Spain travel guide

Madrid–Barcelona 2 h 30 min; Madrid–Seville 2 h 30 min; Madrid–Valencia 1 h 50 min; Madrid–Málaga 2 h 40 min; Madrid–Córdoba 1 h 45 min; Madrid–Granada 3 h 15 min; Madrid–Santiago 3 h 30 min; Barcelona–Valencia 2 h 45 min on the Euromed (not full high speed). Fares run €25–90 depending on operator and lead time — Ouigo and Avlo (Renfe's low-cost brand) start under €20 booked six weeks out but charge for a second bag; Iryo is the most comfortable and often the cheapest on the day. Renfe's own website is poor; Trainline and Omio sell all three. Big stations have baggage X-ray, so arrive 20 minutes early — doors close two minutes before departure. Regional lines (Avant, Media Distancia) do Madrid–Toledo in 33 min and Seville–Córdoba in 45 min for €13–30 depending on train type. The Basque Country is the gap: Madrid–San Sebastián or Bilbao is still 5 hours on the Alvia until the Basque high-speed 'Y' opens.

Rule of thumb: Any city pair under four hours by train → train, booked four to eight weeks ahead. Madrid–Barcelona, Madrid–Andalucía and Madrid–Valencia are never worth flying.

Vueling, Iberia Express, Ryanair and Air Europa cover the mainland; Binter and Canaryfly link the Canary Islands; Vueling and Air Europa do the Balearics. Madrid–Palma 1 h 15 min, Madrid–Canaries 2 h 45–3 h, Barcelona–Seville or Málaga 1 h 45 min, Bilbao–Málaga 1 h 30 min. Fares €30–120 one way; the Canaries and Balearics are cheap from every mainland city. Madrid–Barajas and Barcelona–El Prat are both 30–40 minutes from the centre by metro or train.

Rule of thumb: Mainland ↔ Canaries always fly; mainland ↔ Balearics fly unless you want the overnight ferry; Barcelona ↔ Andalucía or the Basque Country ↔ Andalucía fly, or accept 5–6 hours of rail.

EU and UK licences are valid; US, Canadian and Australian drivers should carry an International Driving Permit with their licence. Rentals from €25–60 a day (much more in August on the islands); the big airports are cheapest. Motorways are excellent and mostly free since the Catalan and Valencian AP-7 tolls were lifted in 2021 — the AP-6 out of Madrid to Segovia and a few others still charge. Fuel around €1.60 a litre. Speed cameras are everywhere and fines follow the rental company home. Madrid and Barcelona are low-emission zones; rental cars carry the required sticker, but parking is €30 a night and driving in either is pointless.

Rule of thumb: Cities and city-to-city → never. Andalucía's white villages and Ronda, the Picos and Pyrenees, Rioja, Mallorca beyond Palma, every Canary Island → car, collected on the way out of the last city.

ALSA is the national operator and wins wherever the rail line bends or thins: Granada–Málaga 1 h 45 min (€13) hourly against a few trains a day, Seville–Granada 3 h (€25) level with the train, Madrid–Granada 4 h 30–5 h (€20–35 on the ALSA app) for a third of the rail fare. Avanza covers Madrid's hinterland and Salamanca; Monbus runs Galicia. Coaches are modern, with Wi-Fi and reserved seats, and go where trains do not: Ronda, the Alpujarras, Cadaqués, the Picos villages.

Rule of thumb: Where the train is slower, rarer or absent — Granada ↔ Málaga, Ronda, the Alpujarras, the Picos villages — → ALSA, booked a few days ahead in season.

Baleària and Trasmed sail Barcelona, Valencia and Dénia to Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza: Dénia–Ibiza 2 h on the fast ferry, Barcelona–Palma 7–8 h overnight with a cabin — the way to bring a car. In the Canaries, Fred. Olsen Express and Naviera Armas link the islands (Tenerife–La Gomera 50 min, Tenerife–Gran Canaria 1 h 20 min). Tarifa–Tangier is 1 hour for a Morocco day trip. Mainland–Canaries by sea is 30+ hours and not worth it.

Rule of thumb: Islands: fly there, ferry between them, ferry with the car only if you already own it.

Madrid: a Multi card (€2.50) loaded with ten journeys (about €12) covers metro and bus; the airport is on metro line 8 with a €3 supplement or the C1 Cercanías train from Terminal 4. Barcelona: the T-casual ten-journey card (about €12) does the same; the Hola Barcelona 48–72 h pass adds unlimited metro including the airport line. Contactless bank-card tap is rolling out on both networks but is not yet universal — buy the local card. Seville, Granada and Córdoba are walking cities with one tram or bus line each. Taxis are metered and honest; Cabify and Bolt work in every big city and Uber in most. Bicycle share is residents-only in Barcelona but open to visitors in Seville (Sevici) and Valencia.

Rule of thumb: Inside cities → walk plus a ten-journey metro card; taxi or Cabify only late at night or to the airport with bags.