Spring Fair in Seville and Labor Day in Madrid

The websites of the major attractions in Madrid should indicate whether they will be closed on May 1. I would guess many sights would be open, but busy, since local folks with the day off may take advantage of the opportunity.

I checked the websites and sure enough museums and Royal Alcazar are all closed. Oh well, this gives us enough time to make other plans.

I´ve just checked the Real Alcázar website and in both the Spanish and English versions the only dates that it´s closed are (copy): Closed on 1st and 6th January, Good Friday and 25th December. May 1st is on a Monday, a day when many museums close in Spain, and that´s probably the reason for being closed, Monday and not Labor Day.

We visited Seville in 2018 during the April Fair. We found that all the “tourist” sites we wanted to see were open.

We also visited the fair itself. It is fun to walk around and see the carriages and beautiful clothing. You don’t need a ticket to walk the grounds. There are I think 2 or 3 public tents that anyone can access. We stopped in for a drink or two.

As I remember, I think we walked to the fairgrounds and took a taxi back to our apt in Santa Cruz. There is a taxi stand next to the fairgrounds.

This website has a map of the fairgrounds and additional information:

https://feriadesevilla.andalunet.com/plano-de-la-feria-de-abril-de-sevilla/?lang=en

Definitely go and visit the fair; it is a unique experience! You can stay as long or as short a time as you want. We had fun and stayed maybe two or three hours.

One more thing I just thought of:

Because if the fair, taxis were scarce around central Seville. We wound up walking quite a ways to the bus station when we were leaving because all the taxi stands were empty and the cabs on the streets occupied.

So just plan ahead and add some extra time if you’ll need a taxi to get anywhere.

Mikel, I went back to doublecheck the website because I thought i was going nuts when you said it would be open and the Real Alcazar in Madrid is indeed closed. Here's the link to the info I found. The one in Seville looks like may be open when I checked but I will be in Madrid on May 1.

https://tickets.patrimonionacional.es/es-ES/informacion-recinto/6/palacio-real-de-madrid

DebVT, Thanks so much! The link you shared has the best information that I've seen. I have been googling Seville spring fair and have not stumbled upon that one and it is the most helpful so far. We're staying in the Barrio Santa Cruz area too so I hope it's too far of a walk back just in case.

Hi Claudette, there must be a misundertanding here. There´s no Real Alcázar in Madrid, the Real Alcázar is in Seville, https://www.alcazarsevilla.org. You are referring to the Palacio Real or Royal Palace in Madrid, which in fact it´s closed on May 1st and also part of National Patrimony, but a very different type of building.

Just as a piece of info, "Alcázar" (also Alcazaba) is a word of arabic origin meaning "fortress" and there are many "alcázares" or "alcazabas" in many towns in Spain.

Thanks for clearing that up, Mikel. I thought that it was a bit confusing that they were both called Alcazar when apparently I was the confused one! I’ve been doing too much switching back and forth planning my Madrid and Seville visits so I got all turned around. Thanks again for your kind explanation!