The M-30 (and Madrid generally) is very difficult to navigate for foreigners. But it keeps things fluid and allows huge amounts of traffic which would be chaos anywhere else in Europe. It has bizarre things such as "braided knots" - basically 4 lane highways merging into and crossing over each other requiring drivers to navigate each other at quite high speed even in very heavy traffic. Road signs are symbols which are hard to understand without a mental map of Madrid and Spain and where you are in your current location. For example, all Madridians know that the A1 goes to Burgos in the North, the A2 to Barcelona, the A3 to Valencia the A4 down to Andalusia, the A5 to Portugal and the A6 to Galicia. Between these there are minor highways such as the M-607 which goes to Colmenar (between A6 and A1) and the A-42 between the A4 and A5 which goes to Toledo. Knowing whether you are going clockwise or anti-clockwise allows people to immediately locate themselves on the city in comparison to where they are going. e.g. if Im going clockwise and I see signs for the A3 exit, I know Im somewhere between the North East and the East of the city. The best invention in the Spanish road system is the "all directions" sign - basically tells you "if you are lost don't worry, just go this way and you will find a way to get there". Incidentally the roadworks in 8:23 have become a major headache for people living in North Madrid. At 5:20 you catch a glimpse of Madrid bullring.
You are so right in conclusions about Madrid streets :) Is is always recomended here to know exactly where are you going becouse otherwise you'll get lost :) For me the road network sometimes recalls a crazy man's ideas... but it works unless you know when and where take a turn: sometimes you just have one shot and you can't miss it 😉
@@pawelwitecki This is particularly true in the east side of the M30 going southbound. The road splits in two and if you take the "fast lane" you are screwed if you want to turn off into the center any time soon. Bad for you, but great for traffic.
You're kinda right. But when you are used to spanish traffic signs system, it's very easy to drive. I myself sometimes prefer to trust the signs rather than the navigator.
"...hard to understand without a mental map of Madrid..." How do you think it compares to Japanese cities whose minor roads are unnamed, but where each city block is numbered in geographical serpentine fashion within each named subdistrict? (or in Cartesian manner as with Sapporo, which is a bit like Mannheim too)
This city needed your camera and your talent, although you have been slow to film the roads of Madrid, your work does not disappoint and it is worth it. awesome chris . thanks for sharing this great video with us . 5 star
Fantastic video! I would say that with all those autovias and autopistas Greater Madrid has THE most impressive motorway network out of any city in the world.
The Madrid motorway system is huge. There are three beltways, one bypass, six major radial routes, in addition to numerous regional links. The whole regional motorway system approaches 1,000 kilometers.
@@EuropeanRoads There must never be traffic there, since there are SO many freeways! The density of freeways is just as great, if not greater than an American city.
@@compdude100 Madrid has some congestion, but it's much less than other cities of this size in Europe. Rush hour is shorter too, especially compared to Paris or German cities. Spanish cities rank among the least congested cities in Europe. Madrid is also one of the few cities with a 120 km/h beltway.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the tolled radial motorways (e.g. R-2, R-3) are usually pretty empty, because not many are willing to pay the toll and there is often a free autovia running parallel to them.
@@GreatAussieDrives That's correct. The toll road AP-41 to Toledo has only about 500 vehicles per day at some locations, making it one of the least-used motorways ever. Everyone uses A-42 (which is featured in the beginning of the video).
Madrid ha sido y sigue ser una ciudad muy bonito estoy mirando ese vídeo después de 14 años de no volver de Madrid justo después de inaugurar el bypass he vuelto a mi país pero estoy mirando ese vídeo para recordarme❤️
Thanks a lot for this video! The image quality is superb, considering that you filmed towards all directions, inside tunnels, with direct sunlight and with the sun covered by the clouds - but still the white balance is perfect! You put a good effort in making those signs, it must have taken you a lot of time, especially considering the amount of abbreviations (c/, av., Pº, pza...) and road numbers. Also, you seem to know more about Spanish roads than almost any Spaniard :)
At 4:24 you can catch a glimpse at some maintenance works on the A-3 bridge over the M-30. They are rising every section of the bridge, and it's pretty weird to see the hole and the M-30 below it when you're driving along the bridge.
Awesome video. As a Spaniard I'm so proud of our roads and specially our Motorways. PS: 5:33 to the right is my Mom's family neighbourhood. I almost shouted "Hi granma".
Well, not as bad as living for decades in an old fashioned heavy industrialized area. You only have to notice the higher life expectancy of Madrid (I mean before the virus, of course) if you compare to the Basque Country, for instance.
@@chemsenESP Tu contestación es ambigua. ¿Qué es lo que tiene igual? España hasta 1941 tenía el horario de Inglaterra y Portugal, que es el que le corresponde. Por tener el horario de Berlín, que está casi en Polonia, es por lo que 3 meses al año el sol se pone alrededor de las 21:30, que no es precisamente algo normal.
At last. You did it. Long long time wating for this vid. Love love M30 M40 M45 and M50 and love love 🇪🇸 Madrid. Thank you very very much for this. You made my day and weekend. Take care. Un abrazo campeón eres el mejor.
That was a wow thank you..I've travelled the M30 but was preoccupied too much with not dying to appreciate the extraordinary accomplishment of any engineering masterpiece that it truly is. 👍
Vielen lieben Dank. Es braucht nicht immer nur Luxus um andere eine Freude zu bringen und glücklich machen zu können. Auch solche kleinen Dinge können schon das größte und unbezahlbare Geschenk für einen sein und einem sein Herz zum Leuchten bringen. Für mich solche Dinge unbezahlbar. 🥰🕊
I remember the MC 30 tunnel being built and we had to drive in the river during construction! The tunnel system is similar style to Singapore expressway tunnel system, very impressive.
