The Embassy of Spain in the Philippines — through Instituto Cervantes and its Cultural and Education Offices — unveils its May program in which the celebration of the Internternational Day Against Homophobia, Trasnphobia and Biphobia will be one of its main events.
On May 19, Instituto Cervantes Intramuros will once again host a platform for the LGBTQIA+ community to engage the public on key issues and advocacies, reaffirming Spain’s commitment to equality as it enters its second year as co-chair of the Equal Rights Coalition alongside Colombia.
Music, whether classical or underground, is always a part of the Embassy of Spain’s cultural agenda. Michelin-starred chef Chele González fuses gastronomy with electronic music in Medium Rare, a unique event where sound and flavor collide. Be there when it happens on May 9 at the Manila Peninsula in Makati.
On May 11, Pablo Bolívar will stop by the DLSU-College of St. Benilde campus to give a talk to students about his experience as a DJ and music producer, sharing insights into his creative process and work in sonic music production.
As the Museo del Galéon in Mall of Asia opens its doors to the public this month, visitors may also trace the routes taken by the ships that in effect launched globalization through maps provided by the Archivo Histórico de la Armada of Spain.
With Vínculos lingüísticos: Filipinismos en el español, the Academia Filipina de la Lengua Española resumes its lecture series on the interplay between Spanish and Philippine languages. On May 21, Danica Salazar will speak on Philippine loanwords in Spanish at Instituto Cervantes Intramuros.
Visual artist Cristina Mejías and photographer García de Marina take over Manila with back-to-back exhibitions, opening on May 23 at the Vargas Museum in UP Diliman. The showcase expands on May 25 at Casa Azul Instituto Cervantes in Intramuros, where both artists present parallel exhibitions, amplifying their shared yet distinct artistic visions.
Instituto Cervantes launches Beningeli 2026, a world-wide festival of Spanish-language literature featuring over 100 participants in in-person and digital events, including a May 26 roundtable with Filipino playwrights and Uruguayan writer Denise Despeyroux, followed by a writing workshop led by the Madrid-based dramatist the next day.
Campamento de Garra de Oso (Camp Claw Bear, 2025) is the Embassy of Spain’s entry to the annual Cine Europa film festival, organized by the EU Delegation and EU Member State embassies in Manila. This Spanish family comedy follows two children who team up with a talking skunk to save their summer camp from an eccentric developer.
Passers-by at the Legazpi Underpass in Ayala will soon bid farewell to Sorolla: A Walk through the Light, an open-air exhibition featuring life-size reproductions of works by the “Master of Light,” Joaquín Sorolla. The public is encouraged to catch the show before it closes.
Locals and visitors can experience year-round the lasting mark left by the Madrid-based street art collective Boa Mistura across Metro-Manila—from a basketball court in Tejeros, Makati emblazoned with UNYON, to a vibrant mural in Fort Santiago bearing the word TAGPUAN.
The public may still enjoy two other on-going exhibits: Four Centuries of Spanish Engineering Overseas, a permanent exposition at the Centro de Turismo in Intramuros, while viewers will be amazed by the craftsmanship of the shawls on display at the exhibit Mezcla: Interwoven Cultures and the Mantón de Manila at the Ayala Museum.
Classics of Philippine Cartography from the 16th to the 20th Centuries, an exhibition under the auspices of the Embassy of Spain, remains on view at the National Museum of the Philippines-Cebu and can be visited until June.
