Thursday, March 28

Guide to Madrid closed by NATO: streets, areas, days and transport lines affected


The NATO summit that hosts Madrid this week turns the mobility of the capital upside down. The magnitude of the expected disruptions is of such magnitude that the City Council has asked its citizens to telework as much as possible and that if they have to travel they do so by public transport, avoiding the use of a private car.

The reason is that the planned traffic cuts can turn the streets of Madrid into a mousetrap if the usual traffic volume is maintained. But other areas and services will also be affected by the security precautions deployed before the arrival of dozens of international delegations for the summit.

The deployment includes the participation of more than 35,000 agents from different state security forces and the council, as well as firefighters, civil protection and private security. All are included within the so-called Operation Eirene, the name with which the operation has been described:

This guide details all the traffic closures and the main areas affected by the arrival of NATO in the city:

Street closures to traffic

The main streets affected will be the following:

  • Axis of Paseo de la Castellana – Recoletos – Atocha. It will be the black point for traffic in Madrid on June 28 (Tuesday), 29 (Wednesday) and June 30 (Thursday). It will be cut off for the transit of the delegations, so it will not be possible for any means of transport outside the summit to circulate throughout this area. Yes, it will be allowed to cross this axis transversely. The court hours will be from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. (28 and 29) and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (30).
  • M-11 road. The highway that connects with Ifema will also be closed from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on June 28 and 29 and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Thursday 30.
  • Highway A-2. There will be punctual cuts throughout the three days (the schedules have not yet been detailed).
  • Ring road M-40. The section that goes from the M-11 to the A-2 will also suffer punctual cuts from June 28 to 30.

No parking and security perimeters

From this Monday June 27 and until Thursday 30, parking will be prohibited in Ifema and in the surroundings of 43 hotels of the delegations that have come to Madrid. The City Council has marked off the affected areas and prevents unauthorized vehicles from parking.

All the hotels of the delegations will have security perimeters of between 300 and 500 meters where, in addition to prohibiting parking, controls will be carried out. Most of the hotels are concentrated on the Castellana-Recoletos-Atocha axis.

In the case of Ifema, the security perimeter will be three kilometers around this site, chosen to host the summit and which will remain shielded from the outside on June 28, 29 and 30.

Cuts in Metro, EMT and free bus

The Feria de Madrid Metro station, which gives access to Ifema, will be closed from June 28 to 30. Suburban line 8 carriages will continue to pass towards Barajas but will not stop at this stop during these three days.

The Community of Madrid has planned an alternative transport system that you can consult at this link. No other line will be affected and the regional government has planned a small reinforcement in the frequencies, as well as the national one in its Cercanías network, which will function normally.

It is expected that many lines of the Municipal Transport Company (EMT) will also be affected in part or all of their route. The City Council will present the complete list on Monday.

To facilitate the mobility of the people of Madrid and encourage them to leave their cars at home, the council allows free travel on all EMT buses (the blue ones) on June 28, 29 and 30.

Other places affected

The list of spaces that will see their programming and schedules altered during these days in Madrid is long. One of the most striking closures is that of the Prado Museum, which will remain without public visits on June 28 and 29. The reason is that it will host several events related to the summit, including several cultural visits and two dinners.

The Royal Palace has been closed since last Friday the 24th and will remain without visits until Wednesday the 29th of June included. The reason is the organization of a dinner on Tuesday 28 offered by the kings to the NATO delegates and their companions.

The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, reiterated this Sunday that they will be “very complicated days” for the city “from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday”, since “Madrid is going to be a blocked city because it is going to affect Ifema, also to the backbone, the Castellana, as well as the entire north-south axis, M-30, M-40 and Nudo Norte”, he advanced before explaining in detail all the traffic cuts this Monday.

Among the delegations attending this event are the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, the 30 allied countries, four invited Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea), four other member countries of the European Union but not of the Alliance, as well as the heads of the European Commission and the European Council.

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NOTE: this guide will be updated as the different administrations and institutions update their forecasts for this week.





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