Golf in Madrid at Christmas and New Year: Which Days Play and How to Plan Them
The two weeks around Christmas are the longest holiday most golfers get all year. And at home, the course is frozen, waterlogged or playing to temporary greens.
So the idea comes up at the dinner table in October: what if we went somewhere and played? Not a coastal resort with a buffet on Christmas Eve. Somewhere with a city, lights and a proper dinner, where the family wants to come too.
Golf in Madrid at Christmas does exactly that. The catch is not the weather. It is the Spanish festive calendar, which nobody explains until you are standing at a closed clubhouse on the morning of the 25th. Here is how it works, and how to plan a festive week that actually plays.
Can you play golf in Madrid at Christmas?
Yes. Madrid is one of the most reliable winter golf cities in Europe: dry, often sunny, and with good courses a short drive from the centre.
What changes over the holidays is the calendar, not the golf. Spain has three public holidays in the festive fortnight, plus two evenings that matter more than any holiday. Clubs set their own festive opening hours, and they usually publish them late.
The answer is to build the golf around the days that work, and keep the big dates for the city. Done that way, three or four rounds in a week fit comfortably.
The Spanish festive calendar that matters for golf
These are the dates for the 2026 to 2027 season in Madrid. The public holidays are taken from the official regional calendar.
| Date | What it is in Spain | What it means for your golf |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 7 and Tue 8 December | Public holidays (Constitution Day, moved from Sunday, and the Immaculate Conception) | A long weekend for Madrid golfers. Courses are busy; book early if you travel then. |
| Thu 24 December | Nochebuena, Christmas Eve. Not a public holiday, but the family evening of the year | A morning round can work. Everything winds down in the afternoon. |
| Fri 25 December | Public holiday | The day most likely to see clubs closed or on reduced hours. Plan it as a city day. |
| Sat 26 December | Ordinary day in Spain (no Boxing Day) | A normal golf day, and a popular one. |
| Thu 31 December | Nochevieja, New Year’s Eve | Morning golf is possible. The night belongs to the city. |
| Fri 1 January | Public holiday | Treat it like the 25th: a rest day, a late lunch, no tee time. |
| Wed 6 January | Epiphany, public holiday. The parade of the Three Kings is the evening before | Another day to check with each club before you count on it. |
Two things surprise visitors. There is no Boxing Day in Spain, so the 26th is a working day and a good one for golf. And the 6th of January is a bigger family day here than in most of northern Europe, which matters if you are staying into the New Year.
Whether a particular course opens on a particular holiday is the club’s decision, made each season. We do not assume it. We confirm it for your dates before anything is booked.
Thinking of Madrid for Christmas or New Year? Send us your dates, how many golfers and non-golfers are coming, and how many rounds you would like. We will check which courses play on which days and send you a festive week with the tee times, a central hotel and the transfers in one plan. Ask us to check your festive dates.
What December weather means for a round
Madrid in December is cold first thing and pleasant by lunchtime. AEMET, the Spanish weather agency, puts the average daytime maximum in the city at around 10°C, with roughly 124 hours of sunshine across the month. That is about four hours of sun a day, in the shortest days of the year.
The variable is frost, not rain. Clear nights on the plateau leave the grass frozen, and clubs hold the first tee times until it lifts. That is why we book December rounds from mid-morning by default. Our guide to what happens to a Madrid golf trip when the weather turns goes into the detail.
Daylight is the other limit. The sun rises around half past eight and sets before six. One round a day is the rhythm, and it suits a holiday: golf in the late morning, lunch, then the city as the lights come on.
A festive week that plays: one way to shape it
This is an outline, not a fixed package. Exact courses depend on what each club confirms for the dates.
Day 1, 26 December: arrive
Land, transfer to a central hotel, walk under the lights. No golf on arrival day in winter; the afternoon is too short to enjoy it.
Day 2, 27 December: Centro Nacional de Golf
Centro Nacional de Golf sits inside the city limits, so the first round starts without a motorway. If a frosty morning pushes the tee time back, the afternoon still holds. It is also the course we can most easily move later in the week if needed.
Day 3, 28 December: Golf Santander
The big round of the week. Golf Santander, west of the city in Boadilla del Monte, is a championship-standard course in a quiet setting, and in the dead days between Christmas and New Year it feels a long way from the city noise. This is the round that gets talked about at dinner on the 31st.
