8.30pm and in 75 minutes passes Cibeles, the Puerta de Alcalá, Gran Vía, the Royal Palace and the Temple of Debod.

Christmas markets: Plaza Mayor and beyond

The Plaza Mayor market is the oldest and most traditional of them all: nativity figures, moss for the crib, decorations and joke items for 28 December. In 2025 it ran from 27 November to 31 December, with 104 stalls open from 10am to 9pm (until 10pm on Fridays, Saturdays and the evenings before holidays). The 2026 dates are announced in late November.

Plaza Mayor is also a stop on the Madrid Essentials tour: hear its history in the morning and come back in the evening to browse. For the full rundown, see our guide to the best Christmas markets in Madrid. The other big ones, with the 2025 dates as a reference:

• La Navideña, in Plaza de España: in 2025, from 25 November to 11 January.
• The Comunidad de Madrid Craft Fair, on Paseo de Recoletos: in 2025, from 1 to 30 December.
• El Gato market, at Gran Vía 13: in 2025, from 12 December to 6 January.
• The 2026 dates are still to be confirmed, so check the official website before you go.

Nativity scenes and Cortylandia

Madrid has nativity scenes, or belenes, in churches, museums and public buildings, but two are close to essential. The one in the Real Casa de Correos, on Puerta del Sol, is set up by the regional government: in 2025 entry was open to all until 6 January, with shorter hours on 24 and 31 December and closed on 25 December and 1 January. The City Council's nativity scene is in CentroCentro, inside the Palacio de Cibeles, with entry slots every half hour: in 2025 it ran from 28 November to 4 January and closed on Mondays.

With children, the must-stop is Cortylandia, the singing, animated show on the facade of El Corte Inglés on Calle de Preciados, a minute from Sol. According to Madrid's official tourism website, the 2026 edition runs from late November to 5 January 2027, with several shows a day. Watch out on the key dates: in 2025 there were no shows on 25 December or 1 January.

Shopping and the Christmas lottery

For presents, Preciados, Carmen and Gran Vía pack in the big stores next to Sol; Fuencarral and Malasaña lean towards young fashion and small shops, and the Salamanca district, led by Calle de Serrano, is home to the luxury labels. If you can, shop on a weekday morning.

The other December queue is for the lottery: outside Doña Manolita, on Calle del Carmen, huge lines form for tickets to the Christmas draw on 22 December. It is worth seeing even if you do not play.

What to eat at Christmas in Madrid

December is a month for eating. Turrón, the soft or hard almond nougat, marzipan and polvorones, crumbly almond shortbread, fill the shops, and roasted chestnut stalls return to street corners. The roscón de Reyes, a ring-shaped sweet bread with a surprise inside, turns up earlier every year, although its day is 6 January.

The winter classic is chocolate con churros, or with porras, the thicker version. Chocolatería San Ginés, in the passage off Calle del Arenal, is the most famous and almost always has a queue; any neighbourhood churrería does the job just as well. For dinner on the 24th and the 31st, many restaurants serve special set menus and fill up early, so book as soon as you know your dates.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: what opens and what closes

In Spain, Christmas Eve, Nochebuena, is the big family dinner, so the city winds down early on the 24th and the 25th starts slowly. The 2026 timetables are published in December; treat these 2025 details as a guide. A good plan for those days: our Madrid Essentials tour has departures on both the 24th and the 25th in the current calendar (check the times on its page), just when many museums close.

• Metro: in 2025 it closed at 10pm on the 24th and opened at 8am on the 25th.
• Prado Museum: closed on 25 December and 1 January; on 24 and 31 December it opens in the morning only.
• Shops and restaurants: many close early on the 24th and most stay shut on the 25th. For dinner on the 24th, book ahead.
• The lights stay on, and on the afternoon of the 25th the centre is quieter for a stroll.

New Year's Eve and the San Silvestre race

The year ends at Puerta del Sol: on 30 December with the preúvas, a full rehearsal with the clock on the Real Casa de Correos, and on the 31st with the real chimes. In 2025 capacity was 15,000 people each night and Sol station closed its entrances from 6pm. The 2026 arrangements are published in December; everything is explained in our guide to New Year's Eve at Puerta del Sol.

On the afternoon of the 31st, Madrid runs the San Silvestre Vallecana: 10 kilometres with thousands of runners in fancy dress, starting near the Bernabéu stadium, passing Cibeles and Paseo del Prado and finishing in Vallecas. The 2026 race is on 31 December; in 2025 the popular race started at 4.55pm and the international race at 7.55pm. Watching it from Cibeles is great fun even if you are not running.

January starts with the Three Kings

The celebrations do not stop on 1 January. In Spain the Three Kings, not Santa, are the big gift bringers, and on the evening of Tuesday 5 January 2027 their parade, the Cabalgata de Reyes, rolls through the city. In 2026 it started at 6pm by Nuevos Ministerios, went down the Castellana, past Colón and along Recoletos, and reached Cibeles at around 9pm; the 2027 route is still to be confirmed. If you are going with children, find a spot early and wrap up warm, because the wait is long.

Wednesday 6 is a public holiday, the day for presents and roscón, and if the 2025 calendar repeats, the last day of the Christmas lights. For more festive ideas, read our complete guide to Christmas in Madrid.