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 The
traffic system in Madrid is complex and
demands careful planning if you are not
familiar with the city. Once you have
arrived, our main piece of advice is to
leave your car in a safe place and use
the public transport system. Although
Madrid is an important city both politically
and financially for the whole of Spain,
its road signs are just not good enough,
congestion is a major problem on access
roads during rush hours and holiday periods,
roadworks are seemingly never-ending and
parking in the city center is limited
and very expensive. Here is some advice
on driving in and around Madrid (see
google map below).
Driving on Madrid's ring roads (M-30)
(M-40) y (M-50). As well as these
three main ring roads there are also the
M-45, M-31, M-21 etc which are smaller
ring roads that allow you to travel to
different parts of the city without having
to cross through the middle of it. Furthermore
given Madrid's geographical position in
the centre of the country these ring roads
are necessary in order to travel between
different cities without having to cross
it (from Alicante to Vigo or Segovia to
Albacete for example). However driving
on these roads can be stressful because
of the high volume of traffic. Here are
a few useful tips to help you:
- M-30. Don't count on an easy
drive along the M 30 which stretches
for 33 kms around Madrid and is now
almost inside the city given that the
city has spread outwards since the ring
road was built. Apart from the density
of traffic - it is the busiest road
in Spain with approximately 600,000
cars using it everyday -much of it is
full of road works especially the southern
section around Ribera del río
Manzanares, Avenida de Portugal etc.
which is in the process of being renovated
and placed underground. The provisional
roads are deficient with confusing signs
and making it quite a dangerous drive
even for the most experienced driver.
- Madrid's other major ring roads
M-40, M-50... Bear in mind that
during the morning and afternoon rush
hours the circulation on these roads
can collapse for any reason like an
accident, road works, bad weather...
Give yourself plenty of extra time for
your journey if you are planning to
drive on one of these roads. (there
are often problems around Boadilla del
Monte in the morning rush hour and at
other points where there are companies
with a large workforces).
- Other roads that circle the city
(R-2, R-3, R-4, R-5) These are circular
roads with pay tolls which offer an
alternative road system to roads such
as the A-2, A-3, A-4, A-5 etc to travel
into the capital from the rest of Spain.
Being pay roads the density of traffic
is much less and you can get to certain
central points in the capital without
too much difficulty. They also offer
a good way of getting out of theMadrid.
In our opinion these roads should be
considered a priority especially if
you are travelling on days when traffic
jams are expected like the start of
the summer holiday or long bank holiday
weekends when many of Madrid's citizens
head elsewhere for a short break. See
our work calendar to find out more Calendario
Laboral 2007.
Traffic and driving in Madrid: Here
is some advice on driving within the capital
itself:
- The Paseo de la Castellana (See Paseo
de la Castellana en Google Maps) is
an easy way of getting your bearings
in the capital as it crosses from the
North to the South of the city. At its
most Southern point, it continues as
the Paseo del Pardo and later the Paseo
de las Delicias.
- Other important streets in Madrid
run parallel to the Paseo de la Castellana.
These are: Príncipe de Vergara,
Serrano, (East), Bravo Murillo- Santa
Engracia (West). Gran Vía, Sagasta,
Cea Bermúdez, Reina Victoria
(West) and O´Donnell- Alcalá,
Avenida de América (airport exit)
Costa Rica, (East) run perpendicular
to the Paseo de la Castellana.
- The centre of the old Madrid
consists of a complex maze of streets
and if you need to drive through this
area you should use the main roads that
cross it such as the Gran Vía.
- Driving around Madrid is complex if
you don't have a good sense of direction
and are not familiar with the city's
roads. You need to know when to turn
left or right in order to negotiate
the capital's main roads. Like in any
other major Spanish cities, drivers
can get very impatient, don't tolerate
cautious (or lost) drivers very well
- and can be expected to protest loudly
when behind a slow or unsure driver
(Spanish drivers can - and do - user
their horn at their will). So if you
do get lost, the best thing is to find
somewhere to stop, get clear instructions
and start again.
- Using a GPS can
be a great help in a city like Madrid,
except when there are road works and
diversions are in place.
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Road
travel in Spain
