Parking

To move about by car in Madrid, as in all large cities, is almost always extremely complicated. Arm yourself with an ample ammunition of patience if you are going to cross the major arteries of the capital any given weekday. On the weekends it is possible, in all reality, that you'll find yourself in the middle of a traffic jam Saturday night in the Marcha zones at three in the morning!

Parking is quite difficult in all parts of the city and some places impossible (mainly the centre zone). To make it easier for you, the City Govenrment created several public parking lots (no, that does not mean that they are free). But don't be surprised to see them packed to the rafters on days of maxim invasion (and Saturday night, of course).

The current tariffs are the following:

You can acquire the Parking Network Pass, that is supposed to be a savings for you come time to pay your parking ticket. That is to say, if you are travelling or simply passing through we do not think that it is worth the trouble. You decide

MONTHLY PARKING PASS (BONO RED) FOR MUNICIPAL PARKING

• What: A payment system by card is valid for the municipal parking associated with the BonoRed system: Almagro - Carmen - Colon -Felipe II - Fuencarral - Jacinto Benavente - Las Cortes - LasDescalzas - Los Mostenses - Marques de Salamanca - Marques deUrquijo - Montalban - Olavide - Plaza de Espaņa - Plaza de Oriente -Plaza Mayor - Plaza del Rey - Recoletos - Santa Ana - Santo Domingo- Sevilla - Tudescos - Velazquez Ayala - Velazquez Jorge Juan -Velazquez Juan Bravo - Villa de Paris - Felipe II
• Where: Central boxes found next to the ticket windows of parking garages managed by the City Council and associated to AEGA (Spanish Association of Parking and Garages
• Price: 1.000 pts. (you can recharge the pass by increments of 1000 ptas)
• Instructions of Use: To access the parking garage: In each entrance and exit of the Network parking garages there is an information post, which when the pass/card is placed next to its "active zone" will give information about the approximate balance available on the pass and automatically lift the crossbar. To exit the parking: Drive the car up to the exit and bring the card near the post's "active zone" (just before the crossbar), then the crossbar will be lifted and give you information about the cost of the service and the current available balance.
• For Further Information call 91 548 04 16

In addition to these parking garages, there are some private locations of a different norm. They are always more expensive (250 pts per half hour or fraction).

By the way, major department stores and Nite Life zones usually have parking spaces, that normally are free for the first two hours. But it is better that you consult before entering these areas. Just in case.