Madrid sits in the middle of a national strike week. Strike days run from Tuesday 10 to Thursday 12 November 2026, plus a further day on Tuesday 17 November, across the city and the Spanish rail network. If you land at Barajas that week, the arrival plan matters: the cheapest ride in is a Renfe train, and both main stations are in the strike zone.
This page sets out what happens each day, what still runs, and which airport rides sit outside the rail strike.
Update, 9 November: the 17 November strike now covers every operator, not just Adif and Renfe. CCOO has extended it to Iryo and Ouigo, and SEMAF has called drivers at eight operators, so the private high speed trains from Atocha and Chamartín are in the strike zone too. Minimum services for the strike week are also published: Renfe high speed and long distance trains run at least 72 percent on Tuesday 10 and Thursday 12 November and 73 percent on Wednesday 11 November, regional services average 65 percent, and Cercanías runs at 75 percent in the peaks and 50 percent off peak. Minimum services for flights are also set for 11 November.
What is happening
On Wednesday 11 November, CCOO and UGT have called a 24 hour general strike, the first joint general strike in Spain since 2012. It reaches flights, Renfe trains and city transport, with minimum service levels set by government order deciding what still runs.
Renfe drivers, represented by SEMAF, strike in full on Tuesday 10 November and partially on Thursday 12 November. A sector wide strike across Adif and Renfe follows on Tuesday 17 November; the update above extends that day to every operator, private high speed trains included.
Separately, Metro Line 10 is closed between Nuevos Ministerios and Cuzco, which affects Santiago Bernabéu station. Check Metro de Madrid before heading to a match at the Bernabéu.
Check your specific train on the morning of travel, because minimum service lists name the trains that run. Give any airport run a spare hour on strike days; if you can shift a journey to Monday 9 or Friday 13 November, the week looks very different. If Madrid is a connection, build slack in at Atocha or Chamartín.
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 is in the strike zone on all four days, so the safer plans are the metro, the airport bus and the taxi rank outside arrivals.
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 a strike day 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 week, 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 days.
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