Changing shows, no charge
Photography, art and technology exhibitions rotate through the year, and every show is free to walk into.
Benjamín Núñez González — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Benjamín Núñez González — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Benjamín Núñez González — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Benjamín Núñez González — CC BY-SA 4.0
Gran Via (lines 1 and 5) is a few minutes' walk, with Callao and Chueca also close by. The door is not on the Gran Via facade but around the corner at Calle Fuencarral 3, and you take the lift up to the exhibition floors.
Yes, the exhibitions are free and usually need no ticket. Some workshops and talks may require a free booking because places are limited, so confirm on the official site before you go.
Usually not as a destination in its own right. On three days or fewer, the Prado, the Reina Sofia and the Royal Palace come first. Treat this as a stop if you are already on Gran Via and the current show interests you.
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The centre occupies several floors of the historic Telefonica tower on Gran Via, one of the first high-rise buildings put up in Madrid back in the 1920s. The entrance is at Calle Fuencarral 3, around the corner rather than on the Gran Via facade itself, which catches a lot of people out. Admission is completely free. The programme is built around temporary exhibitions that change several times a year: photography, contemporary art, and technology or digital themes. The standard is decent but uneven, so it is worth checking what is actually on before you make the trip. Compared with CaixaForum, the shows here are smaller in scale, but they cost nothing. There is also a permanent section on the history of telecommunications, with equipment and material from the company's own archive. It is tidy and well presented, though not on its own a reason to cross the city. It suits anyone already walking along Gran Via, or looking for an hour indoors away from the heat or the rain. It is not comparable to the Prado or the Reina Sofia, and it does not try to be.
Photography, art and technology exhibitions rotate through the year, and every show is free to walk into.
A permanent display of equipment and archive material tracing how the telephone and the networks developed, more rewarding if you lean towards technology than towards art.
A quiet indoor space just off the crowds of Gran Via, useful for an hour between other plans or on a wet day.
Calle de Fuencarral 3, 28004 Madrid