Madrid is the centre of Spain´s road links. Kilometre O is found at the Puerta del Sol, next to the Real Casa de Correos. All the roads start at this point and connect Madrid with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula. The capital city is home to a closely-woven road network, in which the six national road links are the most noteworthy ones that run through the capital.
A-1. Madrid-Irún. Dual Carriageway of the North
It leads to the plaza de Castilla, where the two famous towers forming the gateway to Europe are to be found. If you wish to visit the Sierra Norte de Madrid, you must take this motorway.
The route passes through the following regions and provinces: Segovia, Burgos and the Basque Country. It is the road that connects the capital with the French border.
It passes through the following municipalities in the Madrid region.: El Molar, San Agustín de Guadalix, Circuito del Jarama, Algete, San Sebastián de los Reyes and Alcobendas.
A-2. Madrid-Barcelona. Dual Carriageway of Aragón
It passes through the corredor del Henares, and connects Madrid to the Madrid-Barajas Airport.
It passes through the following provinces: Guadalajara, Soria, Zaragoza, Lleida, and Barcelona.
It passes through the following municipalities in the Madrid region: Coslada, San Fernando, Torrejón de Ardoz and Alcalá de Henares.
A-3. Madrid-Valencia. Dual Carriageway of Valencia
It is also the route to Albacete, Alicante and Murcia.
It passes through the following provinces: Cuenca and Valencia.
It passes through the following municipalities in the Madrid region: Vicálvaro, Rivas Vaciamadrid, Arganda del Rey and Villarejo de Salvanés.
A-4. Madrid-Sevilla. Dual Carriageway of Andalucía
This motorway links the capital to the South of the Peninsula, and connects with other roads leading to Málaga, Cádiz and Almería.
The route passes through the following provinces: Toledo, Ciudad Real, Jaén, Córdoba, and Sevilla.
It passes through the following municipalities of the Madrid region: Getafe, Pinto, Valdemoro, Ciempozuelos and Aranjuez.
A-5. Madrid-Badajoz. Dual Carriageway of Extremadura
This motorway goes all the way to the Portuguese border, and is an alternative route to access the west of Andalucía.
It passes through the following provinces: Toledo, Cáceres and Badajoz.
It passes through the following provinces in the Madrid region: Alcorcón, Móstoles and Navalcarnero.
A-6. Madrid-A Coruña. Dual Carriageway to A Coruña
After passing through the municipality of Villalba, it becomes the toll motorway AP-6 which reaches the municipality of Adanero. It has the peculiarity of having a reversible lane for vehicles of two or more people in the stretch close to the city, which changes depending on the amount of traffic.
It passes through the following provinces: Segovia, Ávila, Valladolid, Zamora, León, Lugo and A Coruña.
It passes through the following municipalities in the Madrid region: Pozuelo de Alarcón, Majadahonda, Las Rozas, Torrelodones and Villalba.
Arterial roads and ring roads
In recent years, the transport links have been modernised, in order to cater for the incredible growth of the city. Particularly noteworthy additions have been the M-40, M-45 and M-50 roads, providing access to the region’s peripheral municipalities. All these roads and the M-30 can be accessed from any of the national motorways.
M-30: This is the ring road closest to the centre, providing access to the capital’s more emblematic streets. Thanks to the construction carried out in the last few years, based on tunnels and creating connections between districts, traffic has been re-conducted through new arterial roads:
Ventisquero de la Condesa: Avenida de la Ilustración / M-30 – Ventisquero de la Condesa – M-40
Pío XII: Nudo de La Paloma – Pío XII – Ginzo de Limia – Avda. de la Ilustración (via Monforte de Lemos or Silesio Delgado)
Sor Ángela de la Cruz: Costa Rica (M-30 east) – Alberto Alcocer – Plaza de Cuzco (Castellana) – Sor Ángela de la Cruz – Marqués de Viana – Villamil – Avenida Camino de los Pinos – Avenida de la Ilustración (M-30 west)
Cuatro Caminos: Avenida Reina Victoria (Avda. Pablo Iglesias) – Cuatro Caminos – Raimundo Fernández Villaverde – Paseo de la Castellana
O’Donnell: Calle de Alcalá (Puerta de Alcalá) – O’Donnell – M-30
Avenida de Portugal: Plaza de España – Alto de Extremadura
Bypass sur: A-3 / M-30 – M-30 tunnels on the west area
Embajadores: Glorieta de Embajadores / A-4 / M-40 and Estación Sur bus station– Avda. del Planetario – Embajadores / A-4 / M-40
M-40: Runs along areas such as Vicálvaro, Alcobendas, Villaverde, Vallecas, Fuencarral, the Parque Juan Carlos I and the Ifema exhibition centre. It also links up with roads leading to municipalities such as Leganés, Fuenlabrada, Móstoles, Getafe, Las Rozas or Pozuelo de Alarcón.
M-45: It connects the south of the region. It covers the axis from the A-2 to the M-40, before its connection with the A-5, crossing the A-3, A-4 and the N-401. It is also connected to the arterial toll roads. It passes through San Fernando de Henares, Vicálvaro, Vallecas, Villaverde, Getafe, Leganés, Coslada and Carabanchel.
M-50: It aims to link up all of Madrid’s south-east area.
Finally, Madrid now has new arterial toll roads. The aim is to lighten the traffic on national motorways, following the same route in order to reduce travelling time to and from the capital. These motorways are:
AP-41: Madrid-Toledo
R-1: Under construction. It will run along the Madrid-Irún Dual Carriageway
R-2: Madrid-Guadalajara
R-3: Madrid-Arganda del Rey
R-4: Madrid-Ocaña
R-5: Madrid- Navalcarnero
For more information visit: www.esmadrid.com