"Del dicho al hecho hay mucho trecho."
From saying to doing there's a long stretch — talk is cheap.
A historic Tuesday dawns over the capital. Tonight Bad Bunny kicks off a ten-night residency at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano — the biggest Latin music run Madrid has ever seen. Tomorrow the city shifts gears: free EMT buses and BiciMAD begin as South Summit opens at La Nave with 20,000 entrepreneurs, while the countdown to Pope Leo XIV's Saturday arrival ticks past the 96-hour mark. El Retiro is still thick with book lovers at the Feria del Libro, the Mayrit tunnel boring machine is chewing through the last metres toward Madrid Río, and PHotoESPAÑA 2026 opens its lens on the city's galleries. Summer is well and truly here, Madrid. Vamos allá.
Bad Bunny begins his monumental ten-night concert run at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano tonight, the first of ten shows that will stretch across the first half of June as part of his 'DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS World Tour'. The Puerto Rican superstar — who last week saw his wax figure unveiled at the Museo de Cera — will play on 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 17 and 18 June, filling the 70,000-seat stadium with fans from across Europe. Tonight's opener is sold out, and Metro de Madrid has reinforced Line 7 service to the Estadio Metropolitano stop. The concerts coincide with the papal visit weekend (6–9 June), creating what local officials are calling the most densely packed fortnight of major events in the city's modern history.
The Ayuntamiento de Madrid activates from tomorrow the free-transport operation for Pope Leo XIV's apostolic visit. All EMT municipal buses and BiciMAD bikes will be free from Wednesday 3 June through Tuesday 9 June, while Metro de Madrid will reinforce service by up to 125% on lines 1, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Residents and pilgrims alike will benefit from extended night services, with the metro running until 2:30am on Saturday 7 June. Yesterday, the first of the giant outdoor screens was installed at Plaza de Cibeles ahead of the Corpus Christi Mass on Sunday. The Ayuntamiento has reiterated its call for businesses to promote teleworking from Friday to Monday to ease the expected crowds of up to 1.5 million people at the central events.
La Nave in Madrid welcomes from Wednesday the fifteenth edition of South Summit, Europe's flagship entrepreneurship and innovation summit. Co-organised with IE University, the three-day event (3–5 June) brings together 20,000 attendees, 430 speakers, 140 investment funds and startups from 134 countries. The programme zeroes in on artificial intelligence, climate tech, fintech and the future of work, with 100 finalists pitching in the Startup Competition. Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida will open the conference, underscoring Madrid's ambition to cement itself as southern Europe's leading technology hub. South Summit alumni have raised more than €17 billion since the event's founding and generated 112 exits.
Madrid's cultural spring reaches full bloom. The 85th Feria del Libro continues in El Retiro Park through 14 June with more than 350 bookstalls, author signings and literary debates — Argentina is this year's guest of honour. Meanwhile PHotoESPAÑA 2026, the city's premier photography festival, opens across galleries and museums this week with exhibitions exploring memory, landscape and identity. Highlights include 'Nostalgia/Utopía' by Ana Locking at the Museo del Traje and a major retrospective of Latin American documentary photography at Círculo de Bellas Artes. Both events offer free entry on selected days, making culture accessible to all madrileños and visitors alike.