Madrid is a pretty big city: the metropolitan population is around 7 million. However I feel it's not as well-known, it draws fewer tourists than London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, etc.
From like 7 to 09,30h the whole M-30 is a full traffic jam but I guessed it'd be the same in every major city. As a madrileño, I must agree with your statement.
@@EuropeanRoads The first letter is for the city. M for Madrid. B for Barcelona. MA for Málaga. Then you have a number. In Madrid, if the number is bigger, is further from the center of the city. M-30 is closer than M-50. All the exits are marked as the KM of the road. So if you have a exit at Km 30 of the road, the number should be exit 30. If the next exit is on KM 32, the exit number will be 32, so the exit 31 will never exist. If the exit has two exits, they will be marked as A or B or C or whatever. For example, my exit is called 15-B because there is another "A" exit. The highways are marked with A and number. For example A-6 or A-3 and they are marked with the EU registration too, for example E-15 (That is the A-7). If the highway has a toll; they are marked AP for "AUTOPISTA de PEAJE". So you will know if you have to pay for that or not. Its a little bit complex but you wont be lost if you understand that.
It kind of depends on who is the owner of the road. Main state-owned roads are usually *N* (national), *A* (autovía/freeway) and *AP* (autopista de peaje/toll motorway). [Note: some Autonomous Communities don't have any state-owned roads but they still keep this system for consistency]. Then, roads managed by Autonomous Communities usually have their prefix (ex. *A* = Aragon, *C* = Catalonia, etc.). Urban motorways and ring roads have the prefix of the city (ex. *M* = Madrid, *B* = Barcelona, etc.) Local and provincial roads have the prefix of the province, but there are many variations to this system in each region and it's a bit of a mess. Finally, there are some additional prefixes, like the *R* for radial and *E* for European routes (European numbers are always displayed next to the spanish number). But this is not all!! There is also a colour code for each road type. *Blue* is for all freeways and motorways regardless of the owner, *red* for national roads, *orange* for 1st category regional roads (main ones), *green* for 2nd. cat regional roads and *yellow* for 3rd cat. regional roads (small local roads). Unfortunately, there are exceptions, like Navarre not having any green 2nd cat. roads, or Catalonia colouring their 1st cat. regional roads in red instead of orange. Some provinces also use their own colour for the local roads they manage, like for example *grey* in Araba or *purple* in Soria. Finally, European route numbers are also *green.* To sum up, the prefix tells you the owner and the location of the road, while the colour tells the type/quality of the road. As you can see, there are many redundancies to this system, like A being the prefix for freeways, but also for Aragon and Andalusia regional roads; or green being the colour of main European routes and also small 2nd cat. regional roads... Anyway, I hope I made a bit of sense to this mess!! :D
The image quality is so good. You are doing a great job ! I have been living in Madrid for 18 years , and I miss the city so much. Thanks for remind me about the days that I lived there.
Haha, our UK motorways everywhere are full of traffic. There are no parallel motorways, so once a lorry crashed on the M6, everyone had to go through the countryside. I envy European infastructure.
M30, M40, M50 for people that don’t understand, Basically it is a circle inside each one, to go from one point to another quickly. No traffic lights and the speed normally is 90Km/h. Using normally street you need to go 20,30,50Km/h with many traffic light.
@@pawelwitecki Well there is only one section which is 50 - the avenida de la ilustracion which passes la vaguada which has traffic lights. Besides that the only bit I know of where people go down to 90 is where the speed radar is just passed that (anti-clockwise) - after that its rare seeing people going under 100. I think you know how it is in Madrid - traffic typically goes 20 or 30 kmph above speed limit. The 70 limit on the M30 is only when there is high pollution. I would know, its the only time I get fined. Same with La Castellana - limit is 50 but people typically drive at around 80. Madrid is a bit strange regarding its speeding limits. I have seen the limit at 30 in the tunnel of plaza Castilla. If anyone paid any attention to it, it would bring chaos to the city.
@@ade910 well, I have other obserations 😉 all tunnels are limited to 70, underground turnings to 50, former Vicente Calderon area is now limited to 50 and west part of m30 northbound from tunnel to Puente Frances (and back southbound) is also limited to 70... I would say drivers rather obey those limits. Speeding could be quite expensive
@@pawelwitecki Well yes, there are still roadworks in the Calderon area and yes you are right tunnels have a 70 limit. So it depends on the part of the ringroad. But there are not many radars on the M30. All but 5 are in the underground stretch in the south west. The northern third of the ringroad, which is where I live, just has one. Traffic is pretty fast driving down along the manzanares - many people definitely drive above 120. But things have gotten stricter and people do drive better though since I got my license here in 1999 . The DGT has done a good job changing habits. Back when I was young Madrid was a total jungle. You could get away with anything and speeding cameras didnt jump until maybe going 40 or 50km over the limit.
Watching this while driving through it in a bus... At this point my algorithm is sure it can throw anything at me and I'll watch it. Edit: I'm not the one driving the bus!
It was a "Nacional" (State) Freeway (N-401, N stands for "Nacional"), until late 2003, when the Spanish Government changed the denomination of freeways and tolled motorways (N-401 became A-42 & the tolled sections of A-7 became AP-7) Because of this, the A-42 is down-graded than other radial freeways in Madrid Metropolitan Area
I think graffiti is a nightmare everywhere. I just can’t believe they had the audacity to stand on the side of the road with no shoulder. Unless of course it was done during a closure or something. Which honestly probably makes a lot of sense
What is pending to be incorporated into the M-30 is the differentiation between the inner direction of the perimeter and the outer direction. This simple information facilitates orientation to outsiders and some people from Madrid. Otherwise it is a good big city ring road
@@ade910 t is not like that, roads and streets are indicated in both directions, although you circulate through the inner ring you can go out to the radial highways, as in any motorway junction.
