T-mobilitat, Barcelona's transport card
On the Barcelona metro you do not buy a paper ticket: you load a fare onto the T-mobilitat, the ATM’s contactless card. Here are the formats on offer, what each one costs, which tickets each one takes and what happens if you lose it.
What the T-mobilitat is
The T-mobilitat is the contactless ticketing system for the Barcelona area. It is run by the ATM (Autoritat del Transport Metropolità) together with the Generalitat (the Catalan government), the AMB and the operators, including TMB and FGC. It is not a ticket in itself: it is the card that integrated tickets are loaded onto and that you hold against the reader on the ticket gate.
It is not a purse and does not hold money. You buy a specific ticket (a 10-journey T-casual, a 30-day T-usual) and it is written onto the card; each journey is deducted from that ticket, not from a balance.
The same card works on all public transport across the seven rings of the integrated fare system, not just the metro: TMB metro and buses, FGC, Rodalies, the TRAM and the integrated intercity buses. The 160 metro stations in this guide, TMB and the four FGC lines alike, are all in zone 1, so a one-zone ticket is all you need to get around by metro.
The three formats side by side
If you live here or will use a season ticket, the personalised card or the phone is the one for you. If you are here for a few days, the €1.00 cardboard card is all you need.
| Personalised card | Phone (virtual wallet) | Anonymous cardboard card | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price of the card | €4.50 | €1.00 | €1.00 |
| Do you need to register? | Yes, with your details | Yes, with your details | No, it is anonymous |
| Tickets at once | Up to 2 | Up to 5 | Only 1, and one type at a time |
| Takes every integrated ticket? | Yes | Yes; the T-16 only goes on a card, not on a phone | Not all of them |
| If you lose it, do you get your journeys back? | Yes, by blocking it and asking for a replacement | Yes, it is linked to your account | No |
| Where to get it | the T-mobilitat website, the T-mobilitat app or a customer service point on the network | the T-mobilitat app, on any phone with NFC (Android or iOS) | ticket machines on the network and authorised outlets |
There is also a fourth format, the T-16 card for under-16s: it costs €4.50, a parent or guardian requests it from their personal area, and it can only hold the T-16, which is free. Once the ticket expires, the card can no longer be topped up.
Sources: ATM — Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (atm.cat and t-mobilitat.cat) and TMB (tmb.cat), consulted on 20 October 2026.
Which tickets go on the T-mobilitat
These are integrated ATM tickets, valid on the metro, buses, FGC, Rodalies and trams, not just the metro.
| Ticket | What it is | Zone 1 | Valid at the airport |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-casual | 10 integrated journeys for one person. Changes allowed within 75 minutes (1 zone). | €13.00 | No |
| T-usual | 30 days of unlimited travel, personal. | €22.80 | Yes |
| T-grup | 70 journeys in 30 days, for several people travelling together. | €91.00 | No |
| T-familiar | 8 journeys in 30 days, for several people travelling together. | €11.50 | No |
| T-dia | Unlimited travel for 24 hours, for one person. | €12.00 | one return journey |
| T-jove | 90 days of unlimited travel, for under-30s. One price for all zones. | €45.50 | Yes |
A TMB single ticket costs €2.90 and covers one journey with no change; with the T-casual, each of the ten journeys works out at €1.30 and includes changes. The card also takes discounted tickets (the discounted T-usual, €5.65; tickets for single-parent and large families) and the T-16, which is free. All prices, for all seven zones, are on the Barcelona metro fares page.
One journey, several modes: the transfer window
With the T-casual, a journey is not a single vehicle: it is a trip. From your first validation you have 75 minutes and up to 3 changes on a one-zone ticket, and each extra zone adds 15 minutes (90 minutes with two zones, 210 with all seven). Within that window you can combine metro, bus, FGC, Rodalies or tram and only one journey is deducted.
What you cannot do is go back into the same mode: a change means switching transport, not entering the metro a second time on the same validation. With unlimited-travel tickets (T-usual, T-jove, T-dia) the count does not matter, because no journeys are deducted.
Sources: ATM — Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (atm.cat and t-mobilitat.cat) and TMB (tmb.cat), consulted on 20 October 2026.
Zone 1, and the airport exception
All 160 TMB and FGC metro stations are in the ATM’s zone 1, so any one-zone ticket covers the whole network. Zones 2 to 7 only come into play when you leave zone 1 by Rodalies, FGC or bus.
The exception is Aeroport T1 and Aeroport T2, on L9 Sud. There, there is no supplement to add to the ticket you have: the T-casual, T-grup, T-familiar, T-escolar and single ticket are simply not valid. You need the airport ticket (€5.90), which can also be loaded onto the T-mobilitat, or a ticket that already covers them: the T-usual, the T-jove, the T-dia (one outward and one return trip at most) or the Hola Barcelona Travel Card. The other L9 Sud stations are ordinary zone 1 stations. The details are on metro to the airport.
Where to buy it and how to top it up
You order the personalised card on the T-mobilitat website or in the app, and you can also get one at a customer service point on the network. The cardboard card is sold on the spot at metro ticket machines and at authorised shops. For the phone version there is nothing to buy: you set it up in the app.
To load a ticket:
- the T-mobilitat app (holding the card against the phone, which needs NFC)
- ticket machines in metro, train and tram stations
- authorised outlets all over the Barcelona area
- the operators’ customer service points
The ATM counts more than 1,000 shops across the Barcelona area where you can top up or buy cardboard cards.
