Surviving (and Enjoying) Madrid in August
Every August, Madrid empties. Shutters come down, neighbors leave for the coast, and the city that never sleeps goes strangely quiet. For anyone staying, this is either lonely or a secret gift.
Here is how to make Madrid vacío work for you, midweek and at the weekend.
What to Know
Plan around the midday furnace
August days are fierce. Do everything outdoors early or after eight in the evening, and treat two to six as indoor time: a museum, a nap, a shaded café. The locals who stay live nocturnally, and so should you. And do what every madrileño does the moment the sun swings round: drop the persianas, the exterior blinds, at midday and leave them down through the afternoon. A shuttered flat stays remarkably cool, no air-con required.
Book the restaurant you never could
With half of Madrid away, August is your window to walk into the places that keep a months-long waitlist the rest of the year. The table you have been refreshing since spring suddenly opens up a couple of days ahead. Make the spontaneous reservations you could never get in June; for one month, the city is yours.
Claim a pool for the summer
How madrileños survive the heat is simple: they find a pool and go. For a single day, the big municipal outdoor pools let you in for a few euros, the Piscina del Canal de Isabel II in Chamberí, or the vast, almost resort-like pool out in the Casa de Campo. If you are here the whole month, buy a monthly bono at your local centro deportivo, or join a proper pool club like Real Canoe, and make the afternoon swim a ritual.
Drive to the Pantano de San Juan
Skip the obvious day trips; everyone does Toledo, Salamanca and Ávila, and in August they bake just like the city. Rent a car instead and drive an hour west to the Pantano de San Juan, the reservoir madrileños call their beach, where you can actually swim, hire a paddleboard and lie on the sand under the pines. Go early, pack a cooler, and beat the Sunday-evening traffic home.
Learn padel, late
Nothing folds you into Madrid life faster than padel; the whole city plays, and the court is where friendships, and half the business in town, quietly get made. With the evenings suddenly free, August is the month to take it up. Book a court for ten at night or seven in the morning, once the heat has lifted, and by September you will have a game, a group and a standing invitation.
The August formula: live nocturnally, book the tables and courts you could never get the rest of the year, and drive out to the water on the weekend the city empties.
Spending a Madrid summer? Find your home among our fully serviced apartments, or email contact@akora.com and our team will help you find a cool, central place to stay.