Valencia’s metro does not close at night during Fallas. Last March Metrovalencia ran every metro and tram line for 168 hours straight, from Friday 13 March to the early hours of the 20th, and that included lines 3 and 5 from the airport, which on a normal Monday stop leaving the terminal at 22:32. The Fallas metro service is a round-the-clock timetable that the regional rail operator FGV runs for 7 days each March. Every Fallas event is a free street event with nothing to book, so the planning that matters is transport: a zone A single costs 1.50 euros, the airport single 4.80 euros, and the two stations you will want at 14:00 are the two that close.
How do you get around Valencia during Fallas? Use the metro. In 2026 Metrovalencia ran nonstop for 168 hours, from 13 to 20 March, and EMT València kept 24 bus lines going all night from the 15th. Private cars were banned from the centre from 15:00 on the 16th. On mascletà days Xàtiva and Colón stations close from 12:30 to 14:30.
Arriving from the airport or by train during Fallas week
Arriving at lunchtime is the one moment the plan can go wrong. Metro lines 3 and 5 leave Valencia Airport, cost 4.80 euros for a zones A and B single, and normally drop you at Xàtiva or Colón, the two stations beside Plaza del Ayuntamiento. On mascletà days from the 14th, both were shut in 2026 from 12:30 until 14:30.
Stay on the train or get off early: Àngel Guimerà, on the same two lines, is 694 metres from the square. Trolley cases are the second problem. The city’s Fallas bylaw bars them, with pushchairs and bulky bags, from the area around the square from 12:30 to 15:00, so arriving with luggage at that hour means a detour on foot. The full fare breakdown is in our airport to city centre guide.
High-speed AVE trains from Madrid stop at Joaquín Sorolla station, which sits just south of the ring of boulevards that marks the car-free zone. Jesús metro station, on lines 1, 2 and 7, is 323 metres away; Bailén, on line 7, is 464 metres away. Regional trains use the Estació del Nord, 141 metres from Xàtiva, and FGV gave the crowds outside that station as the reason it shuts Xàtiva during the mascletà.
| Arriving from | Before 12:30 | Mascletà window, 12:30 to 14:30 | After midnight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valencia Airport, metro lines 3 and 5 | Xàtiva, 338 metres from the square | Àngel Guimerà, 694 metres away | lines 3 and 5 kept running in 2026 |
| Joaquín Sorolla, AVE | Jesús metro, 323 metres from the platforms | Bailén on line 7, or about 17 minutes on foot | Jesús metro all night |
| Estació del Nord, regional trains | Xàtiva, 141 metres away | walk west to Plaça Espanya, 663 metres from the square | Xàtiva reopens after the mascletà |
| Torrent or Paterna, metro lines 1 and 2 | Plaça Espanya, 19 and 17 minutes by metro | Plaça Espanya stays open | lines 1 and 2 all night |
| Mislata, metro lines 3 and 5 | Xàtiva, 8 minutes by metro | Àngel Guimerà | lines 3 and 5 all night |
When the metro, the buses and the road closures start
Three different authorities set three different timetables, and last March none of them began on the same day. Metrovalencia went 24-hour on Friday 13 March, EMT València on Sunday 15, and the council’s ban on private cars inside the centre started at 15:00 on Monday 16. All three ended in the early hours of Friday 20, after the cremà.
The car-free zone is large. Last year it covered everything inside the ring of the Grandes Vías and the right bank of the old Turia riverbed, from the Glorias Valencianas bridge to Plaza de América, until 4:00 on the 20th. Metrovalencia counted close to 500 streets cut by monuments, marquees and events.
Which metro stations close at the mascletà
Xàtiva and Colón close every mascletà day of the main week, and they are exactly the two stations most visitors aim for. FGV shut both on the 14th to the 19th from 12:30 to 14:30, on advice from the government’s Fallas security board, and closed the underground walkway from Xàtiva to the Alacant tram stop ten minutes earlier.
The operator’s suggested alternatives were Alameda, Bailén, Plaça Espanya and Àngel Guimerà. From Plaza del Ayuntamiento, Plaça Espanya is the closest at 663 metres, then Àngel Guimerà; Bailén is an 11-minute walk and Alameda 13 minutes. Metrovalencia advised passengers with reduced mobility to travel outside the closure window. Earlier mascletàs, from 1 to 13 March, ran without these closures in 2026. Why the square fills so early is covered in our guide to the mascletà.
On a mascletà day, three habits save the most time:
- Be through Xàtiva or Colón before 12:30, when both stations close and the bag checks begin on the streets round the square.
