Using the Barcelona Metro
- The Barcelona Metro operates from 5:00 to 23:00 from Monday to Thursday, from 5:00 till 1:00 on Fridays and Saturdays and from 6:00 to 24:00 on Sundays.
- Trains run every 4 - 6 minutes during daytime hours, and every 7 - 9 minutes in the evening.
- The Barcelona Metro is very easy to use. As you can see on the map, lines are identified by colours (like in almost all Metro cities) and although they are numbered, locals tend to refer to them by colours:
- Directions are identified by the two terminus stations.
- At any time, all trains run from one end of the line to the other, there are no intermediate terminals.
- Stations are signposted very well (although sometimes it takes a while to update signposts after a new line or section of a line is opened).
- Most station entrances have automatic ticket vending machines, but each station has at least one occupied ticket office.
- Tickets have to be introduced into a validating machine to release the turnstile.
Click here to find out more about tickets and the fare system
- Keep your ticket until you leave the Metro area although you don't need it to get out through the barriers.
- On all platforms you will find a network map, information on the service, and an area map to orientate yourself on your way out.
- To make sure you're on the right platform, have a look at the line display usually on a panel fixed along station walls or hanging from the ceiling on the train-side of the platform. Coloured stations are reached by the next train (actually all) on this platform. The panel looks something like this, which means that you're on L2 at "Passeig de Gràcia" and your going towards "Sagrada Família":
- All station exits have names which make it very easy to find the right exit following the signposts.
- Most information is written in Catalan, but although you don't know the language you can get around easily following the international pictograms.
Click here to join "Catalan for Metro Users"