Madrid
Practical guide for foreigners in Madrid: padrón, immigration, healthcare, rent by district, public transportation and integration resources.
Trámites esenciales
📍 Empadronamiento
The padrón is the register of a municipality’s residents and serves as proof of where you live. Everyone living in Spain must register on the padrón of the municipality where they live (Law 7/1985, arts. 15 and 16).
How: Two routes, which cannot be used at the same time: online, on the City Council’s e-government site with an electronic ID, or in person by mandatory appointment at a Línea Madrid Citizen Service Office. Book the appointment online, by calling 010 (free from within the city) or 914 800 010, in the name of the adult who will handle the process.
Documentos:
- The padrón form (hoja padronal), signed by hand by every adult
- Original, valid ID: your residence permit or, if you do not have one, your passport
- A current rental contract for the home or room, signed by everyone, for at least six months and showing the cadastral reference (or a deed, purchase contract or land registry extract)
- If you have none of these: the registration authorization signed on the padrón form by the person who has the right to use the home, with their ID and their title to the home
💡 If you are undocumented, your passport is valid (Law 7/1985, art. 16.2.f). If you live in Madrid but cannot prove where with documents and nobody can authorize you, the City Council says it can advise you and assess your situation. Non-EU nationals without long-term residence must renew their registration every two years or they are removed from the register (Law 7/1985, art. 16.1). It is not immediate: the City Council reviews the application and has up to three months to decide. If you apply in person, you can get your padrón certificate at the same appointment.
🏛️ Extranjería
Immigration Office: Calle Del Fuego, 26 28100, Madrid (Comunidad de Madrid) · Calle San Nicasio, 31 28911, Madrid (Comunidad de Madrid) · Avenida Plaza de Toros, 14 28025, Madrid (Comunidad de Madrid) · Calle Silva, 19 28004, Madrid (Comunidad de Madrid) · Calle García de Paredes, 65 28010, Madrid (Comunidad de Madrid)
Official directory (DIR3) — read on 4 September 2026
No verified data on how long this office takes: what we had was written by a language model, not measured, and it has been withdrawn. The legal deadline for each procedure, with its article of the official gazette, is in our deadlines tool. Legal immigration deadlines →
Immigration appointments are booked on the Public Administration e-government site. The office addresses above come from the official directory.
Pedir cita en extranjería →🪪 NIE / TIE
NIE (Foreigner Identity Number): your personal tax/ID number in Spain. TIE (Foreigner Identity Card): the physical card that carries your NIE.
You apply for the TIE in person at the immigration office or the relevant police station, with form EX-17 and proof of payment of fee 790 code 012 (Policía Nacional). Appointments are booked on the Public Administration e-government site.
Pedir cita para TIE →Housing rental
Prices vary a lot from one district to another. The district table shows the estimated 2026 range for all 21, calculated from official data.
Madrid is not declared a stressed residential market area, so rents in new contracts have no legal cap: the parties set them freely (art. 17.1 LAU). The declaration is made by the regional government, and the Ministry of Housing publishes the list of declared areas. Official registry of the Ministry of Housing, checked on 4 September 2026.
| Price | €/mes |
|---|---|
| Cheaper end (25th percentile) | 700 € |
| Median | 869 € |
| Pricier end (75th percentile) | 1166 € |
| Median floor area | 66 m² · 13,97 €/m² |
| Estimated 2026 | 740–1240 € |
Monthly rent for the whole home (flats) according to the State Reference System for Rental Prices of the Spanish Ministry of Housing, based on rents declared in income tax returns by private landlords. These are contracts already signed, not listing prices: looking for a flat today you will normally pay more. Data from 2024 (300.447 declared contracts). Official SERPAVI page
Estimated figures: 2024 contracts from SERPAVI (Spanish Ministry of Housing) updated with the rent component of the CPI for the Community of Madrid (INE): +3.0% in 2025 and, on top of 2025, +3.3% through August 2026. The range runs from the cheapest 25% to the priciest 25% of contracts, depending on the size, condition and amenities of the apartment. If you sign a new lease, expect to pay somewhat more: the CPI also includes older leases. CPI, INE table 76137
📈 Careful reading the median as “what I will pay”: it measures what all tenants pay, and most have been in the same contract for years. Spain’s statistics office separates the two, and in Madrid (2024) rents on new contracts rose 9.2% against 2.7% for existing ones. After 2024 there is no official rental statistic by municipality; the freshest official figure is the rent component of the CPI (2.6% year on year in 2026-07), which also measures the whole stock, not asking prices. If you are signing now, expect to pay above these figures.
