No. Spanish old lady, I do plan to remain sitting on this metro seat eating my Tex-Mex Doritos that taste exactly like original Doritos. Please keep giving me the death stare. I feel no remorse not relinquishing my seat to you.
Spanish old ladies are not only slow movers, but they have also mistaken the Earth for the moon. Lunar gravity pulls their body to one side and then to the other side quite unexpectedly when slovenly meandering down the street, swerving down sidewalks so no paced person can properly manage zooming around them. They stand directly in front of the metro doors as you prepare to exit the train, egging you on, silently taunting you, “Hey! Slam into me! I survived Franco. I can take your white American girl body!” They stop dead at the top of escalators to ponder what to put in their gazpacho, blocking the rest of the commuters from disembarking from the metro stairs, creating a human body traffic jam.
Yet, in truthfulness, old Spanish ladies are the only issue my impatient American a** dislikes about Madrid’s public transportation system. With 294 kilometers of track, 300 metro stops and 21 metro lines, the Cercanías Renfe’s 300-kilometer suburban rail system is the sixth longest metro in the world. Since it serves over 1.5 billion passengers every year, has an excellent in-city and out-travel bus transportation, and is home to one of the world’s most dependable international airports (Madrid-Bajaras), it’s certainly no wonder why Madrid boasts being in the Top 5 metro systems annually.
Fun facts: Madrid Metro has 1,656 escalators, the most of any metro rail system in the world. Stations are so massive that they can even hold public events, including a three-day fitness festival that attracted 2,600 participants in 2011. One station even displays a 200 square-foot archaeological museum.
On weekdays, trains frequent stations with only five to ten minute wait intervals, at most. Normally, a three-minute wait averages in between trains. Timetables vary on weekends. Stations close at 1 a.m. and reopen at 6 a.m. However, the five-hour downtime certainly is no bother, as those who flaunt their vibrant vampirism begin partying around midnight and end as the metro reopens. It is not uncommon to witness the contrasting characters of ‘off to workmen and workwomen’ intersecting with those ‘off-to-bed fiestamen and fiestawomen’.
The stations are immaculately pristine. Unlike New York or Chicago–and currently, even during Spain’s staggering unemployment crisis–homelessness on the train is unseen. Only the occasional weekend ‘botellón’ (drinking in public) occurs on the metro, and yet, it is relatively always contained and unobtrusive. Nevertheless, one must prepare himself for the occasional singer, accordionist, guitarist, or upright bassist playing My Heart Will Go On, hat in hand, awaiting spare euro change. But, this is so very much Spain. So very much Europe. So very much big city, that you have to smile at the Spaniards’ undisturbed ‘no pasa nada’ attitude when such musical acts trespass on their morning commute.
Depending on your stay in Madrid, each metro stop stocks plenty of ticket kiosks. You can purchase one way ‘viajes’ from one destination to the next; however, if your stay is longer than a few days, I highly recommend buying the ’10 viajes’ for 12 euros. If your stay is longer than three weeks, take your passport to an ‘estanco’ or tobacco shop and ask for ‘un abono’, which is a month-long pass. You will then be asked what zone. If you don’t plan on traveling much out of the city, buy an abono for Zone A. For the Madrid Community, zones extend as far as B3.
Not only does Cercanías Renfe, the suburban rail, transport passengers and commuters at high-speeds to the outlying Madrid cities, but buses leave frequently from the Príncipe Pío station. These buses are sometimes more ideal than Cercanías, as no transfers are necessary.
Estación Sur de Autobuses and Estación de Avenida de América are the main European bus hubs, promoting transportation to the rest of the European Union. Some helpful tips: familiarize yourself with the Madrid Metro website and download the free MadridMetro App, Madrid Urban Step and Moovit.
Usually, most foreigners must adapt themselves to some of Spaniard’s most notorious characteristics, and above all, their maddening unpunctuality. Typically, nothing in Spain–from a meal to a meeting–happens at the appointed time. Peculiarly, in Madrid, the public transportation system seems to not reflect this Spanish trait. Advice – be on time for transportation. On the other hand, some rural Spanish towns’ buses are quite unpredictable. A bus which is due to leave at 10 a.m. normally will depart any time between 10:30 and 12. However, perhaps once a week (due to a Friday bank holiday, or Friday working holiday, or Friday non-working holiday, or, actually, due to the driver’s whim) a bus will leave at 9:30.
Luckily, with the Madrid public transportation system, I am still able to maintain a bit of my American punctuality. Now…what to do about these old ladies….
