© 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.

Metro de Madrid (Madrid Metro)

Tap a bank card or phone straight on the gate - no travel card to buy, though only gates with the marking accept it. There is no daily cap, and Metro says so in writing: heavy days call for a 10-trip or tourist ticket.

Updated on August 20, 2026

How to ride

  1. 1
    Decide between a ticket and just tapping a card
    To travel on a ticket, first buy a Multi card at a station machine; to pay by bank card, buy nothing at all.
  2. 2
    Load a single or a 10-trip ticket at the machine
    Metro fares always go onto a card - there is no paper ticket - and a single is valid only on the day you buy it.
  3. 3
    Tap in at a gate carrying the marking
    A bank card only opens gates that carry the marking; a Multi with a ticket on it works at any gate.
  4. 4
    Add the airport supplement if you are heading to the airport
    With a single, a Metrobús or a Combinado you need the airport supplement as well; a tourist pass does not.
  5. 5
    Leave on the same card and the same device
    Do not switch between card and phone part-way through; if you tapped in with a phone, keep it powered until you are out.

Fares

Single fares5

Single, metro zone A (loaded on a travel card)
Up to 5 stations 1,50 EUR; 6-9 stations add 0,10 EUR each; 10 or more, 2,00 EUR
1.5〜2 EUR ≈ $2
Bank card at the gate (zone A, promotional price)
Flat inside zone A only; leave it and the matching suburban single is billed. No end date announced.
1.5 EUR ≈ $2
Single, MetroNorte / MetroEste / MetroSur
The outer suburban sections beyond zone A; a 10-trip ticket for them costs 6,70 EUR
1.5 EUR ≈ $2
Single, TFM (line 9 towards Arganda)
The Puerta de Arganda to Arganda del Rey section; the 10-trip version costs 7,30 EUR
2 EUR ≈ $2
Combinado ticket (metro plus Metro Ligero)
Metro plus ML1, ML2, ML3 and TFM in one journey, finished within three hours; 10 trips cost 10,90 EUR
3 EUR ≈ $3

Passes & multi-ride3

Metrobús 10-trip ticket
Valid only in metro zone A, on EMT city buses and on Metro Ligero ML1
7.3 EUR ≈ $8
Tourist pass, zone A (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 7 days)
Six lengths, from 10,30 EUR for one day to 43,20 EUR for seven
10.3〜43.2 EUR ≈ $12–48
Tourist pass, zone T (whole region, 1-7 days)
Widens cover to the whole metro, all of Cercanías, ML2 and ML3 and the region's buses
15.4〜62.8 EUR ≈ $17–70

Card itself1

TTP Multi travel card
The holder your tickets sit on; buying a tourist pass includes the card price
2.5 EUR ≈ $3

Add-ons & fees1

Airport supplement (Suplemento Aeropuerto)
Added to a single, a Metrobús or a Combinado; it is not a ticket in itself and does not let you travel alone
3 EUR ≈ $3

Estimates use exchange rates as of November 3, 2026

Payment

Tap to ride
VISAMastercard
Only at gates carrying the marking; charges land the next day or later
Phone wallet
Phones and watches work too; a dead battery counts as having no ticket
Card payment at machines
Usable at the machines; the 5 EUR floor was scrapped in 2016
IC card
At the gates: Load a ticket onto a TTP Multi and tap it at the gate
App tickets
A virtual card cannot buy metro single tickets
In the wallet: CRTM's apps load tickets; the virtual card itself is Android-only
QR ticketing Unverified
At the gates: The gates read QR codes, but no QR ticket for visitors is confirmed
Paper tickets
At machines: There is no paper ticket; every fare goes onto a card
Cash
At machines: Accepted at the machines - the regulation assumes change is given

Quick facts

Hours
06:00-01:30 next day
Frequency
3-6 min at peak, 5-7.5 by day
Fares from
1.5 EUR+

Heads-up

  • Enter and leave on the same card and device

    Paying by bank card means using the same card and the same device on the way in and on the way out. A physical card and the same card loaded into a phone count as two different cards, and you must not mix a travel card and a bank card within one journey. Travelling several on one card means tapping once per person and staying together to the end. A phone that runs out of battery counts as having no ticket at all.

  • Three hours after you validate, you count as ticketless

    A ticket with a fixed number of rides gives you three hours inside the network from the moment you validate it; after that, simply being there counts as travelling without a ticket. Waiting for someone inside the barriers, or doubling back without leaving, is enough to catch you out on a single or a 10-trip ticket.

  • Your own e-scooter cannot enter the station or the train

    Your own electric scooter or unicycle cannot come into a metro station, let alone onto a train. The ban was extended to 2027 in 2024 and covers EMT buses, other towns' buses, the Metro Ligero lines, the Parla tram and the five big interchanges as well. Folding it up does not exempt you.

Timetable

Operating hours 06:00-01:30 next day
Typical duration Twelve lines plus the Ópera-Príncipe Pío shuttle, 291km and 242 stations, cover almost the whole city
Check the official site for the latest times and service status
Inside a train: the line's stations are posted beside the doors. Taken Mar 2025 © Carlitos Manuel Ronquillo Ordóñez・CC0
Editor Naotaka