Rent by district
| District | Estimated 2026 (€/month) | 2024 contracts (official) |
|---|---|---|
| Villaverde | 610–850 € | 572–800 € |
| Puente de Vallecas | 640–860 € | 600–805 € |
| Usera | 640–910 € | 600–859 € |
| Carabanchel | 650–900 € | 612–850 € |
| Latina | 680–940 € | 643–881 € |
| Villa de Vallecas | 710–960 € | 665–900 € |
| Moratalaz | 740–1010 € | 694–950 € |
| Vicálvaro | 690–1010 € | 650–954 € |
| San Blas-Canillejas | 730–1040 € | 690–977 € |
| Ciudad Lineal | 740–1070 € | 700–1007 € |
| Tetuán | 750–1210 € | 709–1134 € |
| Barajas | 800–1240 € | 750–1167 € |
| Centro | 800–1360 € | 750–1280 € |
| Arganzuela | 820–1290 € | 774–1211 € |
| Fuencarral-El Pardo | 830–1360 € | 784–1280 € |
| Hortaleza | 850–1370 € | 800–1288 € |
| Moncloa-Aravaca | 870–1520 € | 821–1428 € |
| Retiro | 900–1520 € | 850–1428 € |
| Chamartín | 930–1570 € | 878–1472 € |
| Salamanca | 930–1700 € | 871–1600 € |
| Chamberí | 940–1690 € | 882–1587 € |
Nearby towns
Estimated 2026 rents in towns in the metropolitan area, using the same calculation.
| Town | Estimated 2026 (€/month) | 2024 contracts (official) |
|---|---|---|
| Getafe | 640–900 € | 600–850 € |
| Leganés | 620–850 € | 581–800 € |
| Móstoles | 640–860 € | 600–808 € |
| Alcalá de Henares | 640–850 € | 600–800 € |
Public transport
Red: Metro, Metro Ligero (light rail), Cercanías Renfe commuter trains, EMT city buses and intercity buses
Standard fare. Youth pass (born 2000–2011): €10; over 65: free. It is loaded onto the personal Public Transport Card.
⏳ 2026 fares (BOCM no. 311, December 31, 2025).
Official fare — read on the official source on 25 September 2026: «TÍTULO 30 DÍAS … NORMAL … A 32,70 €»
Monthly passes are loaded onto the Consorcio de Transportes’ personal Public Transport Card: you apply by appointment at a management office, it costs €4 the first time and lasts ten years. You need a photo, your DNI, passport or residence permit, and a padrón certificate issued within the last three months (CRTM).
Educación
Free, compulsory public education from age 6 to 16
Aulas de Enlace (bridge classrooms): Community of Madrid classes for foreign students who arrive with serious gaps in Spanish. They cover grades 3–6 of primary school and ESO (secondary), and the school placement committee offers the place when it assigns a school.
Up to 9 months of actual attendance, over one or two school years; then the student joins a regular class full time (EducaMadrid).
The homologation of non-university degrees is requested at the Ministerio de Educación (Ministry of Education).
Homologar títulos →Sanidad
Sistema: SERMAS (Madrid Health Service)
Registering on the padrón is not enough to get a health card. First the National Social Security Institute (INSS) recognizes your entitlement (as a worker, pensioner, benefit recipient, dependent or legal resident), and then you request the card at your health center with your ID or TIE and your padrón certificate (Law 16/2003, art. 3 bis; Community of Madrid). If you are undocumented, you do not get a card but the DASE.
Primary care, specialists, emergencies, hospitalization — all free with a health card.
💡 Undocumented people are entitled to public healthcare (Law 16/2003, art. 3 ter) through the Community of Madrid’s DASE. You can apply if you have been in Spain for more than 90 days, have been registered on the padrón in Spain for at least 3 months, do not hold a valid short-stay visa and cannot export coverage from your home country. Start at your health center, which books you an appointment at the processing unit; if your paperwork is complete you leave with a provisional document (valid up to 3 months), and the final one is valid for two years. There is no fee.
Jobs
Madrid city employment agency
More information →Community of Madrid employment offices
- Registering as a job seeker, free of charge
- Appointments via 012 or the Virtual Employment Office
To register you must live in the Community of Madrid and be over 16; non-EU nationals need a valid residence and/or work permit (Community of Madrid).
Official page →