Spain Rail Strike, 19 November 2026, Madrid: The Second Adif Strike Day and Your Airport Plan

Thursday 19 November 2026 is a second 24 hour Adif strike day in Madrid, called by the SCF union after its strike day on Tuesday 17 November. It extends a disruption run that already covers the 10 to 17 November strike week, so if you land at Barajas on the 19th, plan it as a strike day, not as the day things return to normal.

The arrival plan matters because the cheapest ride from the airport is a rail service inside the Adif network. This page covers what is known about the 19th, what is not yet confirmed, and the rides the rail strike cannot reach.

The SCF union has called this second 24 hour Adif strike for Thursday 19 November, following its strike day on Tuesday 17 November. Our Spain strikes in Madrid guide covers the full strike week from 10 to 17 November, including the general strike day and the Renfe driver strikes.

The honest gap is the minimum services. For 19 November they had not been published when this was written, so there is no confirmed list of which trains will run. On the earlier strike days, government orders set the levels service by service. Expect the same mechanism here, and check the operator lists when they appear.

Until those lists appear, do not build a tight connection on a train that has not been confirmed. Check your train or flight with the operator on the morning you travel, and give any airport run a spare hour. If Madrid is a connection, build the slack into the connection itself at Atocha or Chamartín, not into the apology afterwards.

If your dates bend, Wednesday 18 and Friday 20 November sit outside the called strike days, so a flexible itinerary can step around the 19th entirely. If the 19th is fixed, start with the rides that do not depend on the rail network.

Barajas is about 12 km northeast of the center. Check your arrival terminal before choosing a station: T4 sits apart from T1, T2 and T3, and the Cercanías C1 serves the T4 side. It is the cheapest ride in, but it sits inside the Adif network on a strike day. The safer plans are Metro Line 8, the Exprés bus and the flat rate taxi.

On 19 November, start with one of those three and treat a running Cercanías train as good luck. The bus runs around the clock, and the taxi is metered only outside the M-30 ring. Every option, priced and compared, is on our Barajas to Madrid transfer page.

The guide’s Splurge pick is the Four Seasons Hotel Madrid on Calle de Sevilla, seven historic buildings steps from Puerta del Sol, with a rooftop restaurant and a spa. The Sweet spot pick is Hotel Preciados on Calle de Preciados, a calm boutique hotel two minutes from Gran Vía. The Budget pick is TOC Hostel Madrid on Plaza de Celenque, with dorms and private rooms steps from Puerta del Sol.

All three sit inside the M-30 ring, so the flat rate taxi is the simplest strike day arrival, at the same fare to any of them. If you ride in, Atocha suits the Exprés bus and the Gran Vía center suits the metro, and the center then connects on foot.

Madrid’s metro runs about 6 am to 1:30 am daily. A single ticket starts at €1.50, and the 10 journey Metrobús ticket, at about €12, is the value play for a few days; EMT city buses take the same tickets. Cards work almost everywhere, including the metro gates, but keep €20 to €30 in cash for tapas bars and market stalls.

For data, the guide’s route is an Airalo eSIM, set up before you fly so you are online as the plane taxis in, with Saily as the alternative it names. On the 19th that matters more than usual: the minimum service lists, the operator updates and any rebooking all reach you through your phone.

For a first meal, eat on Madrid time. A caña and a tapa at a bar counter in La Latina is the city’s own welcome, and churros con chocolate at Chocolatería San Ginés, frying since 1894 steps from Puerta del Sol and open through the night, is the guide’s answer to jet lag.

One strike day does not have to cost the trip. Browse the events calendar for what is on in Madrid, and use plan your trip to line up the rest, keeping train plans for either side of the 19th.