Will be in Madrid May 27-May 31. Can anyone recommend interesting concerts, special activities etc. going on during that time? Also looking at different flamenco shows and performers on those dates, does anyone have recommendations?

Check out esMadrid (www.esmadrid.com/en/portal.do) for everything that's happening in the city.

Lots of demonstrations/protests going on because of high unemployment(21%).People are camping out in the Puerta del Sol in Madrid.Hopefully it will be scaled back by the time you arrive!

I'm pretty confident Madrid's Puerta del Sol will be back to "normal" by the time you're here, Judy.

As for flamenco, you can find good flamenco shows any day of the year in Madrid. You could check out the "Rojas y Rodriquez" flamenco dance concert (web: http://www.nbeflamenco.com/ ) in the "Teatro La Latina". Really excellent show. I went to see them once and hope to catch them again before the end of their show's run on 5th of June (started May 1st).

Best of luck and enjoy your time in Madrid!

Saludos, MadridMan @ you-know-where!

I disaree w/above poster-the Spanish have a tenacity to really protest for......!
It will also depend hoe the elections turn out!!!!

Belén López, one of the most promising female flamenco dancers in the world today, dances at Corral de la Moreria just beside the Almudena cathedral and the Royal Palace on the 27th, 29th, 30th and 31st of May.
http://www.corraldelamoreria.com/
Belén López in Madrid a year ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hbhkIWSX-Q

The Ventorillo restaurant, just outside in the Vistillas park, has got one of the nicest terraces/views in all of Madrid. Traditional, good food. The Garlic chicken is one of the best in town. http://11870.com/pro/restaurante-ventorrillo

I also see BALLET FLAMENCO DE MADRID, Carmen. Flamenco ballet. Would you recommend it over Rojas y Rodriquez?

Flamenco on stage between May 27 and 31:
http://www.esmadrid.com/en/cargarBus...al=1228&tipo=5
http://www.esmadrid.com/en/cargarBus...al=1876&tipo=5
http://www.esmadrid.com/en/cargarBus...al=1683&tipo=5

Carmen by Ballet flamenco de Madrid was staged at prestigious Sadler's Wells in London earlier this year to rather bad reviews. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...n-2215937.html

I would much rather have seen Rojas and Rodriguez in Cambio de Tercio. Huge success at the important flamenco festival in Jerez a couple of months ago: http://www.flamencotv.es/es/actualid...r-a-jerez.html

And Belén López might be just spectacular if she is in the mood...

Casa Patas has flamenco shows every night. I just brought some friends who were visiting from the US and it was an amazing show. We were lucky to get a famous flamenco dancer that night.

kimhe is incorrect. The version at Sadlers Wells was not performed by the Ballet Flamenco de Madrid, rather it was by Aida Gomez. This was a different production.
The production in Madrid at Teatro Reina Victoria is entertaining enough. The tablaos in Madrid are very expensive and the drink prices are ridiculous. Try going to the theatre instead!

.. oops, thanks for the correction milkybarkid. Rojas and Rodriguez at least got excellent reviews from the flamenco community after their performance in this years festival in Jerez (Cambio de Tercio): http://www.flamenco-world.com/magazi...2032011esp.htm

But I repeat, Belén López at Corral de la Morería might be a very special experience. Not without reason that young López has been compared to the greatest flamenco dancer of all times, Carmen Amaya. As Amaya, López also comes from Cataluña.

And on the 30th of May, fabulous Gema Caballero sings at Casa Patas. Her voice is beautiful with a raw edge that hurts so much. Also great dancers and instrumentalists:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZpwfIm4-_g

Casa Patas: http://www.casapatas.com/actuaciones.asp