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Tour de France inspires Barcelona’s 2026 Three Kings Parade with Metro reinforcements
The parade brings increased Metro services, historic buses and altered routes.
The 2026 Three Kings Parade transforms Barcelona and its mobility. The metro increases frequencies and staffing. Historic buses and altered routes. Find out how to get around and what to expect at this unique event.
Barcelona is preparing for a 2026 Three Kings Parade shaped by inspiration from the Tour de France and completely transformed urban mobility. This Monday, 5 January, the city and several municipalities in the metropolitan area will experience restrictions on private traffic and diversions on most bus routes between 16:00 and 21:30. Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) recommends using the metro, which will be the main way to get around during the celebration.
The arrival of the Three Wise Men, as tradition dictates, will be by sea. After taking their places on their floats, they will begin the parade at 18:00 from Marquès de l’Argentera Avenue. The route will continue along Passeig de Colom, Paral·lel Avenue, Ronda de Sant Pau, Sant Antoni market, Comte d’Urgell and Sepúlveda streets, returning to Paral·lel, Plaça d’Espanya and Reina Maria Cristina Avenue, and will finish at the Font Màgica de Montjuïc at around 21:15. There will be no capacity limits, although spaces will be reserved for people with accredited disabilities.
To make journeys easier, TMB has scheduled a special reinforcement on the conventional metro lines from 17:00. Line 5 will run at intervals of less than 2 minutes, while lines 1, 2 and 3 will run every 3 to 4 minutes, and line 4 at just over 4-minute intervals. Lines 1, 2 and 4 will have 10%, 18% and 5% more trains respectively than on a usual Monday. The metro will operate until 2:00 in the morning, because it is the eve of a public holiday, and until midnight on Tuesday 6 January.
The special operation includes more customer-service, cleaning, maintenance and security staff at stations key to the route, such as Barceloneta (L4), Drassanes (L3), Paral·lel (L2 and L3), Sant Antoni (L2), Poble Sec (L3), Espanya (L1 and L3), Rocafort (L1), Urgell (L1), Universitat (L1 and L2) and Urquinaona (L1 and L4). Staff will be on hand to manage passenger flows and impose restrictions if necessary.
As every year, TMB buses will also play a leading role in the parade. In addition to the involvement of volunteer drivers and technicians, double-decker Barcelona Bus Turístic buses and mechanical platforms for the floats will operate, together with three historic vehicles from the Fundación TMB: the 1940 Dodge Brothers, the 1949 Aclo Regent and the 1968 Pegaso 3036.
To check all changes and public-transport recommendations during the 2026 Three Kings Parade in Barcelona and its different neighbourhoods, TMB keeps the service-notices section of its website up to date.