Madrid through the lens of Pedro Almodóvar’s movies

Pedro Almodóvar arrived in Madrid in 1967. He was born in Calzada de Calatrava, a small rural town in Castile-La Mancha, but since he was 8 he studied at a religious boarding school in Extremadura. He moved to Madrid, against his parents' wishes, when he was 18, to become a filmmaker. Almodóvar's career started during La Movida Madrileña, a countercultural movement that emerged in the 1980s during the Spanish Transition to democracy, following the end of Francoist Spain. Already in his first feature-length film Pepi, Luci, Bom, where he captured la Movida, he turned the city of Madrid into one of the main characters of his movie. Since then, Almodovar has become one of the most internationally successful Spanish filmmakers. He directed 22 full-length movies, many of which were nominated to and granted different international awards, including the Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Goya Awards, and others.Most of his films have been shot in Madrid. Some of the locations have become perfectly recognizable, iconic symbols of the city, others belong to the hidden, underground world, or don’t exist anymore. Following Madrid in Almodóvar’s movies is like creating a historical review of the city from the 1980s to the present day.It's impossible to see all these places in one tour (you would probably need a whole week to do so!), but I would like to invite you to see some of them, where we will not only see the locations that feature in Almodóvar´s films but also try to discover the cultural and historical context of the city. Let’s discover some parts of Madrid through the lens of Pedro Almodóvar's movies!