Madrid has an unusual signage system due to the very extensive network of motorways, with 6 radial routes, 3 ring roads, 1 bypass and numerous regional links. They sign radial roads and ring roads as destinations, as opposed to having the signs loaded with suburbs and far away cities. Only the next radial route has a destination attached to it on the signage.
True, the main radial highways are usually signposted with the final destination rather than the closest city/suburb. I agree that this system might be a bit confusing if you are only driving within the metropolitan area
So lucky to have green lights in Avenida de la Ilustración!!. The Av. de América Bridge as you can see is a "Los Angeles style bridge" built by the americans in the 50's to connect with the Torrejon Air Base
Great video and a very recent one as well! I see you went here very recently. Did you go to Portugal and film something to us this time? I hope so... Cheers! ;)
M-30 has considerably higher traffic counts than M25. However M-30 has better capacity at those locations so it is not as congested. M-30 has 12 - 16 lanes on its busiest stretch.
@@EuropeanRoads it was a joke. Uk motorways are no longer fit for purpose. They are terrible in fact. They are made of coarse asphalt or concrete that generates a lot of noise.
@@blacov89 Of course had the ringways been completed in London (some parts of them were partially built) then the M25/A282 would have most likely been less busier
A-5 on a certain section seems to cross and divide formerly united parts of neighbourhood. Some buildings are very close to A-5, many of them seem to be abandoned.
If you take the "Bypass Sur" tunnels from the "Manzanares" tunnel (as shown in the video at 14:53), the combined length is 8.6 km (5.34 mi). The combined length of all M-30 tunnels is ~21 km (counting both directions)
The busiest part near M-23 has a traffic volume of 328,000 vehicles per day. This was not recorded during rush hour obviously (and on the tail end of the Spanish summer vacation). M-30 does not carry many trucks because there are other beltways for them. This leaves more space for cars, also making it less congested than it otherwise would be.
@@EuropeanRoads where u got that number? I've actually been searching for some time the IMD's of the different stretches of the M-30 and if you had the source it would be amazing.
Yes, but Spain is a non religious country. The spanish Constitution recognice the rights and respect Christians, muslims, jews and and and... But Spain is not religious. Is aconfesional = non-denominational. The Mosque is only for the immigrants that are muslims.
@@1986Richard rhino, por su puesto que soy defensor del Estado laico o de la fórmula española "aconfesional", pero no me negarás que la Iglesia católica tiene más privilegios que el resto de confesiones, echa un vistazo al modelo concertado educativo madrileño por poner un ejemplo; con mi comentario sólo quería jugar un poco, la presencia de una mezquita da una nota de color en un contexto español donde el nacional catolicismo (que por lo visto sigue vivo) quiere volver a imponer un régimen gris
@@tierraprometida8866 curioso, critícas la iglesia católica por su "régimen gris" de siglos atrás porque hoy en día es un ente cuasi extinto y no critícas el islam, una religión machista y radical que se expande por el globo. Los únicos que quieren imponer aquí su régimen son los islamistas, sino mira Afganistán, talibanes asesinos, el otro día 90 fallecidos/asesinados por atentado bomba en Kabul. Pero veo que cuentas lo que te sale de los huevos de forma arbitraria. La presencia de la mezquita ensucia el paisaje. Las religiones deberían ser todas prohibidas. La primera el islam, por machista que va diciéndole a lss mujeres lo que se tienen que poner y a todos los demás lo que pueden o no pueden comer, entre otras burradas.
Infrastructure spending in Spain has long been popular, especially since the late 1980s, eventually ending up with the largest motorway system in Europe (ahead of Germany & France). However the focus has shifted to high-speed rail over the past 15 years, road expenditures are actually not as high as you'd expect, but the construction cost in Spain is lower than almost anywhere else in Europe.
Madrid is rebuilding the north node to make it even more complicated 😆 there are also plans of hiding south node underground to free some land to develop buildings
I know, it's sickening; those disgusting tags are EVERYWHERE nowadays. You can drive in a little scenic road in the mountains and you will still find ugly graffiti and vandalism in the most unexpected places. This country makes me want to puke. Oh, and don't get me started with railways....
ES UN ECHO Y UNA REALIDAD ,,,,,,, 🤔 QUE SIN VISITAR ,,,,, MADRID 😘 NO PUEDES ESTAR ,,,,,,, POR QUE TE PUEDES PERDER UN LUGAR ,,,,,, MUY ESPECIAL ,,,,,,,🙂 💖 😘 QUE EN ESPAÑA SIEMPRE ESTA ,,,,,,, 🇪🇦
As a Spaniard, I need to correct some things: 1:33 The video's sign says "M-30 All Directions", but it really says that go to the M-30 anti-clockwise (The direction of the video) 8:01 The tallest tower in Madrid is 250 metres high, not 249 8:15 The left exit goes to Paseo de la Castellana, and the sign is not "P. Castellano", the real sign says "P. Castellana" & "La Paz" Hospital 7:34 , 8:40 , 9:00 & 9:09 It's "Avenida Ilustración", not 2 ls, just 1 l 8:44 You forgot to put the M-607 exit sign to "Avenida Cardenal Herrera Oria" & "Ramón y Cajal" Hospital 15:03 The "Bypass Sur" bypasses A-4 & A-42 only, not A-5, whose exit is on the entrance of the M-30 tunnels anti-clockwise END OF CORRECTION
@@hermericojimenez2616 Madrid has too many roads, that’s a fact. Some of the ring roads even went bankrupt and the state had to pay their rescue. And in a continent that’s trying to reduce car travel, Madrid is closer to being L.A. than it is to being Amsterdam.
