Public transport in Barcelona

Overview

The Barcelona Metro (Catalan and Spanish: Metro de Barcelona) is a rapid transit network that runs mostly underground in central Barcelona and out into the city's suburbs. It is the backbone of a wider, fare-integrated public transport system regulated by the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM), which also covers local and regional buses, tramways, and some commuter and regional train services. As of 2024 the network is run by two operators: Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC).

For a visitor, riding end to end is straightforward. You enter a station, buy or validate a ticket at the machines or turnstiles, tap or insert your card, ride to your stop, and exit through the turnstiles. All metro stations sit within fare zone 1, and the ATM's integrated fare system lets you transfer between modes on a single validated ticket. Most stations are simple street-level accesses with stairs, escalators or lifts rather than large buildings, so look for the official TMB indicator — a red rhombus with a white "M" inside. Note that FGC lines use their own company logo and a different rhombus-shaped sign instead.

The network

The metro is made up of 12 lines split between the two operators, distinguished on maps by different colours. The lines do not have names of their own; people refer to them by colour, by number, or by their termini.

TMB lines: L1 to L5 and L9 to L11 — eight lines covering roughly 102.6 km of route and 141 stations.
FGC lines: L6, L7, L8 and L12. Except for all of L12 and part of L7, these share tracks with commuter rail lines.

Three lines run as automatic, driverless systems: L11 was converted first, and L9 and L10 have been driverless since they opened. L9 and L10 are still under construction in sections; when complete they will link Badalona and Santa Coloma de Gramenet with the Zona Franca district and El Prat International Airport, sharing a central section between Bon Pastor and Can Tries | Gornal. They are due to be fully finished in 2030 and will form the longest automated metro line in Europe at 47.8 km with 52 stations combined.

The network is unusual in engineering terms: it is the only metro in the world to operate on both narrow and broad gauge tracks, using three different gauges — 1,000 mm metre gauge on L8, 1,672 mm Iberian gauge on L1, and 1,435 mm standard gauge on the rest. As of November 2021 the network measured 170 km with 183 stations.

Beyond the metro, the wider ATM system includes:

Suburban rail: the Rodalies Barcelona commuter lines operated by Renfe, which run both inside and outside the city limits.
FGC suburban services: the FGC lines that begin as metro lines (L6, L7, L8, L12) and continue as a full railway system serving much of the metropolitan area, including the Barcelona–Vallès Line towards Sabadell and Terrassa.
Trams: the Trambaix and Trambesòs light-rail networks, which appear on recent maps alongside Renfe and FGC services.
Buses: local and regional bus services, plus the Aerobús airport express.
Ferries: the city's port is one of the busiest on the Mediterranean, with regular ferry connections to the Balearic Islands (Alcúdia, Ciutadella de Menorca, Ibiza City, Sant Antoni de Portmany, Mahón, Palma de Mallorca), to Italy (Genoa, Porto Torres and Civitavecchia for Rome) and to Tangier in Morocco. Operators include Baleària, Grimaldi Lines and Trasmediterranea, among smaller companies.

Also part of the network's map is the Montjuïc Funicular, and the separate Montjuïc Cable Car, reachable from the Paral·lel funicular station or from Drassanes metro station.

Tickets & fares

Fares are set by the ATM and are integrated across metro, TMB buses, tram, the Montjuïc funicular, FGC trains and Rodalies regional trains within the same zone. All metro stations are in fare zone 1, but tickets are priced by zone, so journeys further out cost more. The integrated system allows up to three transfers between transport modes on one ticket, validated at each connection. Prices below are approximate and change — always check current fares before you travel.

You can load tickets onto a T-mobilitat card, the contactless fare card for the Barcelona area. Card types include a personalised card, a mobile phone, a non-personalised card, and the T-16 for under-16s. Tickets can be topped up at machines and top-up points, and support is available via customer service.

Single and multi-trip tickets:

Single ticket — €2.90; one journey on metro, bus or the Montjuïc funicular. Not valid at the airport stations.
Airport ticket — €5.90; a one-way metro journey including Aeroport T1 and Aeroport T2 stations on L9 Sud. Standard single tickets are not valid for a trip to the airport.
T-casual — from €13; ten journeys for a single person, valid until the next fare change. Not valid at Aeroport T1/T2 on L9 Sud.
T-familiar — from €11.50; eight journeys over 30 days, shareable between people. Not valid at the airport terminals.
T-grup — from €91; 70 journeys over 30 consecutive days, multi-person. Not valid at Aeroport T1/T2.
T-dia — from €12; unlimited journeys for 24 hours from first validation, personal. Allows one journey to and one from Aeroport T1/T2.
T-usual — from €22.80; personal, non-transferable, unlimited journeys for 30 consecutive days from first validation. Valid at Aeroport T1/T2 on L9 Sud.
T-jove — €45.50; personal pass for under-30s, unlimited journeys across all fare zones for 90 consecutive days.
T-16 — free; personal pass for children and young people aged 4–16, unlimited journeys within the zone for which it is valid.
T-aire — from €2.35; two journeys, valid only on days with high air pollution levels. Not valid at Aeroport T1/T2.

