Mad Cool Festival is celebrating its tenth anniversary with an unprecedented transportation plan to move tens of thousands of people to and from Villaverde without causing traffic gridlock in the city or relying on cars. The Metro, Cercanías, and shuttle buses are coordinating to provide service until the early hours of the morning, with free rides covered by the festival organizers.
The backbone of the plan is Metro Line 3, which is increasing its nighttime service and extending its hours beyond the usual schedule to transport people out of the venue. In the early morning hours of the first day of the festival (Wednesday), there will be additional service during regular hours and a special shuttle between 12:30 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. On the remaining nights (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday), the special service will run from 1:30 a .m. to 3:30 a.m.
The Metro shuttle will operate exclusively between Villaverde Alto and Sol, picking up passengers only at Villaverde Alto and dropping them off at Legazpi, Embajadores, and Sol. Service intervals will range from 7 to 20 minutes, depending on the time of day. In practice, this means that anyone leaving the festival can be in the city center in less than half an hour, without having to worry about cars, parking lots, or complicated transfers.
Special commuter trains… and free
Renfe Cercanías is also switching to summer festival mode. A special nighttime shuttle service with no intermediate stops will run between Villaverde Alto and Atocha, designed solely to transport people away from the festival grounds. The service will run from 12:30 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. on the first day, and from 1:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. on the remaining days.
The key is that this special service will be free for passengers, and the cost of extending the operating hours is covered by the Mad Cool organizers themselves. Trains will depart only from Villaverde Alto and travel directly to Atocha, with estimated frequencies ranging from 15 to 60 minutes.
EMT Shuttle Buses: Villaverde–Legazpi–Atocha
As the third pillar of the plan, the Municipal Transportation Company will launch a special free shuttle bus line connecting the area around Villaverde Alto with Atocha, passing through Legazpi. The buses will depart from Gran Vía de Villaverde Avenue (next to San Jenaro Street) and make an intermediate stop for passengers to get off at Plaza de Legazpi before ending their route at Atocha.
The schedule for these shuttle buses will be identical to that of the commuter trains: from 12:30 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. on the first night and from 1:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. on subsequent nights. Shuttles will run every 5 to 10 minutes, with estimated travel times ranging from 14 to 35 minutes. Here, too, the service will be free, funded through a joint effort between the local government and the festival.
How to get to the festival grounds by public transportation
Beyond the exit, Mad Cool 2026 is also expanding transportation options for getting to the Iberdrola Music Villaverde venue. By Metro, Line 3 allows you to get close to the festival by getting off at stations such as Pradolongo, Legazpi, or Villaverde Alto and completing the journey on foot or via shuttle services. By Cercanías, the Villaverde Alto (lines C4a, C4b, and C5) and San Cristóbal Industrial (line C3) stations are the key stops for those coming from different parts of the metropolitan area.
The EMT, for its part, is increasing service on several regular routes (22, 79, T41, and the nighttime N14 between Cibeles and Villaverde Alto) and coordinating special shuttle buses at specific times to bring attendees from Getafe and other municipalities to the area around the festival grounds. Overall, the plan is clearly designed to ensure that the vast majority of attendees arrive and depart using public transportation.
