This Sunday, Madrid celebrates the traditional parade of the Armed Forces on the occasion of the National Day. The event will start at 11 am at the main entrance of the Botanical Garden of Madrid and will continue along the Paseo del Prado until it reaches Cibeles, Recoletos and, finally, Colón. In addition, there will be an aerial parade that will culminate painting the sky with the colors of the Spanish flag.
This celebration will transform the streets of downtown Madrid, so traffic will have to be cut in many of them, with the usual bus detours and changes in public transport. The Madrid City Council expects the attendance of some 80,000 people and has designed a special mobility plan to facilitate travel during the event.
The best public transport options
From 7:30 am to 3:00 pm there will be a total of 48 lines of the daytime network of the Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid that will be affected. These are lines 001, 002, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 32, 34, 36, 37, 40, 41, 45, 46, 47, 51, 52, 53, 55, 59, 59, 61, 68, 69, 74, 85, 86, 102, 119, 146, 147, 150, 247, C03, E1 and Exprés Aeropuerto.
In the case of the night network, the N8, N9, N10, N10, N11, N12, N13, N14, N15, N17, N25 and N26 will be affected. Seven bicimad stations will also be closed until 3:00 p.m. , as well as cab ranks near the parade route.
Thus, the subway becomes the best option to approach the parade, the closest stations being Atocha, Estación del Arte, Banco de España, Retiro, Serrano and Colón.
Streets closed to traffic
Although during the previous days will be affected by the assembly and disassembly of the parade, from 7:30 am to 2:00 pm on Sunday, October 12, several squares and streets of Madrid will be closed to traffic. They will be the Plaza del Emperador Carlos, Paseo del Prado, Cánovas del Castillo and Cibeles squares, Paseo de Recoletos, Plaza de Colón and Plaza de la Lealtad.
Antonio Maura street (from Plaza de la Lealtad to its junction with Alfonso XII), Felipe IV street (from Paseo del Prado to Moreto street), Alfonso XII street (left lanes and incorporation lanes between Espalter and Antonio Maura), Murillo square and Espalter street will also be closed.
Other streets that will be affected until 15:00 hours are Santa María de la Cabeza street (from the traffic circle of Emperor Charles V to Batalla del Salado street), Atocha (from San Eugenio to the traffic circle of Emperor Charles V), Paseo de la Infanta Isabel ( from the traffic circle of Charles V to Alfonso XII), Ciudad de Barcelona avenue and Génova street (towards Plaza de Colón and from this square to the intersection with Zurbano).
Finally, the cuts will affect Paseo de la Castellana, affecting in turn parts of Goya, Ayala, Hermosilla, Serrano (from the intersection with Armada Española to Marqués de Villamagna and from Armada Española to Ayala), the turn towards Alcalá Galiano and Monte Esquiza street.
An alternative plan
To facilitate the flow of traffic, the access to Atocha will be enabled through Méndez Álvaro street, Alfonso XII and Ciudad de Barcelona avenue, as well as the subway tunnels up to Ronda de Atocha. In the case of Paseo de la Castellana, it will be possible to reach it through the cross passage from General Martínez Campos to Serrano and the Doctor Marañón traffic circle to allow access from the side.
However, it is recommended to use public transport and avoid driving through the areas affected by the cuts and restrictions. The main pedestrian access routes will be Hermosilla, Goya, Serrano, Génova, Alcalá and Atocha streets .