Tourist and travel cards:

Hola Barcelona Travel Card — from €12.50; unlimited travel for 2, 3, 4 or 5 consecutive days (48h/72h/96h/120h), covering metro, TMB buses, trams, the Montjuïc funicular, FGC and Rodalies trains in Zone 1, and including return metro trips to and from the airport.
Barcelona Essentials Pass — unlimited public transport plus tickets to the Sagrada Família and Park Güell.
Hola + Hop-on Hop-off — combines a tourist bus tour with unlimited public transport.
Transports + Aerobús — airport transfer by Aerobús, unlimited public transport, an audio guide and a 10% discount on many attractions.
Barcelona Express Card 48h — unlimited public transport for 48 hours plus attraction discounts.
Barcelona Card — unlimited public transport plus free, priority or discounted access to attractions and museums.

There are also reduced and special-category passes, including subsidised T-usual for unemployed people (€5.65), free T-verda for metropolitan residents who scrap an unlabelled vehicle, and discounted single-parent and large-family variants of T-usual, T-jove and T-70/90. The T-metropolitana pink card offers free or reduced travel for people meeting specific income, age or disability requirements, with a free companion pass available.

If you prefer sightseeing buses, the tourist bus costs about €33 for one adult day and €44 for two days, with children's rates around €18 and €23. The Montjuïc Cable Car is roughly €19 round trip for adults, €13 for children under 12, and free for under-4s.

From the airport

The main airport is Barcelona El Prat (BCN), by far the closest to the city and a major hub with flights from all over Europe and beyond. Some low-cost carriers, notably Ryanair, also use Girona (GRO), nearly 100 km to the north, or Reus (REU), around the same distance to the south — so check your three-letter IATA code carefully when booking.

From El Prat, both terminals have a metro station, and the ticket machines before the turnstiles sell a Billet aeroport ticket to anywhere in the city by metro only, for €5.90. The airport metro stations are Aeroport T1 and Aeroport T2 on line L9 Sud. Remember that several standard ticket types — including single tickets, T-casual, T-familiar, T-grup and T-aire — are not valid at these stations, while T-dia, T-usual, T-jove and the Hola Barcelona Travel Card are.

You can also reach the city centre by train or bus using a T-casual on a T-mobilitat contactless card. This costs about €13 for 10 journeys on any suburban train (Rodalies), metro (though not from the airport), tram or bus in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, and cannot be shared by more than one person. The train leaves from Terminal 2, with a free shuttle from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2, and runs every 30 minutes until around midnight. It is much cheaper than the Aerobús, which costs around €7.45 for a single journey.

If you arrive on a late flight, the N18 night bus can get you into Barcelona, stopping at Plaça d'Espanya on its way to Plaça Catalunya.

From Girona–Costa Brava Airport, the Barcelona Bus service runs a shuttle from Estació del Nord (walking distance from the Arc de Triomf metro stop), synchronised with flight times: about €16 one way, €25 return, taking roughly 1 hour 10 minutes. You can also take a train — local Rodalies, Media Distancia or high-speed AVE — to Girona main station and a local bus from there.

From Reus Airport, the easiest option is the Hispano Igualadina bus from Barcelona Sants bus station, timed to Ryanair departures and arrivals: about €13 one way, €24 return, taking 1 hr 30 min to 1 hr 45 min depending on traffic. A cheaper but longer alternative is a train from Barcelona Sants to Reus (about €7.25) plus local bus no. 50 to the airport (about €2.50), taking roughly 2½ hours.

Etiquette & customs

Barcelona's metro is busy and largely informal, but a few habits will make your journeys smoother.

Queuing: Let passengers off the train before you board, and wait to the side of the doors rather than directly in front of them.
Escalators: Stand on the right and leave the left side clear for people walking past.
Priority seating: Seats marked for people with reduced mobility, pregnant passengers and older travellers are respected; give them up without being asked.
Eating and drinking: Keep food and drink to a minimum on the trains and platforms — it is generally frowned upon, and eating a full meal on board is not done.
Rush hour: Mornings and early evenings are the busiest. Move right down the carriage, keep backpacks in front of you or on the floor, and avoid blocking the doors.
Noise: Keep phone calls and music short and quiet; most locals travel in near-silence.

Accessibility is good and improving: as of April 2022 only 8 of 192 stations were not fully accessible, and lines L2, L6, L7, L8, L9 Nord, L9 Sud, L10 Nord, L10 Sud, L11 and L12 are fully accessible. A handful of stations have non-accessible connections between lines — for example Catalunya L1/Rodalies to L3/FGC, Passeig de Gràcia L2/L4 to L3/Rodalies, Clot L1 to L2, and Ciutadella | Vila Olímpica L4 to Trambesòs. Check the official TMB and FGC sites for up-to-date information.

Official links

Survival terms

Metro de Barcelona (Catalan/Spanish) — Barcelona Metro / subway
Bitllet (Catalan) / billete (Spanish) — ticket
Línia (Catalan) / línea (Spanish) — line
Entrada (Catalan/Spanish) — entrance
Sortida (Catalan) / salida (Spanish) — exit
Correspondència (Catalan) / correspondencia (Spanish) — transfer / connection
Bitllet senzill (Catalan) — single fare / one-way ticket
Targeta de dia (Catalan) / T-dia — day pass

Buy a T-mobilitat card and load a T-casual or T-usual onto it as soon as you arrive, so you can tap straight through the turnstiles on every metro, bus, tram and FGC journey without queueing at machines each time.