Madrid to A Coruña distance

Madrid to A Coruña by road

The fastest driving route is 593 km (369 mi) long and takes about 6 hr 30 min without stops or traffic. It runs mostly on the A-6 (496 km) and the AP-6 (70.1 km).

It goes through 3 autonomous communities: the Community of Madrid (55.6 km), Castile and León (379 km), and Galicia (159 km). That’s an average of 91 km/h (57 mph). Spain’s traffic authority (DGT) recommends a break every two hours or 200 km: with 3 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 7 hr 30 min. The time is OSRM’s estimate with OpenStreetMap data: no traffic and speeds somewhat below the limits, so real trips can differ.

Straight-line distance and bearing

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, Madrid and A Coruña are 510 km (317 mi) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 16% longer: for every 100 km in a straight line you drive 116. That’s a normal detour between two cities. Of the 40 Spanish pairs in this series, it ranks 35th for detour (the average is 24%).

From Madrid, A Coruña lies to the northwest (bearing 312°), and from A Coruña, Madrid lies to the southeast. The straight line reaches A Coruña on a bearing of 308°: on a sphere the bearing keeps changing along the way, which is why the shortest route looks slightly curved on a flat map.

Halfway between Madrid and A Coruña

Halfway along the straight line, 255 km (158 mi) from each city, is the point 41.9195° N, 5.9897° W. It falls near Villanueva de las Peras (Zamora, pop. 85), 2.1 km away. The nearest town of 20,000 people or more is Zamora (pop. 59,815), 50.4 km away.

By road, the halfway point is 297 km (184 mi) from each city, in Cebrones del Río (León, pop. 439). The nearest town of 20,000 people or more is San Andrés del Rabanedo (León, pop. 29,944), 43.6 km away. The two midpoints are 39.1 km apart: if you want to meet halfway, the one on the road is the useful one.

By plane

A direct flight would take about 1 hr 10 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 510 km straight line at 800 km/h (about 497 mph), a typical airliner cruising speed. Real schedules depend on wind, routing and airports, and not every pair has a direct flight.

The two cities

Madrid sits at 645 m (2,116 ft) and A Coruña at 6 m (20 ft), 639 m (2,096 ft) lower.

Madrid has 3.5 million people and A Coruña 251,543 people (INE population register, January 1, 2025).