The ‘Real’ Madrid Experience – The Halloween Extravaganza

Now I know traditionally Halloween is not a Spanish past time. In fact, check the internet for ‘Ghost Tours’ or ghostly anecdotes regarding the city, and you won’t find any! Well, maybe one, regarding the haunting of the Casa de América on Paseo de Recoletos. In fact even making enquiries with people from Madrid about ghosts, and such like, produces strange and quizzical expressions, often followed by; ‘Don’t those type of things scare you’?

Me encanta (I love) Halloween!!!! It has been my favourite time of the year since I was a child. In fact I wasn’t certain what celebrating Halloween would be like in Madrid, so it is now that I find myself missing the UK most; well, at least the part of the UK I was raised anyway. Now there is a place where autumn truly is autumn! This dramatic change of season, for me, adds a touch of atmospheric dark romance to the run up to Halloween. The fragile trees, the colder weather, heavy clouded skies, the rugged scenery and the dark nights all lend their hands perfectly to the Halloween theme.

Madrid is not rugged, not surrounded by old graveyards and churches, cobbled streets, ancient houses, dark forests, rivers, valleys, mountains or fields; so then how can I celebrate Halloween here?!

Well, I may not be going the whole nine yards and re-decorating the house as a scene from a Hammer House of Horror film, but I have managed to find one concession towards making my Halloween feel like home. It is the humble Pumpkin! Don’t laugh, it may seem pathetic and childish, but I love carving Pumpkins for Halloween. It’s a ritual I have held onto for seven years, and I don’t intend to let it slip this year! This one little thing gets me in the Halloween ‘spirit’; so I say thank you Carrefour for stocking them!

Anyway, so what else does Madrid offer with Halloween in mind, well, seems like the other element missing here is ‘the’ party. Of course, on this front there is no need to worry; Madrid does parties probably better than anywhere else!

So, today I have been hunting high and low, not for ghosts and goblins though, but for the locations of these suitably scary parties and themed events.

Something Different:

Parque de Atracciones – Casa de Campo, Madrid
http://www.parquedeatracciones.es/

This theme park throws annual Halloween-fests which run on until 4th November. The park and grounds have been suitably redecorated and is hosting a wealth of Halloween treats such as; music, street entertainers and shows. Also, ensure you take a stroll through Zombie Town, and pay a visit their four interactive fright night experience ‘Haunted Houses’; Horror Circus, Necronomicon, Hospital of the Dead and The Old House.

Extremauncion – outside of Madrid on the A5 (Highway) passed Navelcamero
http://www.extremauncion.com/

A themed weekend of scary events in a remote location; Halloween dinner, drinks, a tour to set the ghostly scene, passage of terror in abandoned mansion, actors dressed to scare and camping out in a ‘haunted’ cemetery. It appears to be the complete Halloween experience in one, for a price.

The Halloween weekend will cost anything from; 70 – 80 Euros. Far cheaper if you just limit the experience to the passage of terror, seems to be roughly 6 Euros.

They do open every Saturday however, and the entry prices are not as steep ordinarily.

For their extra special Halloween-fest the dates are: 31st October to the 4th
November, and the price will be that bit extra.

In the evening the events are not suitable for children.

Enigmatium – Somewhere near to Plaza de Castilla
http://www.enigmatium.com/halloween-madrid.php

I say somewhere near Plaza de Castilla not to be facetious, but because two days before you are due to honour your reservation at the restaurant, you will receive the first clue as to where this restaurant is actually located.

The special Halloween events in this restaurant will be run 31st October / 3 and 4th November.

Check out their website for further details of the evening’s entertainment.

The Walking Dead Live (Zombies Laser Combat) – Esquivias which is 35km from Madrid A42 towards Toledo. http://www.iberikapaintball.com/paintballmadrid/paintballmadridhalloween.htm

There are limited places and ensure you wear Halloween costume as they have prizes for best dressed.

The price 49 – 69 Euros; this includes real-life zombie laser tag combat, open bar, dinner and extra after dinner surprises to test the attendee’s nerves.

Clubs and Festival:

Thriller Music Festival – Madrid Arena
http://thrillermusicpark.com/

Line-up:
Steve Aoki, Autoerotique, live PA by Army of the Universe, Ed is Dead and Julien Leik.

Tickets 22 Euros. Free drink for all who go in fancy dress, also competition for best dressed and the winner will receive 3,000 Euros.

Mondo – Calle Arlaban, 7, Madrid

31st October – DJ Hell

Siroco – Calle de San Dimas, Madrid

Music is usually; breaks, Electro-Pop, House

31st October – Fort Romeau, Hyman Bass, plus other guests.

Sala Lujuria (Creepy Halloween Party) – Leganitos, 7, Madrid

Music; Dubstep

31st October – Ruben G / MadBass.Madrid, 1st Degree / HDK.Madrid
Nubdub / HDK.Madrid, Skaar / HDK.Madrid

Puerta del Sol and Irish Bars:

27th October Halloween Pub Crawl – pick up point Plaza Mayor
http://www.getyourguide.com/madrid/skip-the-line-madrid-halloween-pub-crawl-t15281/

Start time is 22:00 at Tourist Information at Plaza Mayor.

Price is 24 Euros which includes; visit 3 bars and a club, free alcohol, VIP entry to the club, costume prizes.

Most Irish Bars in Madrid are holding some special event or another over Halloween; including fancy dress prizes, drink offers and special cocktails. Here are some of them below.

