Hi, everyone! My husband and I leave for Spain on Sunday--to spend a week in Almagro, which is about 220 km. south of Madrid. On the return, we have a Monday noon flight.
My question: how bad will rush hour traffic be? We could stay in Madrid the night before,or drive up early on Monday. Any suggestions? Thanks! Kate

Uhm, maybe you can avoid part of the rush hour if you can return your car at Atocha station. Then, you could take the train to Nuevos Ministerios and then the subway to the airport.

Good point, Antonio. katenolan, where do you have to return your rental car??? I think this is an important part of your question.

Antonio, why would she return her rental car to Atocha train station? Can one return ALL rental cars there??? And why would she/they take the metro as opposed to the train to Nuevos Ministerios?

Saludos, MadridMan

I drove from Jaen early in the morning arriving in Madrid around 8:30 AM. I did not have a problem with the traffic around the airport.

I had found bumper to bumper traffic on days during the week, Monday thru Friday, between the times of 7:30am til 10:30am (My flights were scheduled no later than noon from Madrid,if it was on time ), and on Sundays, We, my Spaniard and I, never had a problem with driving into Madrid Airport. Anyway, hope this helps a little.
LittleWing

Thanks for all the info, folks! I think the simplest thing will be to return the car to the airport (which is where we are renting from) and leave Almagro and extra hour early to accommodate rush hour.

I really appreciate the help!
Kate

That's the way to go, Kate. And if you get there early enough, drive to the Plaza in Barajas pueblo (just a few minutes from the airport), go to Toribio's Churreria: treat yourselves to churros con chocolate (or coffee if you prefer) as a going away breakfast. I guarantee that you will utter those immortal words of Arnold Schwartzenegger: I'll be Back!

The biggest (and probably the most expensive) rental companies have cars available at trains stations and at the airport. The good thing about these companies is that they usually offer good flexibility. You can rent their cars somewhere and leave it somewhere else.

When coming back from Almagro, they will enter to Madrid through the N-IV which would lead them to Atocha. Instead of crossing all the city they may want to leave the car there and use public transportation to the airport. My suggestion was to take the train from Atocha to Nuevos Ministerios and then the subway from Nuevos Ministerios to the airport.

However, traffic jams to enter from the N-IV to Atocha maybe as big as those to take the M-40 (one of the ring roads around Madrid) from the N-IV to the airport. Perhaps my suggestion doesn't save time.