PHotoESPAÑA 2026: Dated Exhibition Guide

PHotoESPAÑA’s 29th edition had a main festival window of 13 May–13 September 2026 and the theme Volver a imaginar, or Reimagining. Individual shows opened and closed on different dates; some continued after September.

This is the exhibition plan from the May edition. Use the closing date of the specific show, not the festival end, to decide whether a visit is still possible.

A few shows are already running before the official opening, and one of them has a deadline worth noting.

Arturo Pérez-Reverte — Fotografías de guerra, 1974-1985 is at the Ateneo de Madrid until May 31. Before he became one of Spain's most-read novelists, Pérez-Reverte spent years as a war correspondent covering conflicts across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Europe. The exhibition is blunt and direct. This one closes quickly.

Jose Quintanilla — El jardín revelado at CentroCentro runs until June 28, and Ana Locking — Nostalgia / Utopía at Sala Canal de Isabel II continues until July 20, so both give you a longer runway.

Matías Costa — Lo que nace at COAM, the architects' college near Chueca, closes May 24. If that is on your list, this week is the window.

The official festival opening is Wednesday, May 13. The first clean way into the programme is Espacio Cultural Serrería Belga, near the Reina Sofía, which opens two shows to the public on May 14: Isabel Azkarate — Azkarate vs. Azkarate, a collision between her analogue archive and new work made with a Xiaomi Leica phone, and Espacio fotolibros, a group show around contemporary photobooks and independent publishing.

Both run until June 28. It is not the largest opening wave in the festival's history, but it is practical: two shows, one venue, and an easy add-on before or after a Reina Sofía, Lavapiés, or Barrio de las Letras plan.

Here is where the programme fills out properly, and where you should do most of your planning.

May 29 — Robert Frank, Robert Frank y Los Americanos, Espacio Fundación Telefónica. The Americans, Frank's 1958 book of road photographs that changed what documentary photography was allowed to look like, is being shown in full in Spain for the first time. It was scheduled from May 29 to November 1, beyond the main festival window. The venue is Espacio Fundación Telefónica on Fuencarral, 3.

June 3 — Viviane Sassen, LUX & UMBRA, Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa. Sassen's first solo show in Spain pulls together three decades of work around light, shadow, identity, colour, and constructed image-making. It runs until July 26.

June 5 — Círculo de Bellas Artes. Three shows open at the same venue: Rafał Milach — Refusal. Second Fracture, Raphaëlle Peria — Ruina Montium, and the group exhibition Volver a imaginar, which shares the festival's title. Peria's work is especially tactile: photographs are scraped, erased, and reworked until the image feels closer to a landscape under pressure than a conventional print.

June 6 — Fundación MAPFRE and Lázaro Galdiano follow. Richard Avedon's In the American West and Alejandro Cartagena's Ground Rules both open at Fundación MAPFRE on Paseo de Recoletos. Avedon's show is exactly what it sounds like: his monumental 1979-1984 series of large-format portraits made across the American West. Across town, Talia Chetrit — Bunny opens at the Museo Lázaro Galdiano. All three run until August 30.

The rest of June fills in quickly: Laia Abril on endometriosis at the Museo del Romanticismo from June 2, Isabel Muñoz at the Galería de las Colecciones Reales from June 4, Greta Alfaro at Matadero from June 4, and more official, invited, and Festival Off shows layered across the city.

Robert Frank at Espacio Fundación Telefónica, Fuencarral 3, is listed as free. The venue’s own practical information should govern the current opening hours; the tourism and venue pages do not show identical weekday schedules.

MAPFRE’s Recoletos shows use venue ticketing rather than a blanket free festival admission. Its current October ticket page lists €5 general entry, €3 for eligible reduced-rate groups and free entry on non-holiday Mondays from 14:00–20:00. Those current terms do not establish the historical summer tariff. Use the dated exhibition and venue pages for any historical admission question.

For the rest of the programme, check the individual venue’s admission and reservation details. A free exhibition can still have limited capacity or a separately booked activity.

Pair venues within the same part of Madrid: Serrería Belga with a Las Letras walk, the Recoletos venues with Salesas, or Matadero with Legazpi. Choose the exhibition before adding a second stop, and check that their dates overlap.

The main festival window was not a final deadline for every show: Robert Frank’s scheduled November 1 close is the clearest example. Other shows in this guide had already closed by then.