Meeting point and introduction to the tour. Here we will start talking about Madrid at the beginning of the 20th century, the attack against Alfonso XIII and Victoria Eugenia and the climate of political and social tension that serves as a context for Bohemian Lights. We will also introduce Valle-Inclán, Max Estrella and the general concept of the tour.

In this stop we will know one of the scenarios of the Madrid of the Austrias linked to the historical atmosphere of the tour. The guide will explain the importance of the environment in the construction of the literary and bohemian Madrid of Valle-Inclán, as well as its relationship with the attack of 1906 and the urban memory of the city.

In front of Casa Ciriaco we will approach the Madrid of chats, coffees and bohemians that surrounded Valle-Inclán. Here the traveler will discover how the real city and the literary city begin to mix, and how the atmosphere of the early twentieth century fueled the universe of Bohemian Lights.

In the heart of historic Madrid we will talk about power, institutions and the official city that contrasts with the marginal and bohemian world of Max Estrella. This stop helps to understand how Valle-Inclán turns Madrid into an arena full of social criticism, politics and theatricality.

At this stop we will evoke the “Modernist Buñolería” of Bohemian Lights and the cultural atmosphere of the end of the century. The guide will explain the relationship between modernism, decadentism, literary cafes and bohemian Madrid, as well as the role of figures such as Ruben Darío and Alejandro Sawa in the Valleinclanesco universe.

In the surroundings of the old Café de la Montaña we will remember Madrid with talks, intellectual discussions and literary provocation. Here the guide will explain the public figure of Valle-Inclán, the famous history of the loss of its arm and the importance of cafes as spaces for creation, debate and cultural legend.

This is the most emblematic stop on the tour. In front of Cat Alley we will discover the meaning of concave and convex mirrors and their relationship with the sperm. The traveler will understand how Valle-Inclán deformed reality to denounce it and why this place sums up the essence of Bohemian Lights like no other.

In Plaza de Santa Ana we will approach the theatrical Madrid and the scenic renovation of the 20th century. The guide will explain Valle-Inclán’s relationship with the avant-garde and its link with other playwrights and cultural spaces in the city, in a key environment to understand the continuity of Spanish theater.

In front of the Spanish Theatre we will talk about the Madrid theatre tradition and how Valle-Inclán dialogues with authors such as Cervantes, Calderón and Lorca. This stop allows us to understand that esperpento does not come out of nowhere, but transforms and updates the great Spanish scenic tradition with a critical, grotesque and modern look.

The tour ends in the vicinity of the Cinema Doré, where we will close the experience talking about the modernity of Valle-Inclán and the almost cinematic dimension of Lights of Bohemian. Here the traveler will discover how the rhythm, scene changes and visual force of the work anticipate narrative resources that will later be developed by the cinema.