Hi Esperanza --
I am fairly certain that even the Corte Inglés will be closed on that day. However, you might want to contact them as sometimes, the large shopping centers have different hours. Send an email to servicio_clientes@elcorteingles.es explaining your predicament. They might have a solution for you.
Another place you may want to consider (if the Prado and Corte Inglés are indeed closed) is
Madrid Xanadú which is just on the outskirts of the city. It is accessible by metro via the recently opened
Metro Sur loop of the metro. The claim of this shopping center is that it is open 365 days of the year. However, having just looked at the website, I am not certain as in small print it said that the "zona de ocio" is open until 4am the day before holidays.
You will score big points with your students as it is home to the Parque de Nieve... the largest artificial indoor ski park in Europe. I have yet to go to Xanadú myself, but have many friends that have gone and rave about it. The website is very comprehensive...so give it look.
As far as scavenger hunt ideas... I will dig around to find the list of things that I sent my students looking for and send it to you. Off the top of my head...
1. ¿cuánto cuesta una caña en (local bar...you can use Museo de Jamón since there are many locations). You might want to change caña for café con leche.
2. ¿qué es una lombarda y donde puedes comprar una? (edit note: I am so embarrassed!! :o )
3. ¿cuánto cuesta enviar un postal a los EEUU?
4. ¿Donde está la parada del metro más cercano?
5. ¿Qué es un polideportivo y donde está lo más cercano?
6. (I had the students do my grocery shopping at the local market... ha ha ha!)...I gave them a simple shopping list of fruits/vegetables and cold cuts and suffient money. They had to go to the local market (not supermarket) and ask and pay for each of the things on the list (4 manzanas, 1 kilo de tomates, 100 gramos de piñones, 250 gramos de jamón cocido sin sal, 500 gramos de chorizo blanco, etc). Since it was an intermediate level group, it was a great work out on their basic vocabulary and numbers....all in a very noisy and chaotic atmosphere.
For the questions regarding locations, I provided the students with a simple street map of the area close to my offices and they had to go out, find a local who could explain it to them and indicate it on the map. The students had to write out the instructions.
One of the things that I do with my English students is an internet scavenger hunt. It gives them skills in surfing in English and gets them familiar with using search strategies in English to find what they are looking for easier. I haven´t tried it with Spanish students yet, but assume that the inverse would be true as well. For example, things that they could find ...
1. una foto del primer ministro de España
2. página web de Real Madrid
3. Give them a website for
El Corte Inglés ,
Carrefour or
Ikea Spain and tell them to find the prices of a series of products.
Anyway...just some other ideas that you can use with your students both in Spain and in the States.