I'm currently study abroad in Madrid, Spain, and I've been reading up on the forums to find the best places to eat/visit/see, etc. As I was reading, I came across a lot of entries on Flamenco Dancing, and so I thought I'd write one of my own! It's just that I had such an amazing experience at one tablao in particular: CORRAL DE LA MORERIA, and I wanted to share it with anyone who might be traveling to Spain in the future. What a great show!

While others may say that Andalucia or other tablaos in Madrid are the places to be, from experience I beg to differ! I visited Corral de la Moreria TWICE in my time here so far, and both shows were the best I've ever seen. (And I've visited both Seville AND Granada).

The night starts out with an optional dinner, and then a 2 hour long show in a comfortable and close setting where you truly get to see the dancers and singers. And the performers are not necessarily all from Madrid, but rather famous flamenco dancers from around the world (they visit Madrid specifically to perform at Corral). And while there are some tourists at Corral, there are many, many Madrilenos, as well.

I had a wonderful time at Corral (it made me love Flamenco!) and I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling through Spain and Madrid in the future. Happy travels and enjoy! : )

Can you tell us where exactly it is?

It's at Calle Morería, 17 - roughly 1 block south of the viaducto - the Calle de Bailen where it crosses over the Calle de Segovia. Website: http://www.corraldelamoreria.com/

And if you like flamenco, as a sidenote worth mentioning, from May 7th to May 26 the Suma Flamenco 2007 for the Comunidad de Madrid is sponsoring nearly 50 flamenco shows (some dancing, some guitar, some singing, some combination of them) throughout the region. I expect to attend about 20 of these in the city of Madrid. None are scheduled for Corral de la Morería but there are others at Casa Patas (web: http://www.casapatas.com/ ), Café de Chinitas (web: http://www.chinitas.com/ ), Teatro Albéniz (web: http://www.madrid.org/clas_artes/teatros/albeniz/ ), Circulo de Bellas Artes (web: http://www.circulobellasartes.com/ ), and many others. Website: http://www.sumaflamenca.com/

Saludos, MadridMan
--
Madrid, Barcelona, & MORE @ you-know-where!

Check out today's New York Times Travel section on Flameco in Madrid..."In Search of the Real Flamenco"

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/05/06...tml?ref=travel

Correction to my above statement: THERE IS one show at the Corral de la Morería in Madrid for the 2007 Suma Flamenca flamenco festival. TERREMOTO is performing there on May 24th, 2007 and I AM attending. Can't wait. UNFORTUNATELY that's a Thursday NIGHT and starts at 12:30 A.M.!! (technically, it's early Friday morning)

Saludos, MadridMan
--
Madrid, Barcelona, & MORE @ you-know-where!

Allison91 and/or MadridMan,

Thank you so much for your suggestion! I am planning a trip to Spain for this summer and I was having trouble deciding where I should see a Flamenco show.

I want to make a reservation at Corral de la Moreria on your recommendation - but i'm wondering what night is best. I arrive in Madrid on a saturday afternoon, but I am arriving from Canada and I'm worried that I might be too jet-lagged to enjoy the performance. Is it okay to go on a Sunday night? Or should I suck it up and go on the Saturday?

Please let me know. Thanks!

hi, allison,

we were in madrid recently and ended up at the casa de chinitas which we really loved. locals as well as tourists there too.

it was open on a sunday evening - have a look at their website for details of opening times - Madrid is one of the few places I've been where there are things to do on sundays nights, although it is a bit quieter than Saturdays.

regards, ann

Thank you, Allison, we're headed there in October. Only six months away! ;-)

rsn, Corral de la Morería (web: http://www.corraldelamoreria.com/ ) does have shows on Sunday night - in fact, EVERY NIGHT according to their website. There, they have showtimes. On a Sunday night I'd imagine it would be quieter and with fewer patrons.

If you're arriving on Saturday morning from Canada you'll be quite tired and might well want to go to bed early that night so maybe better for your senses to reserve for Sunday night.

Saludos, MadridMan
--
Madrid, Barcelona, & MORE @ you-know-where!

Thanks for all the info! We booked a show for the sunday night - for the show and drinks.

Any more must sees in Madrid that I might not know about from the guide books?

I'm glad to hear great things about Corral de la Moreria. I have reserved for the night of the 24th as well. Even though it's the same day we arrive in MAD. I'm sure we'll be jetlagged, but can make the late night show. I'm hoping (am sure) it will be a great performance! I can't wait!

ttt

BELLE0516, I TOO will be at Corral de la Morería on May 24th! But.... I'm going to the just-after-midnight show at 12:30am. It's one of the last shows for the Suma Flamenca 2007 flamenco festival and TERREMOTO is performing. But the performance I'm attending, I believe, is totally/only singing - no dancing. Quite possibly the earlier 10pm show is the usual dancing flamenco show. So maybe when you're coming out of your show I'll be waiting to go in to mine! Regardless, have a good time! Let's both make it a point to update this thread with our experiences. Deal?

Saludos, MadridMan
--
Madrid, Barcelona, & MORE @ you-know-where!

Has anyone gone to Corral de la Moreria for dinner? Is it worth it or best to grab a bite before the show?

How is the atmosphere at Corral de la Moreria for a single woman? I really would love to see the flamenco show, but am on my own.

madridman- I will make sure I report back on my experience there.I will also be at the midnight one tomorrow too!

Hi all:

To address the concerns regarding a woman being alone in a tablao, specifically Corral del La Moreria: I would feel more comfortable in a tablao alone than in many other places simply because everyone is focused on the show and won't really notice if you are alone or involved in a conversation, if that concerns you. Plus they usually pack the seats in pretty tightly. Moreria is not that big a place. I would just make sure they don't put you at a bar if the view from there is not good (I don;t recall if they have seats at a bar or not) Some of the seats near the stage are in a line format so you may have to sit next to someone you don't know even if you are not alone. That's how it was when we went there.

I could not disagree with you more about Corral de la Moreria. We were just there on September 28, 2007. I have a sick feeling in my stomach when I think about how much we spent and I mostly saw a column in the way of the dancers and a very large man obstructing the remainder of my view. We both paid the same for the show, but he probably saw considerably more. The space was TINY and not made for a stage viewing whatsoever. Not from my table especially. It was SOOO expensive and at the end of the meal, the waitress asked how much we wanted to add to the bill for tip!!! I told her that tip was included in Spain, but apparently not there (VERY suspicous). THEN, we asked her what was typical and she did not respond. I think we gave too much, being Americans...and for the service and the show was not even deserving of additional moneys. I just feel sick about having gone there, spent so much money and have that be the feeling my husband and I left Spain with. I was so hoping to show my husband my Spanish hertiage was so beautiful and for the most part...we just experienced how poorly the treat and take advantage of tourists. This put an exclamation point on that sentiment.

I would also like to add that I went to see a flamenco/dinner show years ago with my family in Madrid. Even though I did not see that bill, after I explained my experience to my father, he confirmed that both were expensive, but the other place was a CONSIDERABLY better experience. ALSO, I had been to Sevilla with my friend, I belive that was the town, that we just happened apon a restaurant that included Flamenco for free. Both experiences beyond better than Moreria. If I can save you the expense of going, than I will at least feel my expense was worth it.

Hmmm. Madrid Man appears to have never posted on Fodors again after his May 24 journey to Corral de la Moreria.

Perhaps he was murdered for not tipping? Or maybe the show was so bad he just can't talk about it?

This is mainly suspicious because he clearly said in his post: "Let's both make it a point to update this thread with our experiences. Deal?"

Deal or NO Deal?