The festival was presented this Wednesday at Zaragoza City Hall with the participation of Urban Planning, Infrastructure, Energy and Housing Councillor Víctor Serrano and Open House Zaragoza director José Javier Gallardo. Serrano highlighted the involvement of “almost 150 people behind” this third edition and defended the festival’s ability to turn urban planning and architecture into a cultural initiative open to the public.
“Open House Zaragoza has the virtue of knowing how to create a cultural and educational festival from the technical and urban-planning sphere,” Serrano said, citing as an example the opportunity to get a close look at facilities as different as the Bank of Spain and the warehouses of the Municipal Architecture Brigades. For the councillor, awakening younger generations’ curiosity about experiencing their own city firsthand should become a “distinctive feature.”
FROM A HIDDEN CRYPT TO THE AIR BASE’S F-18s
Among the spaces opening their doors is one of the most unusual: the crypt beneath La Seo’s Parroquieta. The initiative is part of a new Mudéjar Route that also includes the Aljafería, the Monastery of the Canonesses of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of San Pablo, offering a combined approach to Zaragoza’s Mudéjar heritage.
The visit to Zaragoza Air Base will be very different, allowing participants to see the facilities of Wings 15 and 31 and view aircraft such as F-18s and A400Ms. The tour will also reach Hangar H6 of Wing 31, one of the largest in Europe and capable of working on two A400Ms simultaneously. This year also sees the addition of the new Emergency Helicopter Base of the Government of Aragon in Villanueva de Gállego.
The program will also allow visitors to enter the construction site of the Water Tower, see from inside how work on the New Romareda is progressing and discover the Bank of Spain building for the first time. They will be joined by the Pasaje del Ciclón, the Bridge Pavilion, the Hiberus Hotel, the warehouses of the Municipal Brigades and the former Convent of the Minim Fathers of La Victoria, now converted into a fire station and museum.
For Gallardo, this is precisely one of Open House’s key aims: showing what usually remains outside the everyday view. The festival director explained that the initiative seeks to provide an educational perspective both on hidden spaces and on familiar buildings with a less visible dimension, helping people better understand how Zaragoza has been built and transformed.
CINEMA, EDUARDO NORIEGA AND A TRIBUTE TO MIGUEL ÁNGEL LAMATA
The third edition will also premiere FILMOHZ 2026, the first Open House Zaragoza International Short Film Festival, which will take place on Saturday the 26th at CaixaForum. Twelve short films related to architecture and the city will be screened, with a session at 11:00 a.m. presented by Dani Calavera and a gala at 7:00 p.m. hosted by Javier Vázquez.
One of its highlights will be a tribute to Zaragoza filmmaker Miguel Ángel Lamata, director of films such as Los futbolísimos and Nuestros amantes. Gallardo explained that the filmmaker was chosen because of his “special relationship with Zaragoza, a city he has chosen on several occasions as the setting for his films.” Actor Eduardo Noriega will present him with the Honor Award.
The program also includes activities that go beyond visits, from tours of the funerary Modernism of Torrero Cemetery and along the Gállego River to micro-theater at the Patio de la Infanta and nighttime experiences. The Hiberus Hotel will also host an event featuring a cocktail dinner, a DJ, vertical dance, music, poetry and video mapping, while the closing ceremony will take place in San Bruno Square with percussion and projections onto the façades.
The vast majority of reservations for Open House Zaragoza 2026 have already sold out, although places are still available for some options.