How to validate, and what about bank cards
You hold the card (or your phone, if you use the virtual wallet) against the contactless reader on the ticket gate. There is nothing to insert, and you do not need to take it out of its holder unless it shares the space with other contactless cards. On trams and buses the validator is inside the vehicle; on the metro, it is on the gate.
As well as the T-mobilitat, TMB has introduced bank card validation: at some metro entrances and on its buses you can tap a Visa, Mastercard or American Express (card, phone or watch) card on the reader, which buys and validates a single ticket. It is not the T-mobilitat and does not include integrated changes: each tap is a separate €2.90 single ticket. If there are several of you, the card has to be tapped once per person. TMB does not publish which entrances have it.
How to sign up and register the card
The personalised card and the phone version are linked to an account, so the first step is to sign up at t-mobilitat.cat. The ATM checks your identity with the public authorities, so with a Spanish DNI or NIE you do not have to provide any document; with a passport or a family record book you do, and if you object to that check the process takes longer. You can also do it in person.
Once you have signed up, you order the card (it arrives by post) or set up the virtual wallet on your phone, which needs NFC and works on both Android and iPhone. From your personal area you then manage your cards, discounts, dependants (children with a T-16) and invoices.
The anonymous cardboard card skips all of this: you buy it at a machine and use it. The trade-off is that it cannot be blocked or recovered if you lose it.
Discounts and free tickets
| Profile | Who it is for | How to get it | Ticket it gives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jove | people registered with T-mobilitat who are under 30 | automatic; it expires on your 30th birthday | T-jove |
| T-16 | children under 16 registered by a parent or guardian | automatic; it expires 6 months after the 16th birthday | T-16 (free) |
| FM/FN general o especial | single-parent and large families | by showing the family card in the personal area, in the app or at a customer service point | T-usual, T-jove and T-70/90 FM/FN |
| Ocupació | unemployed people who meet the requirements | proof in the personal area, the app or at a customer service point; valid for up to 90 days | T-usual bonificada |
| T-verda | people who have scrapped a polluting car and meet the requirements | web form or in person; valid for 3 years | T-verda (free) |
Discounts are not applied automatically: you have to prove your eligibility in your personal area, in the app or at a customer service point, and it is then linked to your account. Some are automatic by age (the under-30 and under-16 ones); others expire and have to be renewed, such as the unemployment discount, which lasts 90 days. Using a discounted ticket you are not entitled to gets the ticket blocked, on top of the operator’s fine.
Sources: ATM — Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (atm.cat and t-mobilitat.cat) and TMB (tmb.cat), consulted on 20 October 2026.
If you lose it, if it stops working or if you want a refund
Personalised card lost or stolen. First block it so that nobody else can use it: from your personal area at t-mobilitat.cat (under “Gestionar targetes”), through the customer service channels or at a service point in person. Once it is blocked you can ask for a replacement at a customer service point, paying only the cost of the card (€4.50), and you get back the ticket you had on it if it still had validity or journeys left. When the replacement is issued, the old card is cancelled; if you find it before you ask for one, you can unblock it.
Watch out with day-based tickets. Blocking the card does not freeze a ticket already in use: if you block a T-usual and take three days to ask for the replacement, those three days are used up all the same. Best not to leave it until tomorrow.
Cardboard card. It is anonymous, so if you lose it there is nothing to recover. If it stops working within the 6-month warranty, it is replaced free of charge with the journeys you had left, as long as it has not been damaged by misuse; after the warranty, a replacement costs €1.00.
Refunds. If you buy a ticket and change your mind, you have 24 hours to ask for a refund, as long as you have not used it. If you bought it at a machine or a service point, you ask for the refund at a customer service point of the same operator you bought it from.
Visiting Barcelona: Hola Barcelona and the cardboard card
For a few days there are two options. The simplest is an anonymous cardboard T-mobilitat (€1.00) with a T-casual loaded on it: €13.00 for the ten journeys, changes included. The catch is that the T-casual is not valid at the airport.
The other is the Hola Barcelona Travel Card, designed for visitors: unlimited travel for 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours from the first validation, with the metro trip to and from the airport included. It costs from €12.50, with a 10 % discount if you buy online, and you can get it at: online, at the Hola Barcelona Store (in the L3 ticket hall at Catalunya), at ticket machines and TMB customer service points, and at tourist offices. TMB does not publish the price of each duration on its website, so we do not give it here.
If your trip is a single day and you arrive or leave via the airport, also compare it with the T-dia (€12.00 in zone 1), which allows one outward and one return trip to the airport.
Where to ask, and what we have not been able to verify
Customer service for the T-mobilitat is run by the ATM, not by this website: freephone 900 928 900 (every day from 7:00 to 23:00), the T-mobilitat customer service centre (Centre d’atenció i informació T-mobilitat), avinguda de la Granvia de l’Hospitalet 16-20, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 20:00; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 9:00 to 14:00) and the personal area at t-mobilitat.cat.
Some things the operators do not publish, so you will not find them here:
- The price of each duration of the Hola Barcelona Travel Card (TMB only publishes “from €12.50”).
- A minimum or maximum top-up: there is no such thing, because you load tickets, not credit.
- The list of metro entrances that accept contactless bank cards (TMB does not publish it).
- FGC’s own single ticket for L6, L7, L8 and L12 (its fares page returned a 404).