🇪🇸 Madrid · Getting around

Transport and the shape of the city in Madrid

One of the best metro systems in Europe, a single travel card that covers everything, and a monthly pass that makes living outside the centre genuinely cheap.

Get started in Madrid

The thing people get wrongThe Abono Joven is the detail nobody tells arrivals: anyone aged 15 to 25 pays €10 a month for the entire region, all zones, while the current discounts run to 31 December 2026, and under-15s and over-65s travel free. If you qualify, the transport decision and the housing decision uncouple completely.

Indicative figures

  • Monthly abono, Zone A€32.70Ages 26 to 64, with the 40% discount running to 31 December 2026.
  • Abono Joven, 15 to 25€10/monthAll zones, same discount period.
  • Ten-journey ticket€7.30Metro, EMT and ML1, zone A.
  • Under 15 and over 65FreeOn a personal transport card.
  • Airport taxi, inside the M-30€33Fixed fare, 24 hours, no supplements.
  • Airport to centre~30 minMetro line 8, plus a €3 supplement off-abono.

Checked . Ranges, not quotes — your Insider confirms the current numbers in Madrid before you commit to anything.

The Tarjeta Transporte Público

One contactless card carries your monthly abono or a ten-journey ticket and works across Metro de Madrid, EMT buses, the light rail and Cercanías. Monthly abonos are personal, valid for thirty days from first use rather than the calendar month, and priced by zone: A covers the city, B1 to B3 the rings of surrounding towns. With the 40 per cent discount extended to 31 December 2026, zone A is €32.70 a month, B1 €38.20 and B2 €43.20. The personal card is requested online or at an oficina de gestión and takes days to arrive, so use the €7.30 ten-journey ticket on a multi card for the first week.

  • Zone A covers the whole city including the airport, with a €3 supplement at the airport metro stations for anyone not on an abono.
  • The Abono Joven, for 15 to 25s, is €10 a month for every zone.
  • Children under 15 and adults over 65 travel free on a personal card in their name.
  • Single metro tickets run from €1.50 to €2.00 by number of stations; the €7.30 ten-journey ticket is far better value.
  • What happens to the discounts after December 2026 is decided late in the year, so do not budget on them lasting.

Metro, bus and Cercanías

The metro is dense, frequent and clean, and covers the city far better than most European systems of its size. EMT buses fill the gaps and run a night network, the búhos, radiating from Cibeles. Cercanías, the Renfe suburban rail network, is what makes commuting from the surrounding towns viable and connects Atocha and Chamartín to the airport and the region.

  • Metro runs roughly 06:00 to 01:30; there is no night metro, but the búho buses cover it.
  • Cercanías is on the same abono, so an outer-zone flat on a Cercanías line is often the best value in the region.
  • Chamartín and Atocha are the long-distance rail hubs; the AVE reaches most of Spain from them.

Driving and the low-emission zone

Madrid's low-emission zone now covers the whole municipality, with access decided by the DGT environmental label, and stricter special-protection zones in the Centro and around Plaza Elíptica. Cars with no label are barred citywide and fined €200, or €100 if paid within twenty days. Owners registered in Madrid and paying the city's vehicle tax have had a run of moratoria and air-quality-linked exemptions, and the rules for them have been rewritten more than once, so check the current position with the Ayuntamiento before relying on one. Street parking in the centre uses the SER scheme, largely reserved for residents with a permit tied to the padrón. Between restrictions and parking, a car in the centre is a burden rather than a convenience.

  • Vehicles need a DGT environmental label; one with no label is excluded across the city, and inside Centro a non-resident's B or C car may only drive to a public car park.
  • SER resident parking permits are tied to your registered address.
  • Check the current zone rules before buying or importing a car — they have been revised repeatedly.

Bikes, scooters and the airport

BiciMAD is the city's electric bike-share and works well on Madrid's uneven gradients, and cycle infrastructure is improving but is still patchy outside the centre. Barajas airport is on metro line 8 and on Cercanías line C-1, both direct and fast, with a supplement on the metro fare. Taxis to the airport from inside the M-30 run on a fixed flat fare, which removes the usual argument.

  • Barajas: metro line 8 from Nuevos Ministerios, or Cercanías C-1 from Chamartín and Atocha.
  • Airport metro journeys carry a supplement on top of the normal fare or abono.
  • The airport taxi fare to or from anywhere inside the M-30 is a fixed €33, day or night, with no supplements.