Memory Tickets

Spain

Best apps for traveling in Spain

The apps worth installing before a trip to Spain: trains, metro, taxis, food, parking, translation, mobile data, and one for the memories.

Updated · 4 min read

The Alhambra in Granada, with the Sierra Nevada behind it

Spain is easy to travel with a phone, as long as the right apps are on it before you land. This is the short list: what each app is for, and the one thing worth knowing about it. None of these are sponsored. Going on to Italy too? We have the same list for Italy.

Trains

High-speed trains are the fastest way between Spain's big cities, and three companies now run them on the main lines, so the same trip can cost very different amounts.

  • Renfe: the national rail operator. Its app sells tickets for AVE high-speed trains, its low-cost Avlo trains and most long-distance routes, and keeps them on your phone. Local commuter trains (Cercanías, called Rodalies around Barcelona) have a separate Renfe app.
  • Iryo: a private high-speed operator linking Madrid with Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Córdoba, Málaga and Alicante.
  • Ouigo: a low-cost high-speed operator from Madrid to Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Murcia, Valladolid, Seville and Málaga. Its cheapest fares are strict about luggage, so check what yours includes.
  • Trainline: sells Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo in one English-language app, which makes comparing easy. It adds a booking fee, so for a ticket you already know you want, the operator's own app can be cheaper.

Get to the station 20 to 30 minutes before a high-speed train. Bags go through an X-ray scanner before the platform. It is quicker than at an airport: liquids and laptops stay in the bag.

Getting around cities

  • Google Maps: public transport directions work in the big cities. Download offline maps before you go, for old towns where narrow streets and a weak signal make the blue dot wander.
  • Citymapper: step-by-step transit directions in Madrid and Barcelona, and also in Valencia, Seville, Málaga, Granada, Zaragoza, the Basque Country and the Balearic Islands.
  • Moovit: covers public transport in many more Spanish cities and towns.

In Madrid and Barcelona you can pay for the metro by tapping a contactless bank card or your phone at the gates (Madrid added this in June 2026), so for a short stay you may not need a transit ticket at all.

Taxis and rides

Cabify (a Spanish company), Uber and Bolt work in Madrid and other big cities, and FREENOW books licensed taxis across Spain. On the street, a taxi with a green light on the roof is free, and the official ranks at stations and airports are always an option.

Food

  • TheFork: book restaurant tables in a couple of taps. Many restaurants on it offer a discount when you book through the app.
  • Too Good To Go: bakeries, cafés and shops sell unsold food at the end of the day for a fraction of the price.
  • Glovo and Just Eat: food delivery in the bigger cities. Glovo started in Barcelona.
  • Google Translate: point the camera at a menu to translate it. Download Spanish for offline use before you go. In Barcelona many signs and menus are in Catalan, which Google Translate also handles.

Spain eats late. Lunch usually starts around 2 p.m., and many restaurants only begin serving dinner at 8:30 or 9. Kitchens often close in between, so a booked table saves you a hungry walk at 6 p.m.

Driving and parking

The road through Teide National Park on Tenerife. On the islands, a rental car is the easiest way to reach the places buses do not.
The road through Teide National Park on Tenerife. On the islands, a rental car is the easiest way to reach the places buses do not.
  • EasyPark: pay for street parking from your phone in Madrid and many other Spanish cities, and extend the time without walking back to the car.
  • SMOU: Barcelona's own city app for the blue and green street parking zones there.

Every Spanish city with more than 50,000 people has to have a low-emission zone (ZBE). A car rented in Spain normally carries the environmental sticker that lets it in. If you drive your own car from abroad, check the city's rules before driving into the center. Barcelona, for example, asks foreign cars to register first.

Mobile data

If your phone plan is from the EU, roaming in Spain costs the same as at home. From the US and elsewhere, an eSIM app like Airalo or Saily lets you buy a data plan before you land, often for less than your carrier's international pass. Check first that your phone supports eSIM and is unlocked.

Paying

Cards, contactless and phone payments work almost everywhere. When a card machine or an ATM offers to charge you in your home currency instead of euros, say no and pay in euros: the "convenient" conversion comes with a worse rate. A card without foreign transaction fees saves more than any app.

Big sights

The Alhambra in Granada and the Sagrada Família and Park Güell in Barcelona sell timed tickets that run out in high season, the Alhambra especially far ahead. Alhambra tickets carry your name and are checked against your ID. Book each one on its official website; resellers charge more for the same entry.

Keeping the trip

  • Memory Tickets (ours): one photo from each day of the trip becomes a keepsake ticket with a title, a place, a date and one line about why it was worth keeping. A week in Spain becomes seven tickets instead of 600 photos you never open again. Free on iPhone, works offline, and your photos stay on your phone.

For ways to remember the trip that need no app at all, see how to remember your trips.

The short version

Before you fly: Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo (or Trainline to compare them), Google Maps with offline maps, Cabify or Uber, TheFork, Google Translate with Spanish downloaded, EasyPark if you are driving, an eSIM if you are not on an EU plan, and one app to keep the days from blurring together.