Prices rise on the Madrid tourist bus

The Madrid tourist bus which offers open top bus tours of Madrid will put up its prices by 14% as of 1st September. An adult ticket will now cost 20€. This is because the service will no longer be run by the EMT (Madrid bus network) but will now be run again in private hands, this time by Madrid City Tour. As well as these price changes, the bus route will now incorporate the new Madrid Rio zone, the four towers of Madrid and the bullring at Las Ventas.

New Madrid Rio project ready for inauguration- Madrid finally gets a beach!

Friday 15th April will see the inauguration of the Madrid Rio, a project which has taken since 2004 to complete and will turn the banks of the Manzanares river into a new recreational space. The river zone covers a large area of south west Madrid, and from now on users of the space will be able to enjoy parkland, sports grounds, cycle paths and even a beach! Additionally 33,000 trees have been planted, part of the Madrid ringroad has been covered over and several very futuristic looking bridges have been constructed. Some of the historic bridges such as the 500 year old Puente de Segovia have been spruced up too. There are some pictures of the new development and the El Pais website, and it looks very impressive!

iPad rental now available to visitors in Madrid though PadInTheCity

To help you get the most out of a trip to Madrid, PadInTheCity are offering iPad rental for 39€ a day. The iPad 2 comes loaded with Madrid and travel related apps, and they'll even deliver it to your hotel. However to rent one, you need to present ID and give a 500€ credit card guarantee as a deposit, which won't be charged unless you fail to return the device. We think it's a great idea and wonder whether other cities will follow suit.

To find out more, here's a link to PadInTheCity.

Line 2 of the metro partially closing at night

As of 4th April, line 2 of the Madrid metro will close from 24.00 until the end of service for around two months between Sol and Goya due to improvement works. It will run as normal on 20-23rd April due to the Easter holiday. There will be no replacement transport, as there are several bus lines which can be used as an alternative. We'll let you know when normal service resumes.

New look Ópera metro station opens

After 22 million euros of investment, the remodeled Ópera metro station was finaly unveiled yesterday after months of delays. The station, which is served by lines 2, 5 and the Ramal, will have a much bigger vestibule and wider passage ways, and will contain a small museum to house the remains of an ancient fountain and acqueduct which were uncovered during the building works. The Plaza Isabel II, where Ópera metro station is situated has also had a makeover, with new benches and trees planted. We're sure many madrileños will be glad these works are over!

Airport worker strikes in Spain could mean months of chaos for travellers

Airport workers in Spain are planning a series of strikes of the coming months, which could mean several months of chaos for travellers. In total there could be 22 days of action, and unfortunately some of the planned strikes coincide with the Easter holiday. They are likely to affect all Spanish airports. The reason for these strikes is a dispute over pay and working conditions with the Spanish aviation authority Aena. This is not the first time air transport has been grounded due to industrial action in recent times; only last December, Spanish air traffic controllers walked out on a wildcat strike during a major holiday weekend which brought all flights in the country to a halt.

The provisional strike dates are as follows: 20th, 21st, 24th, 25th, 30th April, with more planned for May, June and July. Of course this situation is very likely to change, but we will provide updates here as well as on our Twitter. Fingers crossed negociations take place and an agreement is reached.

New Madrid tourist bus info now online!

The EMT has just launched its new website in English containing details of the new open-top sightseeing bus service in Madrid. It has information about routes, ticket prices and downloadable maps.


Click here to buy tickets for the Madrid tourist bus!

Open-top sightseeing buses return to Madrid

From next Monday 31st January, the open top tourist buses will be making a return to the streets of Madrid after being suspended for a month due to the withdrawal of MadridVision's licence. However for the moment it will be run by the EMT (the public tranpsort consortium for Madrid) until another operating company can be found to run it on a long term basis.

The relaunched service will run every day from 10am until 7pm at frequencies of every twenty minutes, and tourists have a choice of two routes: Historic Madrid and Modern Madrid. These routes will be the same as those of the old service. The point of departure for both routes is the Neptune Fountain on Plaza Cánovas del Castillo (opposite the Prado Museum on Paseo del Prado), although there are numerous stops around the city. New to this service is the addition of a team of multilingual stewards who will be on hand to help tourists out. Tickets costs 17.50€ for adults and 9€ for children between 6-16 years and over 65s, you can buy the tickets on the bus or to save hassle, you can buy them online here. For more details check the EMT website.