Secrets of Madrid: Party like a local at Fiestas de San Sebastián de los Reyes

I recently visited Spain’s scenic capital, Madrid at the end of August 2022. I visited with two friends for a weekend, which just so happened to fall on the same weekend of an annual fiesta in a neighbouring town, San Sebastián de los Reyes. The fiesta is held in honour of Santísimo Cristo de los Remedios (The Holy Christ of Remedies) and occurs around the last week of August each year. We found out about this fiesta from someone my friend knows, who lives in the town of San Sebastián de los Reyes. Since we were in the area, she invited us to join her and her friends at the fiesta for the evening.

We hopped on a train from Madrid, which took around half an hour. Then we followed the crowds towards the centre of San Sebastián de los Reyes. As soon as we neared the centre we could hear latin music blasting from the speakers and knew we were in the right place. Our friend told us it is very difficult to find each other during the evening of the fiesta, since the streets are so busy, so she gave us a specific meeting place in a square in the town centre. Once we found her, she took us over to a drinks stand to get an extremely large cup of a red wine-based drink, that looked a lot like Sangria.

Whilst clutching the huge drinks we’d been provided, she introduced us to her group of friends, who were all really lovely. The group explained to us that this fiesta is the one time of year where everyone in the town gets together and parties all night long in the streets (often until 8am!). The town is made up of a series of narrow streets that run into big squares. Each street and square had its own sound system playing an array of latin tunes, drinks stands and places to buy food. The streets were extremely lively, with people of all ages out and about singing, dancing and catching up with friends.

The atmosphere was incredible – everyone was in such high spirits, dancing with their friends with no concerns around who was watching. What I loved so much is that everybody looked so happy and comfortable dancing – it definitely comes naturally to them (unlike me, who was trying to remember the few salsa moves I’d learnt from taking lessons earlier in the year!) The group of friends took us in right away, danced with us, shared their drinks with us and made us feel so welcome.

Alongside the all-night-long party on the Saturday evening, the fiesta hosts a number of events throughout the week leading up to it. There is an extensive music line-up, activities to honour Santísimo Cristo de los Remedios, local church services and parades through the streets. The fiesta is also renowned for its traditional bull runs, which occur periodically throughout the week. The running of the bulls during this fiesta is extremely popular and attracts tourists from across Spain.

We left San Sebastián de los Reyes feeling like we’d had a real glimpse of what life as a local is like during the fiesta period. If you ever happen to be near Madrid at the end of August, this is well worth a visit. You won’t be disappointed!