@@CityWhisperer A ver, deberías salir del baserri más a menudo. Has ido a poner el peor ejemplo de todos. El Ranstad es la región con mayor densidad de carreteras y autopistas del mundo. Madrid tiene una red de metro, cercanías y metro ligero que es de las más avanzadas del planeta. Por si fuera poco quieren implementar Madrid Central. Y el AVE ha reducido millones de toneladas de CO2 de los aviones, sobre todo del puente aéreo con Barcelona. Por favor, infórmate.
Gente es plural en inglés, así que deberías utilizar "there are". Los pobres van en metro o autobús, y los que no tenemos trabajo ni vamos ni venimos. Pero el vídeo no va de eso.
Si hay pobreza en España la hay en todo el mundo. No en España en particular. Pero odias España, porque pobreza hay en los ángeles, Seattle, San Francisco y en muchos países desarrollados de Europa. Así que sólo dices gilipolleces
![[E] M-30 Madrid](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/c08upraiIGs/mqdefault.jpg)
The M-30 (and Madrid generally) is very difficult to navigate for foreigners. But it keeps things fluid and allows huge amounts of traffic which would be chaos anywhere else in Europe.
It has bizarre things such as "braided knots" - basically 4 lane highways merging into and crossing over each other requiring drivers to navigate each other at quite high speed even in very heavy traffic.
Road signs are symbols which are hard to understand without a mental map of Madrid and Spain and where you are in your current location.
For example, all Madridians know that the A1 goes to Burgos in the North, the A2 to Barcelona, the A3 to Valencia the A4 down to Andalusia, the A5 to Portugal and the A6 to Galicia. Between these there are minor highways such as the M-607 which goes to Colmenar (between A6 and A1) and the A-42 between the A4 and A5 which goes to Toledo. Knowing whether you are going clockwise or anti-clockwise allows people to immediately locate themselves on the city in comparison to where they are going. e.g. if Im going clockwise and I see signs for the A3 exit, I know Im somewhere between the North East and the East of the city.
The best invention in the Spanish road system is the "all directions" sign - basically tells you "if you are lost don't worry, just go this way and you will find a way to get there".
Incidentally the roadworks in 8:23 have become a major headache for people living in North Madrid. At 5:20 you catch a glimpse of Madrid bullring.
You are so right in conclusions about Madrid streets :) Is is always recomended here to know exactly where are you going becouse otherwise you'll get lost :) For me the road network sometimes recalls a crazy man's ideas... but it works unless you know when and where take a turn: sometimes you just have one shot and you can't miss it 😉
@@pawelwitecki This is particularly true in the east side of the M30 going southbound. The road splits in two and if you take the "fast lane" you are screwed if you want to turn off into the center any time soon. Bad for you, but great for traffic.
You're kinda right. But when you are used to spanish traffic signs system, it's very easy to drive. I myself sometimes prefer to trust the signs rather than the navigator.
The road system in Madrid is much more practical than for example in Barcelona to navigate I think.
"...hard to understand without a mental map of Madrid..." How do you think it compares to Japanese cities whose minor roads are unnamed, but where each city block is numbered in geographical serpentine fashion within each named subdistrict? (or in Cartesian manner as with Sapporo, which is a bit like Mannheim too)
This city needed your camera and your talent, although you have been slow to film the roads of Madrid, your work does not disappoint and it is worth it.
awesome chris . thanks for sharing this great video with us . 5 star
How is it slow bro? It is even sped up
@@trstdaprcss Slow as in he filmed all major city hubs but forgot to film Madrid, and Chris is making video's for longer then 10 years.
I love Spain 🇪🇸
Beautiful!! The M-30 tunnels form the largest network of urban tunnels in Europe.
I remember when they built it. Everyone was complaining but turned out amazing.
@@ibenoit641 Te debe de haber dado un mareo con tanto emoji
Fantastic video! I would say that with all those autovias and autopistas Greater Madrid has THE most impressive motorway network out of any city in the world.
The Madrid motorway system is huge. There are three beltways, one bypass, six major radial routes, in addition to numerous regional links. The whole regional motorway system approaches 1,000 kilometers.
@@EuropeanRoads There must never be traffic there, since there are SO many freeways! The density of freeways is just as great, if not greater than an American city.
@@compdude100 Madrid has some congestion, but it's much less than other cities of this size in Europe. Rush hour is shorter too, especially compared to Paris or German cities. Spanish cities rank among the least congested cities in Europe. Madrid is also one of the few cities with a 120 km/h beltway.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the tolled radial motorways (e.g. R-2, R-3) are usually pretty empty, because not many are willing to pay the toll and there is often a free autovia running parallel to them.
@@GreatAussieDrives That's correct. The toll road AP-41 to Toledo has only about 500 vehicles per day at some locations, making it one of the least-used motorways ever. Everyone uses A-42 (which is featured in the beginning of the video).
Madrid ha sido y sigue ser una ciudad muy bonito estoy mirando ese vídeo después de 14 años de no volver de Madrid justo después de inaugurar el bypass he vuelto a mi país pero estoy mirando ese vídeo para recordarme❤️
Thanks a lot for this video! The image quality is superb, considering that you filmed towards all directions, inside tunnels, with direct sunlight and with the sun covered by the clouds - but still the white balance is perfect! You put a good effort in making those signs, it must have taken you a lot of time, especially considering the amount of abbreviations (c/, av., Pº, pza...) and road numbers. Also, you seem to know more about Spanish roads than almost any Spaniard :)
C/ = street
Av. = avenue
Pza. = plaza
Pº = walking area
@@Davruad Paseo should be translate as promenade or boulevard.
