What are the opening hours?

Last season it opened 10am to 9pm Sunday to Thursday and 10am to 10pm on Fridays, Saturdays and the evenings before holidays. It ends on Dec 31; the 2026 opening day isn't announced yet.

How crowded does it get?

Very busy on weekend afternoons and in the week before Christmas. Weekday mornings, soon after the 10am opening, are the calmest time to browse with small kids.

Where can we eat nearby?

The stalls sell decorations, not food. Mercado de San Miguel is just past the square's west corner, and Calle Mayor and the arcades around the square are lined with cafés.

Is there a nativity to see while we're there?

Yes, the market traditionally sets up a nativity in the square, and the city's big nativity at Palacio de Cibeles is a 20-minute walk east.

Plaza Mayor Christmas Market: Nativity Figures and Joke-Shop Wigs

Featured inMadrid Christmas Markets with Kids

Plaza Mayor Christmas Market: Nativity Figures and Joke-Shop Wigs photo 2

Plaza Mayor Christmas Market: Nativity Figures and Joke-Shop Wigs photo 3

FestivalCentro

Where

Centro, Plaza Mayor

Ages

All ages

Setting

Outdoors

Plan for

Drop-in, stay as long as kids last

What to buy

Nativity figures, ornaments, joke-shop wigs, gag gifts

What you need to know

Joke-shop stalls, piled with wigs, masks and gag gifts that kids make a beeline for
Open into the evening, until 10pm on Fridays, Saturdays and holiday eves last season
A vintage carousel nearby, in Plaza de Santa Cruz, running into early January

About

Madrid's main square fills with red wooden stalls every Christmas, a market that has run for more than a century. Families come for nativity figures, moss and tiny accessories for their home belén, plus ornaments and toys. Kids head straight for the joke-shop stalls, piled with wigs, masks and gag gifts. Just off the square, a vintage carousel turns in Plaza de Santa Cruz.

Free

Dates to be announced

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Where it is

Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor, 28012 Madrid

Getting there

Metro: Tirso de Molina L1 (6 min walk), Sol L1/L2/L3 (6 min walk), La Latina L5 (7 min walk)
Bus: Plaza Santa Cruz - Plaza Mayor 17/50 (1 min walk), Plaza Mayor 17/18/23/31/35/50 (1 min walk), Conde de Romanones - Tirso De Molina 002/6/26/32/50 (4 min walk)