Cycling in Madrid


The city of Madrid has been increasing in the last years its network of bicycle paths. In 2016, there were 195 km of cycling routes. The former city council had been planning to build 400 km more for the year 2024 despite a very vocal opposition to the construction of segregated infrastructure by a significant part of the local cycling community. However now with the new right wing mayor elected in 2019 the city is set to be the only capital in the world where bicycle lanes are being removed again.

Cycling by-laws

Madrid's cycling law is called Ordenanza de Movilidad Sostenible, or translated to English, sustainable mobility ordinance. It was approved by the council of Madrid 5 October 2018. This law introduced several changes in all the city of Madrid, some of them modifying the previous status of the bicycle. The most important changes were:
in Spain.
In Spain's Spanish, all kind of bicycle infrastructure segregated from cars are called informally carril bici, which means bicycle lane. By the way, the Madrid's sustainable mobility law defines 8 types of bicycle ways.
Nevertheless, other argue that there are up to 16 types of bikeways in Madrid.

Sidewalk cycle-path

This is a bicycle path at the same level of the sidewalk. In Spanish is called acera-bici. This means that the segregation between pedestrians and cyclists doesn't exists or there are a difference of less than 3cm between the height of the cycleway and the pavement. In this kind of infrastructure, cyclists must yield to pedestrians when crossing transversaly the cycleway. There is a speed limit of 10km/h to cyclist Examples of sidewalk cycle-paths can be found in O'Donnell Street or Serrano Street.

Bicycle lane

This is a lane of the road that can be only used by bicycles. In Spanish is called carril-bici. It can have rumble strips as lane line. Examples of this type of infrastructure can be found at Toledo Street, Alcalá Street, Mayor Street, Oporto Avenue or Mayorazgo Avenue. There are also some bicycle lanes that run between a bus lane and other lanes, as in Carranza Street, Atocha Street or Gran Vía.

Protected bicycle lane

This is also a lane of the road than can be only used by bicycle, but is protected with parked vehicles, bollards, kerbs or armadillos. It is called carril-bici protegido in Spanish. This bicycle infrastructure can be found in Santa Engracia Street, Camino de los Vinateros, Chopera Promenade or Francisco Largo Caballero Street.

Shared-use paths

, which are calle senda-bici in Spanish, are ways for pedestrians and cycles that run through open spaces, parks, gardens or forests, separated from road with motorized traffic. In those paths pedestrians have always priority and cyclists have a speed limit of 20km/h. Usually, if not marked by a sign, all parks with paved paths of more than 3m are considered shared use paths. If there are a lot of crowding and no separation between bicycles and pedestrians, maximum speed will be 5km/h. In forest zones and suburban parks, bicycles can ride through inner paths.
The most important shared-use path is Madrid Río, a park located in the banks of the Manzanares River and opened in 2011.

Car-shared lanes

Car-shared lanes are lanes marked with shared-lane markings or sharrows. In Spanish there are called ciclocarril. This kind of infrastructure is marked with the drawing of a bicycle on the pavement and two "corporal" arrows that spans all the width of the lane. This is by far the most usual kind of infrastracture that can be found in Madrid. This lane has a speed limit of 30km/h and is marked on the road, except in one lane streets, because in Madrid street with only one lane in a direction are de facto limited to 30km/h.
This kind of infrastructure gives no rights to the cyclists going on them.

Cyclestreet

A cyclestreet is a street exclusive or preferential for bicycles in both ways. If other vehicles can access to this street, they must be explicitly authorized by a signal. As of 2019, the only cyclestreet in Madrid is at Puerta del Sol.

Bicycle path

A bicycle path are a cycleway that has its own platform, segregated both from the road and the pavement. This is called in Spanish pista bici. This segregations must be accomplished by a 3cm difference in height between the pavement and the cycleway or by a continuous segregation. Some examples of bicycle paths are in some sections of the Complutense Avenue, in some sections of Anillo Verde Ciclista and in the Juan Antonio Vallejo-Nájera Botas Promenade.

Advanced stop lights

are road markings near junction lights with the pictogram of a bicycle and a motorbike. Both cyclists and motorcyclists may use it. Advanced stop lines in Madrid doesn't have a feeder lane, so cyclists have to filter through cars in order to arrive there. However, if there ir a bus lane, it is allowed to cyclists to use it to arrive at the front.

BiciMAD

is a public service of bicycle-sharing. It began operations in 2014 and it comprises with 123 stations and 1580 bicycles.

Bicycle Racing

, Spain's most popular cycling competition, always ends in Madrid.

''Anillo Verde Ciclista''

The Anillo Verde Ciclista is a bikeway that surrounds the city of Madrid. It is 64 kilometres long, and the average time to go across it is 4 hours and a half. It was built by phases, between the year 1995 and 2007.

''Madrid Río''

Madrid Río is a park located in the banks of the Manzanares River. It opened in 2011, and it is crossed by a cycle route shared with pedestrians.