Public transportation in Valencia, Spain is clean, efficient, and pretty reliable. It even runs for 24 hours on big holidays, which is amazing. I highly encourage everyone to use it for the sake of the environment but also convenience.
The public transport systems here, EMT (the city bus system), Metrovalencia (the metro and tram network) and Metrobus (buses that cover the metropolitan area) in Valencia are colaborating with the City Hall to offer a free transport card for young people under 31 years old, called Free Temporal Jove season ticket. This measure was implemented to help fight the effects of inflation, reduce costs for young citizens and to promote sustainable movement.
Does the free card really make a difference?
I have been living in Valencia for almost a year and I have benefited from the free transportation card for young people under 31 years old and I cannot stress enough how much money it saved me. Upon checking, the similar card, but on a monthly basis on Metrovalencia website is 131 euros. It’s the monthly SUMA, which gives you access to unlimited travel on bus, tram and metro on all the zones, ABCD+. With a simple calculation, 131 euros x 12 months, we have 1572 euros saved!! That is alot of money and it is really worth it!
Who qualifies for it?
The card is available for young people, under 31 years old at the moment of requesting it. The nationality of the individual does not matter, nor the residency.
What are the required documents?
You only need a document attesting your age/ date of birth. I used the passport and it worked perfectly, you don’t need NIE for it necessarily.
I am not sure if a national ID would work (unless you are from Spain and have DNI), but you can try if the date of birth is clearly stated.
How can you obtain the card?
The process for obtaining the free card is very easy and straightforward.
- Make an account on Metrovalencia website, here on “Personal Area”
- Request and appointment here, you can see the locations and first available dates
- Show up to the appointment with the confirmation of the appointment (it can be digital, no need to print it) and the ID document
That’s it! You can also pick up the card for someone else if you have their appointment confirmation and ID.
Things to consider
- You need to have the ID you registered with whenever there is an inspection. It happens ocasionally, just make sure to always have an ID photo on your phone (for the document you registered with, as there will be a few numbers from the document on the card, to identify you)
- The card is not transferable and if someone else is caught with it, there are fines
- You need to validate the card whenever you enter the bus/metro/tram
Until when it’s available?
As of now, April 2024, we have confirmation that the card will be available until 30th of June, 2024. This measure was prolongued in the past and hopefully it will be again!
Update: The free public transportation measure for under 31 years old has been prolongued until 2025!
I hope that was helpful. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask!