Seven car parks ring the edge of Madrid, they cost nothing to use, and most drivers who try them get the rule wrong in the same place. Free here means leaving the car for at least 5 hours and no more than 16, and travelling by public transport in between.
A park and ride car park in Madrid is a free municipal car park on the edge of the city, placed beside a Metro or Cercanías station and reserved for drivers who continue by public transport. There are seven of them, and according to EMT Madrid they exist so that private cars stop short of the middle. The network holds more than 5,773 spaces, according to EMT Madrid, and one site alone, at the Estadio Metropolitano, accounts for 3,069 of them, though it shuts at 10pm and stays closed whenever the stadium hosts an event.
Is park and ride free in Madrid? Yes, under two conditions. The car must stay a minimum of 5 hours and a maximum of 16, and you must travel by city public transport. On the way out you show the entry ticket and the transport ticket from that same day. The exception is Pitis, where an EMT Madrid campaign currently makes any stay free.
The seven car parks and what each one connects to
Every one of the seven is served by the Metro, but only three have a Cercanías commuter station within a kilometre’s walk, namely Pitis, Fuente de la Mora and Nuestra Señora del Recuerdo by Chamartín.
| Park and ride car park | District | Transport link | Hours | Published spaces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avenida de Portugal | Latina | Metro line 6 at Puerta del Ángel and the Príncipe Pío interchange; Alto de Extremadura, also line 6, is 200 m away | Opens 6am to 10pm on weekdays, staffed 24 hours | 432 spaces |
| Islazul | Carabanchel | Metro line 11 at La Peseta, buses 35 and 118; the nearest entrance on foot is San Francisco, 1.3 km away | Papagayo area 6am to 11pm, Mono area 8am to 11pm | 224 spaces |
| Aviación Española | Latina | Metro line 10, buses 17 and 39 | 24 hours | 344 car, 25 motorbike |
| Fuente de la Mora | Hortaleza | Cercanías C-1 and C-2, tram ML1 | 24 hours | 369 car, 35 motorbike |
| Pitis | Fuencarral-El Pardo | Metro line 7, Cercanías C-7 and C-8 | 24 hours, any stay free during the EMT campaign | 412 car, 34 motorbike |
| Nuestra Señora del Recuerdo | Chamartín | Bus and Cercanías | Opens 6am to 10pm on weekdays, staffed 24 hours | 819 spaces |
| Estadio Metropolitano Sur ES-02b | San Blas-Canillejas | Metro Estadio Metropolitano | 6am to 10pm on weekdays, closed on stadium event days | 3,069 spaces |
Pitis and Fuente de la Mora are the two that work best for an arrival from outside the city, because both meet Cercanías as well as metro. A Cercanías single is priced by zone and lasts one journey within 2 hours of purchase, which is more than enough to reach the centre.
Islazul sits in Carabanchel, where the neighbourhoods of Abrantes, Opañel and Comillas fall inside the Plaza Elíptica restricted zone, so the label check matters before approaching from the south. EMT pairs it with La Peseta station on line 11, yet the closest Metro entrance on foot is San Francisco, a 1.3 km walk, which makes buses 35 and 118 the practical link from this one.
Three of them, Aviación Española, Fuente de la Mora and Pitis, each hold 10 spaces for electric cars, and the last two add 12 accessible spaces.
What you have to show to get the car back
The free rate at a Madrid park and ride is not automatic, and the proof of it is physical.
On the way out you go to the control office and hand over two things: the ticket taken on entry with the vehicle, and the public transport ticket used that same day. One without the other does not work.
Pitis is the one place where the rule is relaxed for now. EMT Madrid is running a campaign to get drivers using it, under which any stay is free, including one shorter than 5 hours. No end date is published, so ask at the control office on the way in whether it still applies, and keep your transport ticket in case they ask for it.
Which means the transport ticket has to exist before the exit. Madrid sells no paper tickets, so a first-time visitor buys a Multi card for €2.50 and loads a fare onto it, and the card is the first purchase of the trip. A metro single runs €1.50 to €2.00 depending on how many stations the trip crosses, and a 10-journey ticket costs €7.30, which works out at €0.73 a ride, with the full scale set out here.
For a five-hour stay in the centre the 10-journey ticket usually wins, because two people sharing one card already break even. Which of the two suits your trip is the comparison between titles.
How long you can leave the car
Two limits define the scheme, and both of them exclude ordinary uses.
Below 5 hours nothing applies, so a lunch stop is not what this is for. Above 16 hours it stops as well, so a car left over a weekend falls outside too. The interval covers a day of museums or a day of work, and nothing on either side of it.
Which one is open at night
The Estadio Metropolitano car park holds 3,069 of the 4,418 car spaces it shares with Pitis, Fuente de la Mora, Aviación Española and Islazul, which is about 69 % of that capacity.
Its published hours are 6am to 10pm on weekdays, and EMT Madrid warns that it cannot be used on any event day at the stadium, whether a match or a concert, not even with a parking pass. Islazul closes too, its Papagayo area running 6am to 11pm and its Mono area 8am to 11pm. Together the two hold 3,293 spaces that are shut late at night. Pitis, Fuente de la Mora and Aviación Española are listed as open 24 hours.
The two left out of the chart, Avenida de Portugal and Nuestra Señora del Recuerdo, are staffed around the clock, but Madrid City Council gives them opening hours of 6am to 10pm on weekdays. If you plan to collect the car after midnight, confirm at the control office when you drop it off.
In practice that means an evening in the centre cannot lean on those 3,069 spaces. It leans on the 1,125 held by Pitis, Fuente de la Mora and Aviación Española between them, which is a very different number. Islazul works for dinner if you are back before 11pm.
When it does not solve the problem
Three situations where park and ride is the wrong tool, and one where nothing is the right tool.
A short stop anywhere but Pitis, because the floor is 5 hours and a lunch in Madrid rarely starts before 2pm or a dinner before 9pm, so an evening out runs past the ceiling more easily than people expect. A hotel inside the restricted perimeter, because leaving the car on the ring does not put it near the door, and what settles that is which area you book in, given that only 2 areas of the municipality restrict driving at all. And a car with a class A label, which cannot legally circulate through the municipality anyway, with a €200 fine, or €100 for prompt payment, under the rules on which cars may enter.
The case nothing fixes is a foreign plate. Spain’s traffic authority issues no environmental label to a vehicle registered abroad and recognises the national sticker of only four countries, so there is no published procedure to follow, as set out in foreign plates and the low emission zone. Park and ride lets you leave the car; it does not make the drive to it lawful.
On the practical side, once the car is parked the whole municipality sits in fare zone A, so a €7.30 ten-journey ticket covers a full day in the centre at €0.73 a ride, and the tap water in every bar is soft, safe and free.
Five hours minimum, sixteen maximum, and both tickets at the exit.
It also keeps you clear of the tow truck, whose pound fees start at €147.55 for a car.
Frequently asked questions about park and ride in Madrid
Is park and ride free in Madrid?
Yes, on any day within each car park’s opening hours, provided you leave the car for at least 5 hours and no more than 16 and travel by city public transport in between. The exception is Pitis, where an EMT campaign currently makes any stay free.
What do you have to show to get the car back?
Two tickets at the car park control office. The one you took on the way in with the vehicle, and the public transport ticket you used that same day. Without the second one the free rate is not applied.
Can you park and ride for two hours in Madrid?
Only at Pitis, where EMT Madrid is running a campaign that makes any stay free. Everywhere else five hours is the minimum, so for a short stop you need one of the 63 municipal public car parks, 19 of which sit inside the Centro district, or a metered street bay.
Which park and ride car park is open at night?
Three run 24 hours, namely Pitis, Fuente de la Mora and Aviación Española, with 1,125 car spaces between them. Islazul shuts at 11pm, and the Metropolitano, at 3,069 spaces, runs 6am to 10pm on weekdays and closes on any stadium event day.