At 4:24 you can catch a glimpse at some maintenance works on the A-3 bridge over the M-30. They are rising every section of the bridge, and it's pretty weird to see the hole and the M-30 below it when you're driving along the bridge.
Awesome video. As a Spaniard I'm so proud of our roads and specially our Motorways.
PS: 5:33 to the right is my Mom's family neighbourhood. I almost shouted "Hi granma".
I wonder what came first, the buildings or the motorway. Living there must be bad both for the noise and the pollution.
Well, not as bad as living for decades in an old fashioned heavy industrialized area. You only have to notice the higher life expectancy of Madrid (I mean before the virus, of course) if you compare to the Basque Country, for instance.
The amount of traffic and the design really reminds me of tokyo. This really is just the european C1 Loop
I was thinking exactly the same ;)
El atasco que se genera a las 19:00 es impresionante
@Erou Las 19h (o las 7 si usamos reloj de 12) es la tarde aunque 3 meses al año se ponga el sol de 5 a 6. España tiene mal su horario desde 1941.
@@BlackHoleSpain hombre, el resto de Europa lo tiene igual. Menos UK y Portugal. Son buenos ejemplos?
@Erou ¿La interrogación es debido a que "19:00 de la tarde es redundante? O porque consideras que las 19:00 es de noche?
@@chemsenESP Tu contestación es ambigua. ¿Qué es lo que tiene igual? España hasta 1941 tenía el horario de Inglaterra y Portugal, que es el que le corresponde.
Por tener el horario de Berlín, que está casi en Polonia, es por lo que 3 meses al año el sol se pone alrededor de las 21:30, que no es precisamente algo normal.
minuto 19... de video
As always good quality video and nice music. The first ring of Madrid which is now owned by the municipality.
At last. You did it. Long long time wating for this vid. Love love M30 M40 M45 and M50 and love love 🇪🇸 Madrid. Thank you very very much for this. You made my day and weekend. Take care. Un abrazo campeón eres el mejor.
Thanks. I also recorded some of A-5 and M-40. M-45 and M-50 were not as interesting rides though.
@@EuropeanRoads I grew up in Madrid and I think I have never taken the M-50 in my life lol. Totally useless highway.
That was a wow thank you..I've travelled the M30 but was preoccupied too much with not dying to appreciate the extraordinary accomplishment of any engineering masterpiece that it truly is. 👍
Vielen lieben Dank. Es braucht nicht immer nur Luxus um andere eine Freude zu bringen und glücklich machen zu können. Auch solche kleinen Dinge können schon das größte und unbezahlbare Geschenk für einen sein und einem sein Herz zum Leuchten bringen. Für mich solche Dinge unbezahlbar. 🥰🕊
I remember the MC 30 tunnel being built and we had to drive in the river during construction! The tunnel system is similar style to Singapore expressway tunnel system, very impressive.
Great ride; I would have never guessed that Madrid would have the busiest freeway in Europe
Madrid is a pretty big city: the metropolitan population is around 7 million. However I feel it's not as well-known, it draws fewer tourists than London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, etc.
From like 7 to 09,30h the whole M-30 is a full traffic jam but I guessed it'd be the same in every major city. As a madrileño, I must agree with your statement.
@@EuropeanRoads Its the second largest city in the EU after Paris.
Love all the historical background. Great video! Thanks.
I love how many prefixes Spain use for their road numbers and how they can vary from motorway to urban boulevard
The Spanish road numbering system is probably the most complex in Europe. There is a logical system behind it, but it's probably a bit too complex.
@@EuropeanRoads Yeah the logic in it is clever tbf
@@EuropeanRoads Well... In fact there is some logic behind, but the problem is that those rules aren't always followed.
@@EuropeanRoads The first letter is for the city. M for Madrid. B for Barcelona. MA for Málaga. Then you have a number. In Madrid, if the number is bigger, is further from the center of the city. M-30 is closer than M-50.
All the exits are marked as the KM of the road. So if you have a exit at Km 30 of the road, the number should be exit 30. If the next exit is on KM 32, the exit number will be 32, so the exit 31 will never exist. If the exit has two exits, they will be marked as A or B or C or whatever. For example, my exit is called 15-B because there is another "A" exit.
The highways are marked with A and number. For example A-6 or A-3 and they are marked with the EU registration too, for example E-15 (That is the A-7). If the highway has a toll; they are marked AP for "AUTOPISTA de PEAJE". So you will know if you have to pay for that or not.
Its a little bit complex but you wont be lost if you understand that.
It kind of depends on who is the owner of the road.
Main state-owned roads are usually *N* (national), *A* (autovía/freeway) and *AP* (autopista de peaje/toll motorway). [Note: some Autonomous Communities don't have any state-owned roads but they still keep this system for consistency].
Then, roads managed by Autonomous Communities usually have their prefix (ex. *A* = Aragon, *C* = Catalonia, etc.).
Urban motorways and ring roads have the prefix of the city (ex. *M* = Madrid, *B* = Barcelona, etc.)
Local and provincial roads have the prefix of the province, but there are many variations to this system in each region and it's a bit of a mess.
Finally, there are some additional prefixes, like the *R* for radial and *E* for European routes (European numbers are always displayed next to the spanish number).
