Thirty-nine of Málaga’s 48 bus lines pass through a single stop. Parque-Plaza de la Marina, on the Paseo del Parque, is where 8 in 10 of the city’s urban routes call, which makes almost every change of bus in Málaga the same manoeuvre. The network of the Empresa Malagueña de Transportes runs 1.136 stops in all, and a single fare costs 1.40 euros.
How big is Málaga’s bus network and where do the lines meet? The council file lists 48 urban lines and 1.136 distinct stops, crossed in 2.293 line-and-stop pairs. Thirty-nine of those lines call at Parque-Plaza de la Marina, the network median is 46 stops a line, and 4 lines run at night.
That concentration is the practical fact for a visitor. The network is excellent radially, from the centre outwards, and awkward between two outer districts, because the connection almost always routes back through the same axis between the Paseo del Parque and the Alameda Principal.
Where to change buses in Málaga
| Stop | Lines calling |
|---|---|
| Parque - Plaza Marina | 39 lines |
| Parque - Rectorado | 30 lines |
| Alameda Principal - North | 26 lines |
| Alameda Principal - South | 26 lines |
All four sit on the same short axis. For anyone staying in the old town this is convenient to the point of being invisible; for anyone staying in Teatinos or El Palo and heading to the other side of the city, it is the reason a journey takes two buses. Fares, passes and the metro comparison are in getting around Málaga.
How to get home at night by bus
Four lines carry the N prefix, and the surprise is how long they are. Against a network median of 46 stops, the N3 runs 78 to Campanillas and the N4 runs 76 to Puerto de la Torre — near-full versions of their daytime equivalents rather than a skeleton service.
The other two are the N1 and the N2. The fare is the same 1.40 euros at night as by day, and the 5-euro ten-journey top-up is the title that pays for itself from the third ride onwards. Tipping is not expected on a city bus, and tap water is drinkable across Málaga. Where the late-night areas are is in Málaga nightlife areas, and the taxi ranks that stay open, with the 29 that do not, are in taxi ranks in Málaga.
There are also 6 circular lines, prefixed C, the shortest of which is the C3 at 17 stops.
Is the tourist bus part of this network
The council numbering includes line 92, “Bus Turístico. Línea Roja”, with 10 stops, and line 93, “Bus Turístico Línea Azul Museos”, with 4 — the shortest in the network.
What settles whose service it is, is the timetable: the PDF the EMT itself hosts for line 92 is headed “HORARIOS CITY SIGHTSEEING MÁLAGA”. So the hop-on hop-off runs inside the municipal numbering with its timetable hosted by the city operator, while being run commercially by that company. Its three routes and 28 stops are in the Málaga tourist bus.
That PDF is dated summer 2020. It is the document the line-92 notice still points to, so it is quoted here as a dated document and never as a current timetable.
Line 91 is a different thing: an ordinary urban route, Estación de Autobuses - Jardín Botánico, with 11 stops and a PDF stating a single fare of 1.40 euros. It is the cheap way to the La Concepción botanical garden, 6 km out of town.
Which line to take to go a long way
The median line has 46 stops; the five longest all head for the western and northern edges of the municipality.
| Line | Route | Stops |
|---|---|---|
| Line 19 | Paseo del Parque - Campanillas - Maqueda via Ortega y Gasset | 85 stops |
| Line 8 | El Palo - Carlos Haya - Clínico | 79 stops |
| Line 25 | Paseo del Parque - Campanillas - Maqueda | 78 stops |
| Line N3 | Paseo del Parque - Ortega y Gasset - Campanillas, night | 78 stops |
| Line N4 | Paseo del Parque - Teatinos - Puerto de la Torre, night | 76 stops |
Three of the five run to Campanillas, at the western edge, and one of those three is a night service. Line 8 is the exception: it crosses the city east to west, from El Palo to the Clínico hospital.
Lines 19 and 25 are also the ones that climb to the technology park, and the neighbourhood at the far end of line 8 is covered in El Palo beach.
What you still have to check elsewhere
No timetables. Only 4 of the 48 lines carry a special-hours notice, and all four point to an external PDF. For the other 44 the frequency is not in this archive.
No fares, which are published separately.
And accessibility only as loose tags, present on the airport line and the C1 and C2 circulars and blank on most rows.
| What you can look up | What the file holds |
|---|---|
| Which streets a line serves | 48 lines and 2.293 line-stop pairs |
| How many stops it has | from 4 to 85, median 46 |
| Outward and return termini | yes, for every line |
| Timetable and frequency | n/a, only 4 lines link a PDF |
| Fare | n/a, published elsewhere |
Frequently asked questions about Málaga’s bus network
Where do you change buses in Málaga?
At Parque-Plaza de la Marina, on the Paseo del Parque, where 39 of the network’s 48 lines call. Parque-Rectorado takes 30 and the two Alameda Principal stops 26 each, so four stops on one axis carry almost every connection in the city.
How much is a bus in Málaga?
A single fare is 1.40 euros and a ten-journey top-up 5 euros, which brings the ride down to 0.50. Nothing is booked in advance and the fare is the same on every one of the 48 lines, including the four night services.
Are there night buses in Málaga?
Four, all prefixed N. They are not shortened versions of the daytime routes: the N3 runs 78 stops to Campanillas and the N4 runs 76 to Puerto de la Torre, against a network median of 46 stops a line.
Which is the longest bus line in Málaga?
Line 19, from the Paseo del Parque to Campanillas and Maqueda via Ortega y Gasset, with 85 stops. Line 8 follows with 79, crossing the city from El Palo to the Clínico hospital, and line 25 has 78 on the same westward run as the 19.
Is the tourist bus part of the city network?
It carries municipal line numbers 92 and 93, Red and Blue Museums, but the timetable PDF the EMT hosts for line 92 is headed City Sightseeing Málaga and dates from the summer of 2020. It is a commercially run service inside the council’s numbering.
Before you board
Thirty-nine of the 48 lines call at the same stop. Almost any connection in Málaga is solved on the Paseo del Parque.