Day 4, 29 December: the city
A free day on purpose. Museums, markets, a long lunch. It is also the buffer if the weather took a round earlier in the week.
Day 5, 30 December: a third course
Depending on availability and the group, Golf La Dehesa or RACE in the north, or Real Club de Golf La Herrería below the monastery of El Escorial. La Herrería in December is beautiful, but it sits at the foot of the mountains and frost lasts longer there, so it suits a later start.
Day 6, 31 December: optional morning round
For the keen ones, a short morning back at Centro Nacional. For everyone else, a slow day before the longest night of the Spanish year.
Day 7, 1 January: rest, then home or onwards
Nobody in Madrid is doing much on the morning of the 1st. Neither should you.
Shorter trip? Our three-day plan for golf and the city shows how two rounds and a weekend fit together.
Why the family says yes
The golf is the reason you go. The city is the reason everyone else agrees to come.
Madrid’s Christmas lights usually go up in late November and stay until Epiphany. The Christmas market in the Plaza Mayor fills the old square. On 31 December, the city gathers at the Puerta del Sol for the twelve chimes at midnight, one grape on each. And on the evening of 5 January, the parade of the Three Kings goes through the centre, followed the next morning by the roscón, the ring-shaped cake every Spanish family eats on the 6th.
For anyone who does not play, every afternoon has a plan. Our guide to golf in Madrid when your partner doesn’t play covers the rest of the week.
The dinners need booking too
On the 24th and 31st, many Madrid restaurants serve a set menu and fill weeks in advance. Some close altogether on the 24th. If a proper dinner is part of why you are coming, it belongs in the plan alongside the tee times, not on a list for when you arrive.
Which Madrid courses fit a festive week
Centro Nacional de Golf and Golf Santander are the base of almost every festive week we would suggest. One is in the city and flexible; the other is the round worth the trip.
Around them, the choice depends on the group. La Dehesa and RACE add variety in the north. La Herrería adds a day of landscape and history. Real Golf La Moraleja and Real Sociedad Hípica Española Club de Campo are the historic clubs many visitors ask about. Access for visitors at these clubs depends on each club’s rules and on the dates, and over the holidays that is even more true. We ask; we do not promise.
Staying central and leaving the driving to someone else also matters more in December than at any other time. Short days and festive traffic are not a good mix with a hire car. Our guide to golf in Madrid without a car explains how transfers work.
Why a Christmas golf trip is decided in October
Festive dates are the first to go. Madrid golfers are on holiday too, so weekend and holiday-adjacent tee times are in demand. Central hotels fill for New Year. The restaurants that do the 24th and 31st properly are booked long before December.
There is also less room to fix things late. With fewer playable days, a missing tee time cannot simply move to tomorrow. Planning in October means the week is built around what is confirmed, not around what is left. For other times of year, our guide on how far in advance to book golf in Madrid has the timings.
Frequently asked questions
Are golf courses in Madrid open on Christmas Day?
It depends on the club and the year. The 25th is a public holiday and the day most likely to see courses closed or on reduced hours. We confirm each club’s festive opening for your dates before booking and plan the 25th as a city day unless a course is confirmed.
Is 26 December a holiday in Spain?
No. Spain does not have Boxing Day, so the 26th is an ordinary day and usually a good one for golf.
What is the weather like for golf in Madrid in December?
Cold mornings, often with frost, and mild, sunny middays. AEMET puts the average December maximum in Madrid at around 10°C. Mid-morning tee times avoid most frost delays.
How many rounds can we play in a week over Christmas?
Three or four is realistic, at one round a day from mid-morning, with the 25th and 1st kept free. Keen golfers can add a short morning round on the 24th or 31st where the club confirms it.
Is Madrid a good Christmas trip for non-golfers?
Very. The lights, the Plaza Mayor market, the museums and New Year’s Eve at the Puerta del Sol give every afternoon and evening a plan, which is rarely true of a golf resort in winter.
When should we book golf in Madrid for Christmas and New Year?
As early as you can, ideally in October. Festive tee times, central hotels and the set dinners on the 24th and 31st are the first things to fill.
Plan your festive week in Madrid
You already know your dates. They are the ones your work gives you. What you need is to know those dates play.
Tell us when you are coming, how many golfers and non-golfers are travelling, and how many rounds you would like. We will check which courses open on which days and send you one plan with the tee times, a central hotel, transfers and a note on which dinners on the 24th and 31st are worth booking early. You arrive; the week is already built.