Madrid gets one more rail strike day on Monday 23 November 2026, called by SEMAF, the Renfe drivers union, at Renfe. It reaches the whole Spanish rail network: the high speed and long distance trains at Atocha and Chamartín, and the Cercanías trains, including the C1 airport train from Barajas.
The honest gap comes first: the strike hours and the minimum services for 23 November have not been published yet, so nobody can yet say which trains run. The good news for arrivals is that the fastest rides from Barajas sit outside Renfe entirely. This post sets out what is called, what is not yet known, and the arrival plan that does not depend on trains.
What is happening
SEMAF announced the strike on 10 November 2026, replacing the partial stoppages it had planned at Renfe for Thursday 12 November with this new strike date on Monday 23 November. The announcement followed the Council of Ministers approving a rail safety decree law.
The strike hours and the minimum services are not yet published. On the earlier November strike days, government minimum service orders kept a share of trains running and named the services that ran; no order for 23 November exists yet to quote. Plan as if the trains are unreliable, and check your specific train with Renfe before you travel.
This date is separate from the strikes already covered here. The sector strike on Tuesday 17 November still stands, widened to every operator, and our Spain strikes in Madrid guide covers that day and the strike week before it. Thursday 19 November is the second Adif strike day, covered in the 19 November post. Read them together if your trip touches more than one date: each day has its own call and its own minimum services.
If Madrid is a connection, build slack in at Atocha or Chamartín, and hold a road plan for the airport run. If your dates flex, Sunday 22 and Tuesday 24 November sit outside the called strike days.
Getting there after you land
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. That train sits inside the strike call on 23 November. The rides a Renfe strike cannot touch are Metro L8, the Exprés bus and the taxi rank outside arrivals, and the metro matches the train for speed on a normal day.
Cercanías C1Cheapest
To Chamartín and Atocha; runs about 6 am to 11:30 pm
Metro L8Fastest
To Nuevos Ministerios, with the airport supplement already included
Exprés bus
Runs 24 hours a day to Atocha via Cibeles, with luggage racks
Taxi, flat rate
One flat price inside the M-30 ring, from the official rank outside arrivals
Start with the metro or the bus on 23 November and treat a running Cercanías as a bonus; the taxi is metered outside the M-30 ring. Every option, priced and compared, is on our Barajas to Madrid transfer page.
The full first hour: Madrid guide
The Madrid guide covers the ride in, the first ticket, money, data and your first night, checked for November 2026.
Where to stay, and getting around
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 drops you at the door for the same fare, the simplest strike day arrival. By transit, Atocha suits the Exprés bus and the Gran Vía center suits the metro.
The first hour, sorted
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 a strike day, the morning train check and any rebooking happen on your phone.
For a first meal, eat on Madrid time: a caña and a tapa at a bar counter in La Latina, or churros con chocolate at Chocolatería San Ginés, frying since 1894 steps from Puerta del Sol and open through the night.
Once the arrival is sorted, browse the events calendar for what is on in Madrid, and use plan your trip to line up the rest around the strike day.
Segovia and El Escorial are day trips in the Madrid guide.
Get the Madrid first hour checklist by email
The ride in, the first ticket and the first meal, in the Madrid guide PDF you can read on the plane.
The checklist, free, from After You Land.
What else is on
The events calendar tracks every guided city, strikes and stoppages included.
Events calendarLine up the rest
Plan your trip pulls the guide, the stays and the bookings for this trip into one place.
Plan your trip