At a concert with a standing floor, the Movistar Arena —formerly the WiZink Center, and before that the Palacio de los Deportes— holds up to 17,453 people. That is the figure published by the Comunidad de Madrid, the regional government that owns the building. What changes from one concert to the next is the setup: how much floor is opened, where the stage goes and how much of the stands is put on sale.
This guide covers exactly that: how many people will be around you, what area you have actually bought and which gate you have to use.
Capacity: how many people fit, by setup
The arena does not have one capacity, it has several. The first tier of seating is telescopic —it retracts or extends over the floor— and the rest are fixed, so the same building changes size from one concert to the next.
- Standing floor: the big setup, the one for tours that sell out. The 17,453 figure comes from here: a standing crowd on the floor plus the full stands.
- Ring and Ring Plus: the reduced formats the venue itself advertises, for concerts that do not need the whole arena. If yours uses one of them, only part of the venue is used and it feels much smaller.
- All seated: when the floor has seats instead of a standing crowd, fewer people fit than with a standing floor. The venue does not publish a fixed figure for this setup, because it depends on each tour’s stage.
Capacity is changing in 2026
The venue has an approved new safety plan that raises the concert maximum to 20,008 people, and its website already mentions a current capacity of “more than 18,000”. The works are being done in phases, without closing the arena. Until the new figure applies to every concert, what counts for your night is what is on sale for your date.
Floor, front stage and stands: what you have bought
Almost every big concert is sold with the same scheme, although the exact name of each area is set by the promoter:
- General floor: standing and unnumbered. Your spot depends on when you arrive, not on your ticket.
- Front stage: the front part of the floor, right by the stage. It is a separate, more expensive ticket than general floor, and also standing. Inside the front stage, same rule: whoever arrives first is at the front.
- Stands: numbered, with section, row and seat. Ticket sites sell them by category —PL1, PL2, PL3…— which are price tiers, from most to least expensive. The category alone does not tell you where you are: the section and row printed on the ticket do.
- VIP boxes: booked separately, with their own gates.
A venue rule worth knowing before you buy: if any seats have restricted or side-on views, the organiser is required to state it on the ticket. If yours does not, it should not be a restricted-view seat.
Before you choose a seat
The Movistar Arena has an official 3D virtual view where you pick section, row and seat and see the approximate view of the stage. It is only a guide —every tour sets up differently— but it stops you buying blind.
Hours on your feet
What you notice in the second hour
Standing on the floor, footwear rules. What starts as a rub in the second hour is a blister by the fourth. An anti-chafing stick in your bag, applied before you leave, is the difference between staying for the encore and limping to the metro.
And your ears, which are what you carry into the next day. A set of filtering earplugs like the Loop Experience 2 — 17 dB with high-fidelity reduction, according to their listing — takes the volume down without turning the music off.
Some links in this guide are affiliate links.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
What you see from each area
Tap a section of the plan to see the tip: view, exit and atmosphere.
Movistar Arena seating map
Tap a section to see the view, how you get out and the atmosphere.
No section selected. The map is schematic: it helps you understand where you land and which way you will exit, not pick an exact seat.
Every section, in detail
Front stage
The strip of floor right in front of the stage. Sold separately and pricier, and also standing and unnumbered: inside the front stage, whoever arrives first is at the front. It is the hardest area to get out of, because the whole floor is between you and the doors. If your tour does not sell a front stage, this is general floor.
Floor
Standing and unnumbered: what you get depends on when you arrive, not on your ticket. From halfway back you still see the stage well and you get out much sooner. Wheelchairs and crutches are not allowed on the floor: with reduced mobility, your ticket is in the stands.
Goya end
The stand facing the stage head-on, on the Calle Goya side. It is the furthest from the stage, but the only one that sees the show straight on, with no sound towers in the way. That side lets you out straight towards Goya metro: convenient, and exactly why that is where the queue builds up at the end.
Fuente del Berro side
Side stand on the Calle Fuente del Berro side. You see the stage in profile, and the closer you are to it, the more side-on: avoid the front rows right by the stage, which sit almost under the sound towers. The advantage is the exit: you are on the opposite side from Goya, handier for O'Donnell (L6), which is far less used.
Felipe II side
Side stand on the Avenida de Felipe II side, the main façade and the one with the box office. Same side-on view as the opposite stand and the same rule: avoid the front rows by the stage. On the way out that whole pavement heads to Goya; if you want the metro without a queue, walk to O'Donnell (L6) or ten minutes to Príncipe de Vergara.
Upper tier
The top ring, wrapping both sides and the Goya end. Distant, with the sound bouncing off the roof, but the atmosphere is usually the best in the arena. The problem is getting out: every upper tier empties down the same stairs and that is where the bottleneck forms. If you are in a hurry, start heading down during the last encore.
If the stage is in the centre (360º format), there is no “behind the stage” end: every stand faces the stage and the sides stop being the worse option.
Gates: which one is yours
You do not choose the gate. It is printed on your ticket and depends on the area you bought; on the day of the concert the venue also posts an image with the gate allocation on its social media. These are the gates by street, according to the official map:
And the gates with a specific role:
- 14 and 15 (Goya): reduced-mobility entrance.
- 28 and 29 (Goya) and 73 (Felipe II): VIP boxes.
- 56 (Jorge Juan): premium seats.
- 36 (Fuente del Berro): this is La Sala, the venue’s small room, with its own entrance. If your concert is in the main arena, that is not your gate.
Two house rules that affect your arrival: once the concert has started the doors stay open until 15 minutes before the end, and if you leave you cannot get back in unless the event says otherwise. For a taxi or satnav, the venue recommends Jorge Juan, 99 or Goya, 90 as the destination.
Reduced mobility
The venue has a reserved area on level 0, at street level, with step-free access. What you need to know:
- You buy the specific reduced-mobility ticket, plus a single companion ticket, which is placed in the adjoining seat.
- At the entrance you must show a disability certificate with a positive mobility assessment, or be a wheelchair user. Without it, that ticket does not get you in.
- Wheelchairs and crutches are not allowed on the floor. With a stand ticket you can get in, at your own responsibility.
- There are lifts in cores A and C, at the corners of Goya with Fuente del Berro and Goya with Lombia, and accessible toilets in section 4, at the corner of Goya and Felipe II.
- If there are more than two of you, the venue suggests buying the rest in level 0, section 4, row 9 or section 11, row 11, the seats closest to the reserved area.
Cloakroom and storage
There is a cloakroom and outdoor storage at €2 per garment or item, but it is not left luggage. What gets in, what does not and where to leave a suitcase is in the bag rules and storage guide.
Summary, if you only read one thing
Up to 17,453 people with a standing floor. The floor is unnumbered and the front stage is its front part, paid for separately. Your gate is on the ticket: check it before you leave home, because the arena has entrances on four different streets.