- Leave the suitcase at the hotel, because trolley cases are refused at the checkpoints until 15:00.
- Walk west afterwards, towards Plaça Espanya or Àngel Guimerà, instead of queuing for Xàtiva to reopen at 14:30.
Getting back after the Nit del Foc and the cremà
The fireworks on the nights of the 16th, 17th and 18th go off at 23:59 from the Monteolivete bridge, beside the Palau de les Arts, and the quickest way there is tram line 10 to Ciutat Arts i Ciències - Justícia, 608 metres from the bridge. Alameda metro stayed open all night in 2026 for the walk back along the Turia Gardens.
Plan the return as metro, not tram. On the 17th and 18th, from 22:00 until 02:00, FGV closed the walkway between Xàtiva and the Alacant tram stop so metro crowds would not swamp line 10. The show on the 18th is the Nit del Foc, the biggest of the week; the days it falls on in 2027 are in our Fallas 2027 dates guide.
Cremà night is simpler. The last falla, in Plaza del Ayuntamiento, burns at 23:00, Xàtiva and Colón are open by then, and the metro kept running until the early hours of the 20th. The full burning order is in our cremà guide.
Which night buses run, and where they stop
EMT València ran 24 lines around the clock in 2026 from 15 March until the early hours of the 20th, adding line 92 from the 16th. They were lines 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 16, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 60, 62, 64, 67, 70, 72, 73, 81, 93, 99 and C3.
Buses do not cross the closed centre during the busiest moments. On mascletà afternoons, the Flower Offering days, the Nit del Foc and cremà night, EMT turned routes back at four edges: Plaza de España, Tetuán and Porta de la Mar, Porta de la Mar alone, and the Grandes Vías. For the Flower Offering on the 17th and 18th, that puts the Porta de la Mar terminus a short walk from Plaza de la Virgen. EMT put 3 million seats on sale for the week, 340,000 more than usual.
Taxis, driving and parking
Taxis are the one car allowed in. Valencia City Council exempts taxis, city buses and public-service vehicles from the private-car ban, so a taxi can reach a hotel inside the zone; what it cannot cross is the pedestrian area around each event, such as the streets round the square from 12:00 on mascletà days.
Driving yourself makes sense only to leave the car outside. Metrovalencia offered 1,513 free Park and Ride spaces in 2026 at 18 stations on lines 1, 2 and 9, 536 of them at València Sud. Inside the city the Fallas bylaw suspends the time limits on blue-zone parking from 9:00 on 11 March to 9:00 on the 20th and reserves orange bays for residents. The low-emission zone still applies.
Bicycles and scooters were not allowed anywhere on the metro or tram from 13 to 19 March 2026, and they are also barred from the mascletà area from 12:30 to 15:00. On the safety side, FGV added 1,390 guards to its 1,025 regulars for the week, an average of 345 on duty each day.
What changes for Fallas 2027
None of the 2027 timetables exist yet. The council’s Fallas bylaw, which sets the car ban and the mascletà rules, is approved in February. EMT València and Metrovalencia both presented their 2026 plans on 10 March, and the Xàtiva and Colón closure was confirmed on 13 March, so expect the 2027 versions in the week before the festival.
Getting around Valencia during Fallas, questions answered
Does the Valencia metro run 24 hours during Fallas?
Yes. In 2026 Metrovalencia kept every metro and tram line running for 168 consecutive hours, from Friday 13 March until the early hours of 20 March, after the cremà. That included lines 3 and 5 to Valencia Airport. The 2027 plan is normally announced around 10 March.
Can I take a suitcase to the mascletà?
No. Valencia’s Fallas bylaw bars trolley suitcases, pushchairs, bicycles and bulky items from the mascletà area between 12:30 and 15:00, with checkpoints on Xàtiva, San Vicente, Barcelonina, Correos and Roger de Lauria. Drop your luggage at the hotel first, or arrive after 15:00.
How do I get from Valencia Airport to the centre during Fallas?
Take metro line 3 or 5, which ran through the night during the 168-hour Fallas service in 2026. A single for zones A and B costs 4.80 euros. Between 12:30 and 14:30 on mascletà days from the 14th, Xàtiva and Colón are shut, so get off at Àngel Guimerà.
Can taxis get into Valencia city centre during Fallas?
Yes. Valencia City Council exempts taxis, city buses and public-service vehicles from the Fallas ban on private cars, which in 2026 ran from 15:00 on 16 March to 4:00 on 20 March. Taxis still cannot cross the pedestrian zones set up around each event.
At Fallas the metro never sleeps; the only time it turns you away is lunchtime, at the two stations by the square.