I’ve been here for a while now and I feel this is the right moment to share with you the cultural aspects of my new adoptive city. I’ve been joining a lot of events, both free and paid, and I can say that the culture is highly appreciated here. Not only theatre and cinema, but also dancing, ballet or concerts happen weekly, if not every other day.
Theatre and concerts: Murcia City has 4 main show buildings, 2 theatres, 1 auditorium and 1 open-space arena.
TEATRO CIRCO
This theatre is specific for circus alike shows, however regular types of theatre plays take place here as well. It is a bit cheaper than Romea and perhaps a bit cosier due to its smaller dimensions. It also has different English plays for children.
Among the plays I’ve seen here I can say I enjoyed ballet (Electra, flamenco dancing), classic Greek plays in modern view or acrobatic circus.
TEATRO ROMEA
Having more than 150 years of history, the eclectic building of Romea Theatre hosts frequently theatre play and concerts from artists all around Spain. It can be visited for free, not just during the plays.
Among the plays I’ve seen here, I’d like to mention a one-man show play, dancing-theatre plays, modern violin concert or the Youth Philharmonic of Murcia.
AUDITORIO Y CENTRO DE CONGRESOS VÍCTOR VILLEGAS
Having 12 meeting rooms with different destinations and capacities (up to 1766 persons), it hosts in its 2500 m2 commercial exhibitions, fairs, presentations and any kind of restaurant services.
The most common cultural acts here are the concerts, mainly philharmonic, or ballet plays. So far, I didn’t get to any of the plays here.
PLAZA DE TOROS
Despite having been built for the famous bull fights, there are in fact very few such shows here. It is more likely to host concerts of worldwide or Spanish artists and bands. I didn’t attend any kind of shows here so far.
Music: here I can include in fact a variety of places, which the majority is not vey common to host concerts in my country. Here I talk about the CATHEDRAL OF MURCIA who offers frequently organ concerts, libraries (see below) or simply in different plazas of the city, and here I don’t mean by the big concerts organised the city hall or big private events.
Libraries: often are open to the public’s different ideas in terms of cultural events. Of course there are frequent book presentations, but I found it lovely to attend several concerts in libraries like of piano, violin or flute.
The Regional Library has various branches around the city such as: REGIONAL, EL CARMEN, SAN BASILIO, ESCRITOR JOSÉ SARAMAGO, SANTIAGO EL MAYOR, ANTONIO NEBRIJA, EL PUNTAL, ESPINARDO, RIO DE SEGURA.
Leisure activities: the municipality has under its coordination a variety of spaces where organisations propose a lot of activities from learning languages, using the computer, photography, dances or pottery to rafting, climbing or archery.
Among these spaces I mention: 585, LA NAVE or LAB (Laboratorio de Arte Joven).
Cinema: there are various private cinemas, especially in commercial centres, however there is a public one also, where I enjoy going a lot.
From Neocine family, Murcia is the host of no less than 4 cinemas in CENTROFAMA, REX, THADER and MYRTEA. There is also one in NUEVA CONDOMINA.
FILMOTECA
This is the best place to see old movies in original language, at a very low price of 2 €. I’ve been to romantic, adventure, comedy, family type or even documentary types of movies. Generally there are not many people, which is surprising, however it offers a great variety of very good movies, despite not having nothing “modern.
Plazas and streets: besides concerts of piano, bands or DJs, there is frequent to find different fairs with artisanal products here and there. Among the most famous plazas and streets for this are: CIRCULAR, CUARTEL DE ARTILERIA, PASEO ESCULTOR JUAN GONZÁLES MORENO, LA MERCED-UNIVERSIDAD or GLORIETA DE ESPAÑA. In the old centre, around the Cathedral and city hall, you can often hear street artists performing.
Murcia has for sure a lot of spaces to offer cultural activities and events to fans of theatre, music, literature, art and culture in general. While some tickets go up to 40-50 € for a ballet, specific concerts or more sophisticated theatre play, you can often find very cheap or free events to attend to, all around the city.
I’m subscribed to various newsletters and I follow a lot of pages for frequent updated information and I have to say that I could be having an activity to attend to each day.
Next articles: museums of Murcia.