New Year’s Eve at Puerta del Sol is Madrid’s free public countdown under the Real Casa de Correos clock, capped at 15,000 people and with no tickets to buy. Spain watches these chimes on television, and the custom is to eat one grape on each of the twelve strokes of midnight. In 2025 Madrid City Council cleared the square at 9pm and let people back in from 10pm through Calle Mayor, Calle del Arenal, Calle de Alcalá and Carrera de San Jerónimo only. Sol station shut from 6pm, and the Metro closed at 1.30am as on any other night.
Do you need tickets for Puerta del Sol on New Year’s Eve? No. Entry to Puerta del Sol is free and first come, first served until 15,000 people are inside. In 2025 entry opened at 10pm through Mayor, Arenal, Alcalá and Carrera de San Jerónimo. The catch is transport: Sol station was shut from 6pm, so arrive via Sevilla or Ópera.
The 2026 arrangements are announced by the council in late December, so the 2025 times below are the best guide until then.
Is Puerta del Sol on New Year’s Eve worth it?
Yes, if seeing the countdown in person matters more to you than comfort. What it costs is time: about 2 hours standing between the gates opening and midnight, bag checks on the way in, and a trip back after the Metro stops.
- Good fit: friends travelling together, and anyone who came to Madrid for this night.
- Poor fit: small children, pushchairs, or anyone who dislikes long waits in a packed square.
- The calmer option: the preúvas, a rehearsal of the chimes at midnight on 30 December. The 2025 edition had the same capacity and the same 9pm clearing and 10pm entry.
If you would rather eat well and watch on television, book dinner early; ideas are in Christmas in Madrid, and museum hours on the 31st and on New Year’s Day in what’s open in Madrid over Christmas.
Which street gets you in, and which Metro station to use?
For 2025, according to Madrid City Council, there were four entry zones, each with a pre-check and a check shared equally by the municipal and national police. Anyone walking down Preciados or Montera, the natural route from Gran Vía and Callao, was sent round to one of the four. Nobody publishes when the square fills, so the only safe plan is to be at an entrance before 10pm.
- Sevilla, line 2. About 320 metres from the Alcalá entrance, straight down the same street. The best choice from the east.
- Ópera, lines 2, 5 and Ramal. About 460 metres from the Arenal entrance.
- Not Sol. The Metro station was shut from 6pm on 30 and 31 December 2025 and the Cercanías station from 9pm, according to the Comunidad de Madrid and the Consorcio Regional de Transportes.
These are street distances on a normal day; allow extra time for closures. A single Metro ticket is covered in Madrid Metro ticket prices.
Can you bring drinks, and is it safe?
Bring little, and nothing in glass. The council’s 2025 note repeated the ban on dangerous objects, and in 2022 it named glass, blunt objects and fireworks.
On drinking, the Comunidad de Madrid’s Ley 5/2002 does not allow alcohol to be sold or drunk on public streets, except on terraces and at fiestas regulated by a municipal bylaw, so do not count on bringing a bottle. Your grapes are fine: peel them at the hotel and carry them in a plastic tub.
The same 2025 note mentioned policing of pickpockets, the main risk in a crowd this size. Keep your phone and wallet in a zipped front pocket, and if something goes missing, reporting it is explained in pickpockets in Madrid.
How do you get back to your hotel after midnight?
Plan it before you go in. The last daytime EMT buses left between 9.30pm and 9.45pm, before the gates even opened, and the Metro does not extend its hours.
| Where you are staying | How to get back |
|---|---|
| Near the airport or flying out | Airport express from Cibeles on its night timetable, every 30 to 35 minutes after midnight, €5 paid on board |
| Anywhere, leaving before 1.30am | Metro from Sevilla or Ópera |
| Anywhere, leaving after 1.30am | Night bus from Cibeles, about 840 metres from the Alcalá entrance |
| Short on patience | Taxi or ride-hailing, where ride-hailing can charge up to 75% over base in high demand |
Night buses ran from Cibeles from 10.30pm to 7am, every 45 to 50 minutes until midnight and every 20 to 35 minutes after, and the Metro reopened at 7am on 1 January, an hour late, according to the Consorcio Regional de Transportes. How the night network works is in Madrid Metro closing time and night buses, the airport route in the Madrid airport express bus, and taxi rules in Madrid taxi vs ride-hailing. The Christmas lights stay on until 6am that night, as set out in Christmas lights in Madrid.
Frequently asked questions about New Year’s Eve at Puerta del Sol
Do you need tickets for Puerta del Sol on New Year’s Eve?
No. Entry is free and first come, first served until 15,000 people are inside. In 2025 the square was cleared at 9pm and reopened at 10pm through four streets, Mayor, Arenal, Alcalá and Carrera de San Jerónimo, with a double police check at each.
Is Puerta del Sol on New Year’s Eve worth it?
It is if you want the televised countdown in person and can stand for around 2 hours. It is a poor fit with small children or a pushchair. The rehearsal at midnight on 30 December gives the same square and the same chimes and leaves the 31st free for dinner.
Can you drink alcohol in Puerta del Sol on New Year’s Eve?
The Comunidad de Madrid’s Ley 5/2002 does not allow alcohol to be sold or drunk on public streets, except on terraces and at fiestas regulated by a municipal bylaw. Glass, blunt objects and fireworks were the items the council named in 2022, and its 2025 note repeated the ban on dangerous objects.
Is the Madrid Metro open all night on New Year’s Eve?
No. In 2025 the Metro kept its usual 1.30am closing on 31 December and reopened at 7am on 1 January, an hour later than normal. Night buses left Cibeles from 10.30pm until 7am, every 20 to 35 minutes after midnight.
Sort out your night bus before the first grape, because at Sol the hard part is getting home.