Spain, with its sultry evenings spent snacking on tapas, its rich cultural history from Picasso to flamenco, and its deep love of music, is a country that tourists love — but is it a good choice for dance tourism? And if so, should Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress be your destination?
I’ve attended Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress twice, most recently in 2023. Here’s my opinion on what this event has to offer.
Table of Contents
The tl;dr:
| What I like about Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress | What I’m not so fond of |
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About Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress: The Basics
Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress is one of Spain’s biggest — but certainly not its only — Brazilian zouk-focused congresses. It brings instructors from Brazil, the US and across Europe to teach, and attracts attendees from as far afield as Taiwan and Texas. While it’s predominantly focused on Brazilian zouk, it also happens to have a bachata room.
| Dance Styles | Brazilian zouk, bachata (mostly sensual) |
|---|---|
| Location | Tres Cantos, Greater Madrid, Spain |
| Event Type | Congress |
| Level | Separate Brazilian zouk rooms for beginner/intermediate and intermediate/advanced |
| Price for Standard Pass | Early-bird prices for 2024 start at €133.10. In previous years, prices have periodically increased by €10 + VAT, with discounts available if you buy through promoters. You will be charged an additional 21% VAT on the advertised price, but you will not be provided with a VAT invoice (even if you ask the organisers via email or in person) to claim the VAT back. |
| Add-On Events |
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My Experience at Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress
This was my second year in a row attending Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress. I did all the workshops and 90% of the socials as a leader. Unfortunately, I’m recovering from a wrist injury so I wasn’t able to spend as long in the socials as I would have liked; however, I went to the majority of the Brazilian zouk workshops, the Friday and Saturday night time parties and the Sunday afternoon/evening party. I also saw the shows and part of the Jack and Jill competition on the Sunday.
The Location
How To Get To Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress
Tres Cantos is a sleepy town on the outskirts of Madrid. It’s easy to get to from central Madrid, with the train line Cercanías C-4b taking you from Chamartín-Clara Campoamor train station to just outside the hotel in 20 minutes. Make sure your train’s final destination is Colmenar Viejo. It will leave every 15 to 20 minutes, and you’ll need the fourth stop.
If you’re flying into Madrid Airport, you can either catch a taxi to the congress or take a direct train to Chamartín-Clara Campoamor before switching to the Cercanías C-4b.
From Chamartín-Clara Campoamor, you need to go to Tres Cantos, highlighted in blue.
Finding the hotel is easy: you can see it from the platform at Tres Cantos station.
The Hotel And Dance Floor
The congress is held in the beautiful four-star Eurostars Madrid Foro hotel, with the Brazilian zouk rooms and parties in the basement ballroom and bachata on the first floor. The bachata room is small, but as a Brazilian zouk-focused congress, it didn’t feel crowded.
The Brazilian zouk rooms have an excellent floor for dancing, but unfortunately, they were always covered in talcum powder — despite the organisers’ requests to the contrary. After sliding across the floor twice in the first workshop of the weekend, I changed into my street shoes for the rest of the event and found it manageable. However, my street shoes don’t have a lot of grip. By Sunday, several dancers were complaining about their painful or swollen knees, so pick both your street and dance shoes carefully.
While the hotel had A/C, there weren’t any fans. This didn’t cause too much of a problem on the chilly, rainy Saturday and Sunday. However, Friday was a sunny day and the workshops were crowded. I relied heavily on my handheld paper fan and also lent it out to other people.
Alternative Accommodation And Restaurants
If you don’t want to stay in the main hotel, there are plenty of other options nearby. Tres Cantos isn’t a typical tourist town, meaning that there are few AirBnBs to pick from. However, it’s easy to find cheaper hotel rooms on Booking.com.
There are several restaurants and cafés in Tres Cantos, but I found that many were closed and they were all at least a 10-minute walk away. If you’re hoping to eat out for lunch, you’ll be squeezed for time. Fortunately, there was no shortage of supermarkets.
The Workshops
Organisation
I love it when events have separate rooms for different levels, and Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress did not disappoint in this regard. The Brazilian zouk classes were split into beginner/intermediate and intermediate/advanced. While there was some variation between workshops, in general, they were all well-suited to the level. Only a couple of the beginner/intermediate workshops included head movement, with several teachers saying they wanted to focus on “overlooked basics” instead. None of the workshops I attended taught lambada.
The classes were well-organised and both started and ended on time. A couple of them would have benefited from a stage for the teachers, but for the most part, attendees were able to rotate in a circle without problems.
Try to arrive Friday morning at the latest: there were seven workshops on Friday, six on Saturday and only four on Sunday. Classes started at 12 on Friday and 11 on Saturday and Sunday.
The packed Friday workshop schedule: the busiest day of the congress.
The Teachers
The organisers brought plenty of teachers from Brazil, in addition to Spain, Europe and the US. One thing that did disappoint me was that several teachers only gave beginner classes or only gave advanced classes. This often encourages attendees to do classes that don’t match their level, and in turn, can lead to teachers increasing or decreasing the difficulty. However, most teachers kept to the described level.
My personal favourite classes were with Gilson, Sara and Otavio; Carlos and Fernanda; and, for their delightful flamenco/Sevillanas-infused Brazilian zouk demo, Olaya and Papagaio. Only one workshop disappointed me, which for a three-day congress, I consider a good ratio.
Skip to 1:30 to see Olaya adding a Spanish touch to the soltinho.
Leader-Follower Balance
There was an even mix of leaders and followers in the classes; most of the time, there were no more than four people waiting for a partner.
All classes had follower teachers in addition to leaders, but only one microphone was provided. In nearly all cases, this was used by the leader. Most follower teachers spoke at least occasionally, and some spoke as much as or more than their partner. However, a couple were silent throughout the entire class.
