hey mm'ers

I don't usually drive, but I have some visitors coming into town next week from France. They are driving and I am trying to help them figure out where they can park their van. They will be in town 3 days or so.

I've never tried street parking, but I know our neighborhood is zoned (La Latina). The parking lot in La Cebada is pretty expensive (25-30eur a day). I bet Plaza España and other parking lots are similar. I was wondering if anyone has parked at Atocha? Maybe park somewhere on the outskirts and metro into the center? The airport is also a possibility. Any other ideas?

Thanks

hey xian.

the parking lot out at the canillejas metro stop comes to mind since it is on the same line as you are.

i do not know if it is zoned though you would have to go check it out.

saludos,
jer...

Hi Papa bajo,

For what it's worth, whenever we fly out of town we usually park the car in Barajas (the town) and take a taxi to the airport. Could be something your friends might want to consider.

I don't know about the outskirts of the city closer to La Latina but can tell you that the newer developments of Monte Carmelo, Las Tablas and Sanchinarro all have plenty of unzoned parking available and the buses (at least from Sanchinarro) run frequently (every 6-8 minutes) to Plaza Castilla (specifically the 173 and 174).

Good luck!

Montecarmelo only has one bus for right now and thatis the 178 from Plaza de Castilla. It runs about every 10 - 12 minutes and takes about 15 minutes to get to Montecarmelo, without traffic.

Shawn

ppbajo,

I live in La Latina and have a car. I finally blagged a resident's permit allowing me to park on the street outside, but for a few months before I got my permit the closest place i could park my car for free was across the Rio Manzanares along Paseo de la Ermita del Santo, which is straight down along Paseo de los Pontones (starting at Puerta de Toledo). That was free and it was quite easy to find a space. Plenty of traffic going by also and not too many people on foot, which means its less likely to be broken into! It took me about a 15min walk to get back up to La Latina.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

the other question is, assuming you can find on street parking, is that do they follow through on parking tickets, in other words part on the street and ignore the fines. I've done that on occation, only time it didn't work was when I tried that in Austria and got fined 35 euros for parking in a handicap spot. Quite reasonable by Madrid standards

Xian, what Rob wrote above is gonna save yer ass!!!

where is the group´s van registered? is it a rental from France?

i have it on PERFECT authority that the parking tix that are issued here in madrid ARE NOT FOLLOWED UP outside of madrid.

yes, you read correctly. if the car has foreign plates on it, the fine cannot stick.

this pretty much gives your buds free park-wherever-they-sale-de-los-cojones while here

what is "PERFECT AUTHORITY" you ask?

as we (friend and driver alfonso and i) were distributing TBS - The Broadsheet i saw a porsche boxter parked illegally outside one of the places i had to drop mags. there was a "meter maid" writing tickets and i said to her "ponles dos, se lo pueden permitir" ("give them two, they can afford it") jokingly ( ok, half jokingly ) to which she responded that it did not matter anyway since the ticket will not stick since the car had geman plates. sure thing, i looked at the plates and the car was from germany.

i told her i had no idea and she went on to explain that the tickets here in madrid only reach those from madrid so even if the car was from say galicia, the ticket would be invalid.

she said she writes out the ticket anyway and leaves it on the windshield in case the zone inspector (aka her boss) comes around for an inspection.

when i got back in the car i mentioned it to alfonso and he said that it was true. he went on to tell me that his in-laws from galicia for example get tickets when visiting madrid and the tickets never reach them in galicia nor do they ever go on their record.

go figure

saludos,
jer...

Free parking is one thing, finding another parking spot is another. It's not easy to do. Friday nights around La latina it's solid cars not a parking spot anywhere, they park 3-4 deep almost into the street!

Rob.

it is not just fridays, any afternoon after 5pm is difficult pretty much everywhere in the center.

quote:

Friday nights around La latina it's solid cars not a parking spot anywhere,

this is also complicated further by the fact that the rastro on sunday blocks a lot of spots out and they are taken up on friday by trucks that will unload sunday morning.

if xian's friends or anyone else can park anywhere, all they need to do is park after 10am and before 4pm, that is when there are a lot of open spots since people are at work.

saludos,
jer...

hey, hmm interesting. breakin the law.

one question: what about getting towed? does that happen here? Never seen it here, but do they ever use "the boot?" (a metal clamp around the car's tire that immobilizes it).

Sorry, I have to ask since I was towed, booted, etc. many times in DC for mucho dinero. Ahh... good times.

hey xian.

i other countries of europe they are more likely to tow or throw a boot on the car but for that to happen here you need to be seriously breaking the parking laws such as in a handicapped spot, in front of a hospital or police station, blocking a garage door ("vado permanente") etc...

other than that, the van will just collect tickets. if they do ticket it, it is a good idea to go by every few days and take the tickets off the widshield since if they are there for many days and get a few tix a day, they could pile up on the car and that would make it look like it is abandoned.

saludos,
jer...

so xian, what did they end up doing with the van?

enquiring minds want to know

saludos,
jer...

hey jer,

They parked it wherever they could find a space and got several tickets. One was for 90 euros! They were happy not to have to pay for parking. thanks for your help folks...

start beavis and butthead voice ...

breakin the law! breakin the law! (insert head bangin gremlin here).

i love it xian, glad it worked out.

saludos,
jer...