The first thing you pay for in Madrid is not a journey. The network run by the Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid issues no paper tickets at all, so the fare has to sit on a card that costs money of its own. The one to ask for is the Tarjeta Transporte Público Multi, at €2.50 from any metro machine, free when bought with the Abono Turístico, and able to hold three non-personal tickets at once. Everyone in the group needs one.
Do you have to buy a card to travel on the Madrid metro? Yes. Fares load onto a card sold separately. The anonymous Multi card costs €2.50, comes free with the Tourist Travel Pass, and is sold from Metro machines and tobacconists with no appointment. The personal card costs €4.00 and needs one. Neither price includes any travel.
The Tarjeta Transporte Público is the contactless card that Madrid fares are loaded onto, and it comes in versions that do not accept the same tickets. Picking the wrong one does not cost a few cents; it puts whole fare types out of reach, because the 30-day season ticket cannot be loaded onto an anonymous card at any price.
Buy it at the airport, then read the fare rules
Arriving passengers meet this rule at the worst moment, in a queue at Barajas, so it helps to know the sequence in advance.
The machines in the airport metro stations sell the Multi card and load a ticket onto it in the same transaction. What catches people is the separate €3.00 airport supplement, a distinct title that has to be bought alongside a single or a ten-journey ticket, explained in the Madrid airport metro supplement. The Abono Turístico is the exception, since the supplement is already inside it.
One card per traveller, always
This is the assumption most worth unlearning, particularly for anyone used to tapping a bank card in London or a shared travelcard elsewhere.
The Multi is anonymous and can be handed to someone else between journeys, but two people cannot travel on it at the same time. Each traveller taps their own card at the barrier, so a couple buys two and a family of four buys four. The €2.50 is a one-off, since the card is rechargeable and does not expire on its own, which makes it worth keeping in a drawer for a return trip.
The four cards and what each one accepts
The deciding difference is the paperwork rather than the price. Two of these can be had on the spot and two cannot.
| Card | Issue cost | Where | Appointment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarjeta Azul | n/a | Madrid city council | n/a |
| Tarjeta Transporte Público Infantil | Free | Consortium management offices | n/a |
| Tarjeta Transporte Público Personal | €4.00 | Consortium offices, or online | Yes, for a first application |
| Tarjeta Transporte Público Multi | €2.50, free with the Tourist Travel Pass | Metro and Metro Ligero machines, tobacconists | No |
The Multi takes up to three non-personal tickets, meaning singles, ten-journey tickets and tourist passes. The Personal takes one personal season ticket plus two non-personal tickets, or three non-personal ones. The Infantil covers children from age 4 until the day they turn 7. The Tarjeta Azul is issued by the city council for a 30-day pass covering Metro zone A, the EMT buses and Metro Ligero ML1, at a current title fare of €3.70.
What the anonymous card will not take
The limit here is a category rather than a cost, which is why paying more does not get round it.
The 30-day season ticket and the Abono Joven are personal titles and will not load onto a Multi. The system simply does not issue them onto an anonymous card. Anyone wanting one needs the Personal card, its appointment and its proof of residence, covered in how Madrid’s transport zones work.
Why €2.50 can flip a price comparison
Card cost usually gets left out of the sums, and where the margin is narrow that omission reverses the answer.
The Tourist Travel Pass includes the Multi at no charge, so its list price is its final price. The 30-day season ticket needs the €4.00 personal card that a visitor does not own, and that has to be paid the first time. Adding it, the zone A season ticket goes from €32.70 to €36.70 up front, which lands above the five-day tourist pass rather than below it. The full working is in whether the Madrid tourist travel pass is worth it.
Which ticket to load on top
The card sets which fares are available to you; it does not change what any of them costs.
A metro single runs €1.50 to €2.00 depending on the number of stations and an EMT bus fare is €1.50, set out in what a Madrid metro ticket costs and Madrid public transport tickets explained. For a late return, the constraint is the metro’s own closing time rather than the ticket, covered in when the Madrid metro closes, and a short-trip budget with these figures already in it is in a Madrid weekend budget.
Frequently asked questions about the Madrid Multi card
Do you need a card to use the Madrid metro?
Yes. The network issues no paper tickets, so every fare is loaded onto a contactless card bought separately. The anonymous Multi card is the one a visitor can buy on arrival, from a machine, with no appointment and no paperwork.
How much is the Madrid Multi card?
Issuing it costs €2.50 when bought on its own, and nothing at all when bought together with the Tourist Travel Pass. That price covers the card only. Whatever fare you load on top is charged separately, starting at €1.50 for a single.
Can two people share one Multi card?
Not for travelling together. The card is anonymous and transferable, but each person has to tap through the barrier with one, so a family of four buys four cards even when everyone is using the same type of ticket.
Where can you buy a Multi card in Madrid?
From ticket machines in Metro and Metro Ligero stations, including the ones at Barajas airport, and from authorised tobacconists. No appointment is needed, which is the practical difference from the personal card.
Does the Multi card expire or need renewing?
The card itself is rechargeable and has no expiry of its own, so it is worth keeping between trips. What expires is whatever ticket sits on it, and the current discounted fares run only to 31 December 2026.
Work out the card first, because the card decides which fares exist for you.