But this is not all!! There is also a colour code for each road type. *Blue* is for all freeways and motorways regardless of the owner, *red* for national roads, *orange* for 1st category regional roads (main ones), *green* for 2nd. cat regional roads and *yellow* for 3rd cat. regional roads (small local roads). Unfortunately, there are exceptions, like Navarre not having any green 2nd cat. roads, or Catalonia colouring their 1st cat. regional roads in red instead of orange. Some provinces also use their own colour for the local roads they manage, like for example *grey* in Araba or *purple* in Soria. Finally, European route numbers are also *green.*
To sum up, the prefix tells you the owner and the location of the road, while the colour tells the type/quality of the road. As you can see, there are many redundancies to this system, like A being the prefix for freeways, but also for Aragon and Andalusia regional roads; or green being the colour of main European routes and also small 2nd cat. regional roads... Anyway, I hope I made a bit of sense to this mess!! :D
This tour was interesting, thank you for sharing!
Madrid est pour moi, la capitale la plus fluide d'Europe
La plus fluide mais aussi celle avec plus de densite de circulation.
The image quality is so good. You are doing a great job ! I have been living in Madrid for 18 years , and I miss the city so much.
Thanks for remind me about the days that I lived there.
Great video! Keep it up with Spanish roads, it's perfect. Lo haces muy bien.
I will have to watch again; seeing if you recorded me ...I'm on that road nearly weekly
oh god the M-30 is a nightmare. I live near the A-42 towards Getafe.
Its a nightmare unless you learned to drive in Madrid. :-)
Its design is perfect for the amount of traffic it carries.
Haha, our UK motorways everywhere are full of traffic. There are no parallel motorways, so once a lorry crashed on the M6, everyone had to go through the countryside. I envy European infastructure.
The uk is in europe...
@@ballisticmissl7919 I meant Western Continenal Europe in particular.
@@ballisticmissl7919 no they not
@@M.Đ-z4u yes they are. Are u saying the continents of the world are north America, south america, Europe, Oceania, Antarctica, Asia and the uk ??
@@ballisticmissl7919 Uk is no longer in Europe, go meet Boris Johnson.
the M-30 tunnel gives some king of futuristic undeground cities from movies
M30, M40, M50 for people that don’t understand, Basically it is a circle inside each one, to go from one point to another quickly. No traffic lights and the speed normally is 90Km/h. Using normally street you need to go 20,30,50Km/h with many traffic light.
I would say speed is typically 110 to 120 except in the avenida de la ilustracion section.
@@ade910 on m-30 max speed is 90, more often 70, some sections are 50.
@@pawelwitecki Well there is only one section which is 50 - the avenida de la ilustracion which passes la vaguada which has traffic lights. Besides that the only bit I know of where people go down to 90 is where the speed radar is just passed that (anti-clockwise) - after that its rare seeing people going under 100. I think you know how it is in Madrid - traffic typically goes 20 or 30 kmph above speed limit. The 70 limit on the M30 is only when there is high pollution. I would know, its the only time I get fined.
Same with La Castellana - limit is 50 but people typically drive at around 80. Madrid is a bit strange regarding its speeding limits. I have seen the limit at 30 in the tunnel of plaza Castilla. If anyone paid any attention to it, it would bring chaos to the city.
@@ade910 well, I have other obserations 😉 all tunnels are limited to 70, underground turnings to 50, former Vicente Calderon area is now limited to 50 and west part of m30 northbound from tunnel to Puente Frances (and back southbound) is also limited to 70... I would say drivers rather obey those limits. Speeding could be quite expensive
@@pawelwitecki Well yes, there are still roadworks in the Calderon area and yes you are right tunnels have a 70 limit. So it depends on the part of the ringroad.
But there are not many radars on the M30. All but 5 are in the underground stretch in the south west. The northern third of the ringroad, which is where I live, just has one. Traffic is pretty fast driving down along the manzanares - many people definitely drive above 120.
But things have gotten stricter and people do drive better though since I got my license here in 1999 . The DGT has done a good job changing habits. Back when I was young Madrid was a total jungle. You could get away with anything and speeding cameras didnt jump until maybe going 40 or 50km over the limit.
Nice.. beautiful road.. 👍
THANK YOU for sharing this video
Amazing place❣❣❣
Watching this while driving through it in a bus... At this point my algorithm is sure it can throw anything at me and I'll watch it.
Edit: I'm not the one driving the bus!
Madrid ❤🇪🇦
Good video!
Viva España coño
The Spanish version of the 401!
Nice video. It seems amazing to me that there is graffiti in the wall of A-42 considering there is no shoulder.
It was a "Nacional" (State) Freeway (N-401, N stands for "Nacional"), until late 2003, when the Spanish Government changed the denomination of freeways and tolled motorways (N-401 became A-42 & the tolled sections of A-7 became AP-7)
Because of this, the A-42 is down-graded than other radial freeways in Madrid Metropolitan Area
Graffiti is becoming a nightmare over here
I think graffiti is a nightmare everywhere. I just can’t believe they had the audacity to stand on the side of the road with no shoulder. Unless of course it was done during a closure or something. Which honestly probably makes a lot of sense
Europe's New York.
4:12 I live in the brick building on the right 👍
Me acuerdo cuando se podía ir a 160 kmh en la M30 en los '90.
I remember in the 90s you could drive over 100mph in the M30
Madrid in the 90s was like a jungle. Most anarchic city in europe. I remember even seeing police shooting heroin in their cars.
Was fun though...
Those were the days. You were ore free. You could drive to Barcelona sustaining speed over 100mph
Fernando Martin rules...
What is pending to be incorporated into the M-30 is the differentiation between the inner direction of the perimeter and the outer direction. This simple information facilitates orientation to outsiders and some people from Madrid. Otherwise it is a good big city ring road
They are differentiated. Outbound directions are marked as highways, inward directions are marked as streets. Its a genius system.
