World Country Guide

Travel - International

Note
For information on travel to and within the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, see the respective sections.
There is a continuing threat in Spain from both domestic and international terrorism. 192 people died and over 1400 were injured following bomb attacks on three trains in Madrid in March 2004. A group purporting to represent Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility. ETA, the Basque terrorist group, continues to threaten further attacks, including against the tourism industry. However, most visits to Spain are trouble-free.

Air
Spain’s national airline is IBERIA (IB) (website: www.iberia.com). Many airlines operate to Spain, including an increasing number of low-cost airlines from the UK.

Approximate flight times
From Barcelona to London is two hours; from Ibiza is two hours 20 minutes; from Madrid is two hours 15 minutes and from Mlaga is two hours 40 minutes. From Madrid to Los Angeles is 13 hours; to New York is seven hours 25 minutes; to Sydney is 30 hours.

International airports
Spain boasts over 30 international airports. Information on the major airports follows; information on any of the others can be obtained from AENA (Aeropuertos Espanoles y Navegacin Area) Calle Arturo Soria 109, Madrid 28043 (tel: (90) 240 4704 (customer service line); website: www.aena.es), which is the organisation responsible for running all of the Spanish airports.
Madrid (MAD) (Barajas) is 15km (9 miles) northeast of the city. A bus service departs to the city around every 10 to 30 minutes (0700-2400) and underground services run every four to seven minutes (0600-0130). Taxi service is available. Airport facilities include restaurants and bars, bank, several car hire offices, hotel reservation and tourist information desks, and outgoing duty free shop.
Barcelona (BCN) (del Prat) is 12km (7 miles) southwest of the city. Bus service to the city departs Mon-Fri every 15 minutes, Sat every 30 mins and Sun every 20 mins (0600-2400). Rail service is every 30 minutes (0645-2340). Taxi service to the city is available, costing about 18 (travel time - 30 minutes). Airport facilities include a bank, restaurant, bar, several car hire companies, hotel reservation and tourist information desks and duty free shops.
Alicante (ALC) (Altet) is 12km (7 miles) southwest of the city. Bus service runs to the city (0655-2310) every 10 to 40 minutes, costing 1. A taxi service is available to the city, costing about 12. There is a taxi connection between Alicante and Valencia Airport. Airport facilities include a duty free shop, bank, bureau de change, car hire, tourist information and restaurant.
Bilbao (BIO) (Sondika) is 10km (6 miles) north of the city. Bus and taxi services to the city are available (travel time - 30 minutes) and cost about 1. Airport facilities include a restaurant, duty free shop, tourist information desk and car hire.
Mlaga (AGP) is 10km (6 miles) southwest of the city. Buses run every 10 to 30 minutes (travel time - 20 minutes). Train service runs every 30 minutes and cost about 1. Taxi service to the city is available, costing 12. Airport facilities include duty free shop, bank/bureau de change, restaurant and car hire.
Santiago de Compostela (SCQ) is 10km (6 miles) northeast of the city. Buses and taxis are available to the city centre (travel time - 10 to 15 minutes). Airport facilities include bar, banks, car hire and shops.
Seville (SVQ) is 8km (5 miles) from the city. Taxis and buses are available to the city centre (travel time - 20 to 30 minutes).
Valencia (VLC) (Manises) is 8km (5 miles) west of the city. Taxis and buses (0600-2300, every 15 minutes) are available to the city centre (travel time - 60 minutes (bus), 30 minutes (taxi). Airport facilities include several car hire firms, bank/bureau de change, restaurant, bar and duty free shop.

Departure tax
None.

Sea
Brittany Ferries (tel: (08703) 665 333; website: www.brittany-ferries.com) operates a service to Santander (on the north coast) from Plymouth (travel time – 18 hours), twice-weekly. P&O European Ferries (tel: (08705) 202020; website: www.poportsmouth.com) operates a twice-weekly service from Portsmouth to Bilbao (travel time – 35 hours).

Rail
There are direct trains between Madrid–Paris and Madrid–Lisbon, as well as Barcelona–Paris, Barcelona– Zrich or Milan and Barcelona–Geneva. These services are called Estrella, Talgo or Train-Hotel. On other international services to and from Spain, a change of train is necessary. However, work on the AVE (high-velocity train) route between Madrid and Barcelona is expected to be completed in 2006, after which the French border connection is expected to be fully operational in 2010 and it will be possible to connect with the French TGV (high-velocity route) and the rest of the high-velocity routes in Europe. Motorail services run between Paris and Madrid. For more information, contact the Spanish Rail service (tel: (020) 7224 0345; e-mail: enquiries@spanish-rail.co.uk; website: www.spanish-rail.co.uk). Travelling from the UK, the quickest way is to travel by Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel to Paris (travel time – three hours) with a connection to Spain. For further information and reservations contact Eurostar (tel: (0870) 600 0792 (travel agents) or (08705) 186 186 (public; within the UK) or (+44 1233) 617 575 (public; outside the UK only); website: www.eurostar.com); or Rail Europe (tel: (08705) 848 848). Travel agents can obtain refunds for unused tickets from Eurostar For Agents, 2nd Floor, Kent House, 81 Station Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 1PD, UK. Complaints and comments may be sent to Eurostar Customer Relations, Eurostar House, Waterloo Station, London SE1 8SE, UK (tel: (020) 7928 5163; e-mail: new.comments@eurostar.co.uk).

Road
The main route from the UK is via France. The main motorways to Spain from France are via Bordeaux or Toulouse to Bilbao (northern Spain) and via Marseille or Toulouse to Barcelona (eastern Spain). A number of coach operators offer services to Spain. In the UK, Eurolines, departing from Victoria Coach Station in London, serves more than 20 destinations in Spain. For further information, contact Eurolines, 52 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1, UK (tel: (08705) 143 219; website: www.eurolines.com or www.nationalexpress.com).
For information on documentation and traffic regulations, see Travel – Internal section.