Free parking in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia: 7 apps compared

If you want to park for free in Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia, most parking apps won't help: ElParking, Telpark, EasyPark and SMOU are for paying the blue zone, and Parclick is for booking garages. The one app on this list that maps free street parking kerb by kerb in all three cities is Easy Find Parking, which I built, so read the comparison with that in mind. I've tried to say plainly where each of the others is the better choice.

The short version:

To find free street parking: Easy Find Parking (iPhone and iPad, free).
To pay the blue zone in Barcelona: SMOU, the city's own app.
To pay the blue zone in Madrid or Valencia: ElParking, Telpark or EasyPark, all accepted by the city.
To book a garage in advance: Parclick or ElParking.

How the seven apps compare

App	What it's for	Free street parking map	Madrid	Barcelona	Valencia	Cost
Easy Find Parking	Finding free kerbs and car parks	Yes, kerb by kerb	Yes	Yes	Yes	Free, no ads; iPhone and iPad only
SMOU	Paying Barcelona's blue and green zones	No	No	Yes	No	Free app; you pay the parking
ElParking	Paying regulated zones, booking garages	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Free app; commission per payment
Telpark	Paying regulated zones, Telpark car parks	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Free app; commission per payment
EasyPark	Paying regulated zones across Europe	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	15% service fee, or €2.99 a month
Parclick	Booking garages at a discount	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Free app; booking fees
Parking Madrid	Public car parks in Madrid, run by EMT	No	Yes	No	No	Free; last updated 2021

Coverage means the app does its main job in that city. I left out Parkopedia: its App Store listing says the app stopped being supported on 1 July 2026 and points to its website instead.

Why is free parking hard to find in Spanish cities?

Because the free streets are whatever the paid zones leave over, and each city draws those zones its own way. Madrid charges in its SER zone, Barcelona in its AREA blue and green zones, Valencia in its ORA blue zone. A street just outside the zone is usually free, but the only thing on the street that tells you so is a missing sign. The pay apps know where the zones are, because they sell parking inside them, but none of them draws the streets outside.

Councils do publish the data. Valencia publishes its free spaces outright, about 281,000 of them. Madrid publishes 87,000 kerb bands, and around 331,000 spaces lie outside its SER zone. Barcelona publishes the streets it charges for. Turning those files into a map you can read from the driver's seat is the gap Easy Find Parking fills.

Easy Find Parking: the one that maps free kerbs

Easy Find Parking draws every kerb in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia (and Berlin and Kraków) as a coloured line: solid green is free, dashed teal is likely free, orange is charged right now. A kerb that charges only during posted hours turns green outside them. Zoomed out, green circles count free parking by neighbourhood, so you can pick an area before you set off.

"Likely free" is the important part. In Valencia the city says which spaces are free, so they're green. In Madrid and Barcelona the app works out what lies outside the paid zones and labels it "likely free", because no council document or sign confirms it. The guess is cautious: in Barcelona, main roads and any street with a paid segment within 25 m are left out.

It also shows car parks with prices, height limits and opening hours, and live space counts where the operator publishes them (mostly in Germany and Switzerland, not yet in Spain).

Limits: it doesn't take payments or bookings, it's iPhone and iPad only (iOS 17 or later), English only, and there's no address search: you pan the map. Lines show rules, not whether a space is empty right now.

The map in València at street level, with free kerbs drawn as green lines on most streets — València: every green line is a kerb the city publishes as free

SMOU: the official app for Barcelona's blue and green zones

SMOU is run by Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (B:SM), the city's own company. It pays AREA parking in Barcelona and several towns around it, and you're charged by the minute, so leaving early costs less. There's no ticket to put on the windscreen: the permit is digital and enforcement checks it in real time. By B:SM's figures, around 40% of regulated parking payments in Barcelona and its metropolitan area now go through the app.

Pick it if you're going to park in Barcelona's blue or green zones anyway. In green zones check the sign: some spaces are for residents only. SMOU shows where you can pay, not where parking is free.

ElParking: blue zones plus garage bookings

ElParking does two jobs: it works as a parking meter in regulated zones in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and many other Spanish cities, and it books garages, including airport parking, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. The app also handles the Via-T toll tag and MOT (ITV) appointments.