@@ade910 t is not like that, roads and streets are indicated in both directions, although you circulate through the inner ring you can go out to the radial highways, as in any motorway junction.
Have you filmed the other Madrid rings M-40, M-45 and M-50 ??? Thanks
Amsterdam Ring Road 2021 update would be nice. Or Eindhoven Ring Road update? Utrecht Ring Update? Things have changed
M-30 without any traffic jam?? I did not recognize, hahaha
Interesting that the exits are either signposted for streets or for cities 100s of km away. Don't the suburbs have names?
Madrid has an unusual signage system due to the very extensive network of motorways, with 6 radial routes, 3 ring roads, 1 bypass and numerous regional links. They sign radial roads and ring roads as destinations, as opposed to having the signs loaded with suburbs and far away cities. Only the next radial route has a destination attached to it on the signage.
True, the main radial highways are usually signposted with the final destination rather than the closest city/suburb. I agree that this system might be a bit confusing if you are only driving within the metropolitan area
Great video, thanks!
Thank you. I love Madrid
Very good music taste 😉
Very interesting!
So lucky to have green lights in Avenida de la Ilustración!!. The Av. de América Bridge as you can see is a "Los Angeles style bridge" built by the americans in the 50's to connect with the Torrejon Air Base
are you sure about it?
@@honestguy7764 Yes, to conect with the airport, and.. the Torrejon Air Force Base (american base), kilometer 20...
Well done!
Great video and a very recent one as well!
I see you went here very recently. Did you go to Portugal and film something to us this time? I hope so... Cheers! ;)
Wow this is a big Highway
nice music
Qué me gusta España 😍
A pesar de su gobierno
Busiest motorway in Europe? London orbital M25 - Hold my beer.
M-30 has considerably higher traffic counts than M25. However M-30 has better capacity at those locations so it is not as congested. M-30 has 12 - 16 lanes on its busiest stretch.
@@EuropeanRoads it was a joke. Uk motorways are no longer fit for purpose. They are terrible in fact. They are made of coarse asphalt or concrete that generates a lot of noise.
@@blacov89 I noticed that when I went to the uk three years ago, lot of noise coming fron the asphalt
@@blacov89 Of course had the ringways been completed in London (some parts of them were partially built) then the M25/A282 would have most likely been less busier
A-42 just pass on the middle of the city where I live in the south of Madrid, it separate the principal part of the city, and the "new city extension"
A-5 on a certain section seems to cross and divide formerly united parts of neighbourhood. Some buildings are very close to A-5, many of them seem to be abandoned.
If we are talking about busy highways, has anyone driven on the M25 in the UK? 😉
Interestingly the M-30 is busier than the M-25. Its just more fluid due to its design.
What is the length from the second And last tunnel? Cause specially the last one looks longer then the longest tunnel in Paris
If you take the "Bypass Sur" tunnels from the "Manzanares" tunnel (as shown in the video at 14:53), the combined length is 8.6 km (5.34 mi). The combined length of all M-30 tunnels is ~21 km (counting both directions)
What type of camera are you using ?
Cc j'adore 💕 cette sike en plus avec l'Espagne 💕💕💕😍😍😍😍😘😘😘😘💝💝💝💝💞💞💞✌️✌️✌️✌️✌️✌️💓💗❣️💋💋💋
Cool bro
Nice 👍🏻
Great!
Doesn't look like the busiest highway in whole Europe..how many vehicles per day?
The busiest part near M-23 has a traffic volume of 328,000 vehicles per day. This was not recorded during rush hour obviously (and on the tail end of the Spanish summer vacation). M-30 does not carry many trucks because there are other beltways for them. This leaves more space for cars, also making it less congested than it otherwise would be.
Go in there at 8am any working day and you'll see.
@@EuropeanRoads where u got that number? I've actually been searching for some time the IMD's of the different stretches of the M-30 and if you had the source it would be amazing.
Nice video tho!
I hate those Madrid tunnels.
They look like never end and have some exits to more tunnel.
X2
Poor Bruno🤦
Hala Madrid!
Souvenirs Souvenirs
I feel enraged and ashamed with all those awful graffitis. We are raising and/or importing bs.
5:41 the Mosque of Madrid (on the right), the synagogue is in the centre of the city.
Yes, but Spain is a non religious country. The spanish Constitution recognice the rights and respect Christians, muslims, jews and and and... But Spain is not religious. Is aconfesional = non-denominational. The Mosque is only for the immigrants that are muslims.
@@1986Richard you are right, but a mosque and a synagogue make Madrid more cosmopolitan
@@tierraprometida8866 i think a Mosque and a synagogue and a church make Madrid and Europe old age and Middle ages cities.
@@1986Richard rhino, por su puesto que soy defensor del Estado laico o de la fórmula española "aconfesional", pero no me negarás que la Iglesia católica tiene más privilegios que el resto de confesiones, echa un vistazo al modelo concertado educativo madrileño por poner un ejemplo; con mi comentario sólo quería jugar un poco, la presencia de una mezquita da una nota de color en un contexto español donde el nacional catolicismo (que por lo visto sigue vivo) quiere volver a imponer un régimen gris
@@tierraprometida8866 curioso, critícas la iglesia católica por su "régimen gris" de siglos atrás porque hoy en día es un ente cuasi extinto y no critícas el islam, una religión machista y radical que se expande por el globo. Los únicos que quieren imponer aquí su régimen son los islamistas, sino mira Afganistán, talibanes asesinos, el otro día 90 fallecidos/asesinados por atentado bomba en Kabul. Pero veo que cuentas lo que te sale de los huevos de forma arbitraria. La presencia de la mezquita ensucia el paisaje. Las religiones deberían ser todas prohibidas. La primera el islam, por machista que va diciéndole a lss mujeres lo que se tienen que poner y a todos los demás lo que pueden o no pueden comer, entre otras burradas.
it seems that spain spent sooo much in infrastructure projects
Infrastructure spending in Spain has long been popular, especially since the late 1980s, eventually ending up with the largest motorway system in Europe (ahead of Germany & France). However the focus has shifted to high-speed rail over the past 15 years, road expenditures are actually not as high as you'd expect, but the construction cost in Spain is lower than almost anywhere else in Europe.