The majority of teachers used the gender-neutral “leader” and “follower”, although most still used gendered pronouns for the roles.
Language Of Instruction
All classes were conducted in English, with a couple of teachers offering to translate into Spanish or Portuñol as required. One complaint that I heard over and over again from Spanish attendees is that they couldn’t follow the classes because the English was too difficult. Most teachers didn’t try to use simpler or slower English, while some of those who said they would translate didn’t. This is despite a lot number of hands being raised when teachers asked “Who doesn’t speak English?”
I asked one attendee why they didn’t ask them to translate the information to Spanish, and she told me that she used to but the responses made her feel like she was being annoying. “I gave up,” she said, “and now I just try to understand by watching.” (Translated from Spanish.)
Trying to follow technical explanations in a language you don’t fully understand, especially when the teachers are speaking at full speed, is challenging; I felt bad for the Spanish attendees. There’s always someone in the workshop who can translate to the local language, so it felt like a missed opportunity to be inclusive. Olaya and Papagaio and Kadu and Larissa were the best at including information in Spanish.
Bachata Workshops
While I didn’t attend any of the bachata classes, I did ask a couple of bachateras about them. The general consensus was that there weren’t many people taking the classes and the level was “disappointingly basic so I switched to zouk,” to quote one Swiss dancer. I heard more promising comments about the bachata workshops in 2022, so this may vary from year to year.
The Parties
There are plenty of parties at Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress, including:
- The Thursday pre-party (not included in your full pass)
- Friday and Saturday night parties from 10pm to 6am
- Sunday party from 3pm to 6am
- Monday afterparty (in central Madrid, not included in your full pass)
The parties are briefly interrupted by the shows shortly after midnight, but much to my relief, the shows didn’t drag on. There were around seven to nine shows each night, mostly by the teachers. Styles included Brazilian zouk, bachata, salsa, flamenco and contemporary/lyrical.
The Sunday afternoon daytime social.
The Party Atmosphere
With Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress having a beginner track, multiple attendees told me they felt intimidated by the level on the dance floor. If that’s you, I recommend arriving for the parties when they first start. Most of the teachers and more experienced dancers turn up either for the shows or shortly afterwards.
That said, I felt that the environment was welcoming of dancers of all levels. One attendee who came alone and had never danced Brazilian zouk before the weekend spent hours on the social dance floor. She told me that she had a wonderful time. I also saw teachers in all areas of the dance floor.
Neither the Brazilian zouk nor the bachata room felt too crowded for dancing at any moment. And, with a limited number of bachata dancers in attendance, bachateros will probably find that they have a higher than average probability of dancing with one of the instructors.
The Music
Sometimes, at Brazilian zouk events, I find myself reaching for a pair of earphones to protect my hearing or simply avoid getting a headache. Although my earphones were in my dance bag, I didn’t feel the need to wear them at this event.
The Brazilian zouk DJs played a range of music, although as you might expect, certain styles dominated at different hours. While the bachata room mainly attracts sensual bachata dancers, some of the DJs also played traditional bachata music for dances with a bit more swag.
Refreshments
There’s a small bar with a voucher system selling coffee, water, soft drinks and alcohol throughout the night. Prices for soft drinks were reasonable, and I never had to queue for long.
Opportunities For Tourism
If you like to sightsee while at congresses, I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is that there’s not much to see in Tres Cantos, beyond some nice but fairly basic parks. Come Monday morning, there’s little point in hanging around.
The good news is that Madrid is a vibrant city with plenty to do. Parque del Retiro is a charming spot for a stroll, while the Archaeological museum is my favourite of Madrid’s museums and galleries. SBK dancers can also fly in early and head to one of the city’s many socials, including the queer LGTBailamos in the centre of the city.
Fancy extending your stay to see a bit more of Spain? From Madrid, you can catch a train south to see Andalusia, home of traditional Spanish culture. Watch street performers dance flamenco, wander through Moorish palaces and shelter from the sun under orange trees. Seville, Cordoba and Granada are particular highlights, although if it’s hot, you might prefer the historic sea port of Cadiz.
Alternatively, the castle towns of Toledo and Segovia make for excellent day trips from Madrid. They’re 30–60 minutes away by public transport, and both feel like you’re a fairy tale destination.
Or, to see a different side of Spain, try catching a train direct from Chamartín to explore the verdant mountains and dramatic coastlines of the north. It’s four to six hours from Madrid to Bilbao or Vigo, so allow for at least a weekend in these places.
Is Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress Worth Attending?
Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress is a fun and well-organised event. For beginner and improver-level Brazilian zouk dancers, it’s the perfect way to dip your toes into the world of congresses thanks to its beginner track and bachata room. For more advanced dancers, there are lots of teachers from Brazil and the US giving workshops and private classes, as well as the masterclasses, parties and Jack and Jills.
Bachata feels like an add-on in this congress, but there are still excellent teachers and DJs. This year, the line-up included DJ York, Antoni and Belen, and Miguel and Sunsire. I wouldn’t travel to Madrid just for the bachata room, but if I happened to be in the area, I’d consider it.
Whether Madrid Zouk Bachata Congress is worth attending really depends on how far you are from the event, as well as your budget. Since I’m just a five-hour train journey away, I’m sure I’ll return.
However, if you’re thinking of going, I highly recommend taking time off to attend the full event. With over 40% of the classes on the Friday, arriving after work doesn’t make sense for people who value workshops. And with the masterclasses finishing at 4pm on the Sunday, followed by the event’s longest party, leaving early would also be disappointing.
When most of us hear the word “zouk”, we automatically think of Brazilian zouk, where the follower displays beautiful circular Read more
Tanya is a social dancer and non-stop traveller who loves how dancing allows her to meet people no matter where she goes.