Dubliners – Espoz y Mina, 7, Madrid

O’Connell’s – (address as above)

O’Neills – Principe, 12, Madrid

Final Note:

I’m planning to do an updated version of this post, once I have sampled the fright night on offer here in Madrid. So with the Madrid party ethos in mind I intend to make the most of Halloween here this year, which will include donning the fancy dress, and taking a stroll around the streets to frequent the many bars. Then and only then will I truly know what my favourite day of the year is like in this crazy city!

!!!!!!Wishing you all a wonderful and happy Halloween!!!!!!

Copy Right Notice:
© Bex Houghagen and The Savvy Senorita, 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Bex Houghagen and The Savvy Senorita with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

I Am King or Queen of My Castle and I Refuse to Surrender.

A friend of mine has recently suspended her Facebook account; she has plenty on her plate at the moment, which has of course occurs as part and parcel of her fully developed and healthy adult life. However, one of the reasons she mentioned was how she was fed up with receiving persistent emails, and messages from people she had only known as a teenager.

Now, I have had similar issues with Facebook; as good as it is to locate family and those you value as friends, it allows others to try to invade your space. Some of the people who might try to re-establish contact could be past friends, some could even have be your worst nightmare; the enemy that despised you, and the bully that ridiculed you making your life a misery.

Can you trust these people to re-enter your adult life based on what you knew about them in the past? What are their motives to trying to gain re-entry into your life?

I wonder if everyone is familiar with these types of people; the ones who harp on about the past, those who desperately desire to re-new a friendship that was only founded on a specific place and moment, also those who wish to try and re-establish their sense of greatness (‘look what I have been doing, aren’t you all jealous’), and of course the bullies from the playground?

All these people you may have purposefully lost contact with (years ago), suddenly feel they have a right to wander back into your life, and act as though nothing transpired to make them, a friend from the past or just someone you had to suffer. Maybe you consigned them to the past for a damn good reason!

It seems people are just so eager to parachute back into our lives; to pry, because they are guilty for their past actions, maybe because they have nothing else to focus on or perhaps they want to re-exert their dominance? Have they so little in their own lives that they have to cling to what was? Maybe they haven’t made a new life for themselves? Maybe they are fixating on what was, and are stuck in the same mind set and situations they were when you knew them? Maybe they want to feel a part of something more once again?

If they haven’t moved on and experienced life, if they haven’t changed their ‘spots’, is it because they are too afraid to? How could they have managed to escape immersing themselves in life, maturing and developing into an adult? What I mean is, are they stuck, frozen in one moment forever; unable to escape that child or teenager perspective on the world?

I call this ‘I’m the King/Queen of my castle’ syndrome, it is not uncommon. To explain; people like to feel important and it doesn’t matter whether they are billionaires, popular people in their neighbourhoods or the school favourite. If they have been or are deemed to be ‘top dog’ somewhere, sometime, by someone; this alters their view of themselves. When this self belief (view of themselves) is challenged by those who they bullied or those they classed as friends, because now those people they knew have more or have achieved more than them; these ‘Kings and Queens’ self beliefs are then set at odds. Suddenly their world is no longer rosy.

People don’t like to think they haven’t achieved much by others standards, or that their enemies or playground victims have surpassed them. Yet, who is really judging them, and making them feel inferior; the child grown into an adult that they bullied, their old friend or themselves?

Maybe in the real world, in another setting which is remote from their own, these ‘Kings and Queens’ begin to feel inconsequential? Perhaps they cannot cope with having to re-build their status or gain something new and different, so they have retreated from immersing themselves in new experiences. Maybe something which is outside of their comfort zone is deemed a scary place to be? Is it that they have built a wall of protection around themselves to always feel secure in their choices? If that is their choice, and they are happy, surely it is fine with the world; as long as they then leave everyone else and their choices alone? However, in my experience that doesn’t happen.

If these ‘Kings and Queens’ do feel afraid of the new, of change and development, and they have made their choices to retreat to their castles freely; why then do they feel as though they have lost out, and become jealous of what they perceive to be a better life than theirs? Why is it people cannot just be happy and move on? What to they hope to gain from renewing a long dead connection or forgotten friendship?

I admit that I feel sceptical when presented with these ‘Kings and Queens’. As I have mentioned already I have experienced this, and not just on Facebook either. I have seen some pretty vicious and poisonous things occur through jealousy; from the friend of the past aimed at the person they feel has managed to move on and develop a healthy adult life, from those who were the bully, and also from those trying to re-exert their greatness. It is a frightening thought, as you can never truly know what ‘can of worms’ you will open buying into what is portrayed on the internet; especially with cases of internet bullying on the rise (not just children get bullied), not to forget those who have been stalked or even murdered. Seems dramatic, maybe not, not for those who have suffered as a result of what seemed to be an innocuous internet ‘friendship’.

I will now ask the questions again; can you trust these ‘Kings and Queens’ to re-enter your adult life based on what you knew about them in the past? What are their motives to trying to gain re-entry into your life?

Are they harmless individuals stuck in the past or an enemy, a danger lurking in wait?

Links about Adult and Child Cyber Bullying:

http://www.overcomebullying.org/cyberbullying.html
http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/adult-bullies/

BBC One Panorama – http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01c00y3
BBC Schools – http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/cyber_bullying/
Childline – http://www.childline.org.uk/Explore/Bullying/Pages/CyberBullying.aspx

Copy Right Notice:
© Bex Houghagen and The Savvy Senorita, 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Bex Houghagen and The Savvy Senorita with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.