Spain is a civilized MODERN country
Madrid is rebuilding the north node to make it even more complicated 😆 there are also plans of hiding south node underground to free some land to develop buildings
@@pawelwitecki NYC spent 12 billion on a whole lot of nothing
How busy are rondes of Barcelona compared to M-30, i find them terrible!!!
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
🚗
De día casi que ni la reconozco jajajaja
sad that everything is covered in graffiti
I know, it's sickening; those disgusting tags are EVERYWHERE nowadays. You can drive in a little scenic road in the mountains and you will still find ugly graffiti and vandalism in the most unexpected places. This country makes me want to puke.
Oh, and don't get me started with railways....
@@osasunaitor sad thing is that the same happens in every major city in the world.
stress
ES UN ECHO Y UNA REALIDAD ,,,,,,, 🤔 QUE SIN VISITAR ,,,,, MADRID 😘 NO PUEDES ESTAR ,,,,,,, POR QUE TE PUEDES PERDER UN LUGAR ,,,,,, MUY ESPECIAL ,,,,,,,🙂 💖 😘 QUE EN ESPAÑA SIEMPRE ESTA ,,,,,,, 🇪🇦
OLA UN SALUDO Y GRACIAS POR LEER MI COMENTARIO
OLA PUES SIII MADRID ES MUY ESPECIAL BUENO UN SALUDO 👋
A Ana áaa
As a Spaniard, I need to correct some things:
1:33 The video's sign says "M-30 All Directions", but it really says that go to the M-30 anti-clockwise (The direction of the video)
8:01 The tallest tower in Madrid is 250 metres high, not 249
8:15 The left exit goes to Paseo de la Castellana, and the sign is not "P. Castellano", the real sign says "P. Castellana" & "La Paz" Hospital
7:34 , 8:40 , 9:00 & 9:09 It's "Avenida Ilustración", not 2 ls, just 1 l
8:44 You forgot to put the M-607 exit sign to "Avenida Cardenal Herrera Oria" & "Ramón y Cajal" Hospital
15:03 The "Bypass Sur" bypasses A-4 & A-42 only, not A-5, whose exit is on the entrance of the M-30 tunnels anti-clockwise
END OF CORRECTION
see 1:18 ;-)
@@EuropeanRoads Yes, but the nearest to exit sign says M-30 "All Directions" and it ONLY connects with the anti-clockwise bound M-30
Dear Pedro Rubio Tejero: You forgot one at 4:10 - "Dr. G. Tapla" instead of "Dr. G. Tapia". How could you miss it?
@@SierraCameros It's a mistake. I'm not from Madrid, but you can reply that to European Roads
el señor del video solo quiere mostrar una autopista de madrid,no es el coche de google.saludos.
Madrid has too many roads, creating an induced demand that becomes a problem everyday in the form of traffic jams.
The concept of induced demand is wildly exaggerated. Madrid has the least congestion of any city over 2 million in Europe.
Madrid has the best road and underground system in Europe.
Induced demand? I am sorry?
@@hermericojimenez2616 Madrid has too many roads, that’s a fact. Some of the ring roads even went bankrupt and the state had to pay their rescue. And in a continent that’s trying to reduce car travel, Madrid is closer to being L.A. than it is to being Amsterdam.
@@CityWhisperer A ver, deberías salir del baserri más a menudo. Has ido a poner el peor ejemplo de todos. El Ranstad es la región con mayor densidad de carreteras y autopistas del mundo. Madrid tiene una red de metro, cercanías y metro ligero que es de las más avanzadas del planeta. Por si fuera poco quieren implementar Madrid Central. Y el AVE ha reducido millones de toneladas de CO2 de los aviones, sobre todo del puente aéreo con Barcelona. Por favor, infórmate.
@@CityWhisperer Confundes las radiales de peaje con las autopistas de circunvalación gratuitas. Ni trollear sabes.
It’s terrible.., Madrid keep on building roads and are always busy with traffic,..
Seems that all the fools are agree to collapse madrid,..
Madrid is the least collapsed big city in Europe.
@@hermericojimenez2616 Now,.. because the traffic has gone restricted.,. has being always super-collapsed,..
@@alberpajares4792, have you ever been to Rome, Paris, London...? Come on.
Great video. The music is awful
Y la gente pobre??..... Porque España tiene una pobreza enorme.... Poned eso también para los ilusos... There is many many poor People in Spain...
Gente es plural en inglés, así que deberías utilizar "there are". Los pobres van en metro o autobús, y los que no tenemos trabajo ni vamos ni venimos. Pero el vídeo no va de eso.
@@BlackHoleSpain 😂
🤦 That lie has nothing to do with the subject of this video, right?
Si hay pobreza en España la hay en todo el mundo. No en España en particular. Pero odias España, porque pobreza hay en los ángeles, Seattle, San Francisco y en muchos países desarrollados de Europa. Así que sólo dices gilipolleces
@@1986Richard????..... 🤔🤣🤣