© Jorge Fernández Salas・Unsplash License

Spain

Madrid

Spain's capital of grand museums and a royal palace. One of Europe's largest metro networks covers the city.

Madrid airport access (Aeropuerto Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas, MAD)

The metro adds a EUR 3.00 airport supplement to your ticket; only a tourist ticket or a Zone A pass escapes it. At night the answer is the 24-hour Expres Aeropuerto bus (flat EUR 5.00) - the one line no pass covers.

Updated on August 20, 2026

How to ride

  1. 1
    Pick what actually serves your terminal
    Metro line 8 and EMT bus 200 serve all terminals, Cercanias C-1 only T4, and bus 203 calls at T1, T2 and T4.
  2. 2
    For the metro, buy a card and a ticket
    Load a single and the airport supplement onto a Multi card. Aeropuerto T1-T2-T3 station has quick-sale machines for both.
  3. 3
    Or skip the queue and tap at the gate
    Hold a bank card to a marked gate and walk through. The supplement is billed later according to the trip you made.
  4. 4
    Tap out with the same card
    Do not exit with a different card or device. On Cercanias, a missed exit validation means the top fare.
  5. 5
    On the bus, you pay after boarding
    On line 203 pay the flat fare to the driver or validator, or buy it at the totem outside the terminal. Line 200 is the city fare.
  6. 6
    Take a taxi from the marked rank
    Ignore anyone offering a ride inside the terminal. Inside the M-30 ring the fare is fixed and no surcharge applies.

Fares

Single fares6

Metro single, Zone A
The price moves with the number of stations, and an airport station needs the EUR 3.00 supplement on top.
1.5〜2 EUR ≈ $2
Metro fare when you tap a bank card
A promotional rate that started on 1 June 2026, with no end date announced. The EUR 3.00 supplement is extra.
1.5 EUR ≈ $2
Expres Aeropuerto (line 203)
Bought on board, or at the totems outside the T1, T2 and T4 exits and at Atocha. No pass or tourist ticket.
5 EUR ≈ $6
EMT bus 200 and 101
The normal city fare, with no airport supplement, and both tourist tickets and Metrobus are valid.
1.5 EUR ≈ $2
Cercanias single, 1-2 zones
T4 only. Central Madrid and T4 are Zone A. AVE and long-distance tickets ride free once exchanged; not Avlo.
1.7 EUR ≈ $2
Fixed taxi fare (airport to inside the M-30)
Applies 24 hours a day all year, and no surcharge or booking fee may be added to it.
33 EUR ≈ $37

Passes & multi-ride1

Tourist ticket (Billete Turistico), Zone A
From EUR 10.30 for one day to EUR 43.20 for seven, and no airport supplement is needed.
10.3〜43.2 EUR ≈ $12–48

Card itself1

TTP Multi card
The card that singles and 10-trip tickets sit on. Buy a tourist ticket and its price is included.
2.5 EUR ≈ $3

Add-ons & fees1

Airport supplement (Suplemento Aeropuerto)
Needed to enter or leave an airport station on a single or 10-trip ticket. It is not a ticket by itself.
3 EUR ≈ $3

Estimates use exchange rates as of November 3, 2026

Payment

Tap to ride Both airport metro stations, Cercanias at T4, and EMT buses
Gates without the marking will not let you through on a bank card
VISAMastercard
Only at marked gates and on-board validators, and no ticket purchase is needed.
Phone wallet
Phones and watches work too, but count as a different card from the plastic one.
IC card
At the gates: A EUR 2.50 Multi card carries the single and the airport supplement.
App tickets
Metro and bus singles cannot be bought onto a virtual card
Mi Tarjeta Transporte
At the gates: The virtual card is Android-only; on iPhone you can only top up a physical card.
Cash
At machines: Neither Metro's machines nor EMT's totems say whether they take cash. On board: On EMT buses only, and line 203 gives change up to EUR 20.

Quick facts

Hours
24 h (airport bus)
Frequency
Airport bus every 15-20 min, 35 min overnight
Fares from
1.5 EUR+

Heads-up

  • Singles and airport supplements die at the end of the day

    A metro single and its airport supplement are only good on the day you buy them, so buying the night before does not work - the gate will stop you in the morning. Only a single loaded after midnight lasts until the end of the following day.

  • Do not go with anyone offering a taxi inside the terminal

    Aena, the airport operator, tells passengers outright to avoid them. Official taxis queue at the signed ranks outside arrivals and are white with a red stripe and the city coat of arms on the doors.

  • If you tapped with a phone, keep it alive until you are out

    If you tap in on a nearly flat phone and it dies mid-journey, an inspection treats you as having no ticket. Metro recommends tapping with the physical card, and you cannot mix the card and the phone within one journey.

Timetable

Operating hours 24 h (airport bus)
Typical duration 30-40 minutes to Atocha station on the airport bus
Check the official site for the latest times and service status
Editor Naotaka