It's one of the apps Madrid accepts for SER payments, and Valencia's council lists it for the ORA blue zone.

Pick it if you want one Spanish app for both street payments and garage bookings.

Telpark: blue zones and Telpark car parks

Telpark pays regulated parking in Madrid, Valencia and other cities in Spain and Portugal, and lets you extend the time from the phone. At Empark car parks with plate recognition, its Entrada Express opens the barrier by reading your number plate, so there's no ticket. It also books airport parking and charges electric cars at about 40 car parks. Valencia's council lists it, alongside ElParking and EasyPark, as a way to pay the ORA.

Pick it if you often use Telpark car parks or it's already on your phone.

EasyPark: one app for paid zones across Europe

EasyPark pays street parking in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and dozens of other Spanish cities, and in many other European countries. In Spain, pay-per-use costs a 15% service fee on top of the parking, with a small minimum per session; the EasyPark GO plan at €2.99 a month drops the fee. You pick an end time on a dial, and you can stop early.

Pick it if you drive in more than one country and want one app for every blue zone.

Parclick: booking a garage in advance

Parclick books spaces in garages and car parks in Spain, Italy, France and Portugal, often cheaper than the gate price. You get a booking code to get in. It also pays meters in a few zones and works with CarPlay. Check the total before you pay: one App Store reviewer found the fees added about €8 to a €20 garage.

Pick it if you need a guaranteed space, for example near a stadium or the airport, and don't want to circle.

Parking Madrid: EMT's public car parks

Parking Madrid is EMT Madrid's free app for the city's public car parks, with free spaces, opening hours and directions. It hasn't been updated since March 2021, and some recent reviews report errors when searching nearby. It doesn't cover street parking.

Pick it if you specifically want an EMT car park in Madrid, and check the result against the operator's site.

How to find free parking without any app

Look up the paid zone first. Madrid's SER, Barcelona's AREA and Valencia's ORA are all published by the councils. Outside them, street parking is usually free.
Read every sign on the block. Blue lines mean pay, green lines in Madrid and Barcelona often mean residents first. White or unmarked kerbs outside the zone are usually free.
Check the hours. Blue zones charge only during the hours on the sign, which differ by city and often by street, and some are free during local holidays (Valencia's blue zone was free during Fallas in March 2026).
Watch for exceptions: market days, roadworks and loading bays won't be in any app.

Which app should you use?

Visiting by car and want to avoid paying: Easy Find Parking to find free or likely-free kerbs, and confirm with the sign.
Parking in the centre of Barcelona: SMOU.
Parking in the centre of Madrid or Valencia: ElParking, Telpark or EasyPark; they do the same job, so pick by fees.
Need a guaranteed space: Parclick or ElParking garage bookings.

Many drivers end up with two: one to find where parking is free, and one to pay when it isn't.

FAQ

Is there an app that shows free parking in Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia?

Yes. Easy Find Parking, a free iPhone and iPad app, maps free street parking kerb by kerb in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, as well as Berlin and Kraków. Valencia publishes its free spaces directly; in Madrid and Barcelona the app marks streets outside the paid zones as "likely free". The popular Spanish parking apps, such as ElParking, Telpark, EasyPark and SMOU, are for paying in regulated zones and don't map free streets.

Which app do I use to pay the blue zone in Barcelona?

SMOU, the app of Barcelona de Serveis Municipals, the city's own company. It pays the AREA blue and green zones in Barcelona and several nearby towns, charges by the minute and replaces the paper ticket with a digital permit.

Which apps can pay SER parking in Madrid?

Madrid accepts several apps for its SER zone, including ElParking, Telpark, EasyPark, ParkingLibre, Parclick and Bip&Drive. They charge the official SER rate plus their own commission, which differs between apps.

Which apps can pay the ORA blue zone in Valencia?

Valencia's council lists ElParking, Telpark and EasyPark for paying the ORA blue zone, as well as the street meters.

Is street parking free outside the blue zone in Spain?

Usually, but not always. Outside the regulated zone, parking is generally free unless a sign says otherwise, for example a residents-only, loading or no-parking sign. Always check the signs on the block, since local exceptions such as market days aren't published in any app.