Spanish maps

by halcongris

There are excellent map resources for Spain. Many excellent maps and aerial photos are available free on-line. In addition, there is an excellent range of maps of Spain available for purchase in both paper and CD format. I have tried to summarize the information here.
Updated 31 July 2019

National maps

The most important range of maps is that produced by the National Geographic Institute (Instituto Geográfico Nacional).
There is an excellent interactive map of Spain which can take you all the way from 1:2,000,000 scale down to aerial photos at 1:1000.

If you are fluent in Spanish there is a very comprehensive description of all the maps available in the Spanish system with illutrations and explanations.

I suggest you contact the excellent map shop, Mapas y Compañía in Málaga, telephone 952.60.88.15

The Digital DTM Topographic Map of Spain (Mapa Militar Digital de España) is a CD set based on the 1:250,000 topographic maps plus 100m contour information in DTM files. It comes with a viewing program allowing visualization in 2 or 3 dimensions, calculation of distances, and zooming. If you understand Spanish there is a very useful page about these maps here

The series 50 and Series 25 are the most useful paper maps covering all of Spain at scales of 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 respectively. Their current availability in printed form is a bit patchy but fortunately they can be downloaded for free in TIFF format.

The easiest way to get a free download is to go to the search page. You can zoom in on the area you want or you can type the name of the place you want, in the box labelled "Localización por Nombre ". Zoom in to the rectangle you want (the number on the rectangle is the sheet number of the 1:50.000 map). Then at the right, where it says "Filtrar por productos" choose the type of map you want (for geocaching choose MTN25 ráster or MTN50 ráster) and click "Ver lista de productos". Then select the sheet you want (the TIFF format is probably what you need or the ECW format for use in OziExplorer) and press the word "Añadir" in the column marked "Seleccionar". Now press the button at the bottom, labelled "Comenzar el proceso de descarga" and on the next page press "Iniciar descarga".
The resulting zip file contains a TIFF format map that can be used in Ozi explorer or other mapping program, or printed out if you wish.
You can also search directly for the sheet number on the Advanced Search page. Again the product will be MTN25 ráster or MTN50 ráster. The "Hoja del MTN50" will be the 1:50,000 sheet number (see below) and the "Filtrar por" should be set to TIFF. Then click the "Ver lista de Productos" button.

The 1:25,000 sheets are the same as the corresponding 1:50,000 sheets followed by a roman numeral indicating the quadrant as follows:

• North West - I
• North East - II
• South West - III
• South East - IV

So, for example the village of Benahavis, which is in the south west quadrant of sheet 1065 in the 1:50,000 series will be on sheet 1065-III of the 1:25,000 series.
If you want to find a downloadable version of these 1:25,000 maps you might try looking at this blog. Clicking on the area you want on the main map will take you to a page where you can download the 1:25,000 map in ECW format. These can be used in OZIExplorer and many other mapping programs. On that same blog page there are links for downloading the maps in Garmin format as well.

The mapping system is currently being revised, replacing the ED50 system by the ETRS89 system. All the sheet numbers will change and we will of course bring you the new sheet numbers on this site when the maps are available. For those of you fluent in Spanish, there is a complete technical description available.

Regional and digital maps

There are numerous regional maps from the various autonomous regions of Spain, many in digital form and some available free on the web.

• Andalucía
  The Junta de Andalucía offer some excellent products. There are CDs containing the provinces of Andalucía at a scale of 1:10,000 as geo-referenced raster maps in black and white.
  The actual maps (without the georeferencing) are available free for download from the web, but I have found that the site is not always reachable. You have to give your name and contact details but there is no charge for the download.
• La Rioja
  There is excellent availability of maps for La Rioja. The maps are downloadable as either topographical maps, relief maps or aerial photos. They are ideal for use with GPS mapping software and easy to find and download. Start at the main index page.
• Catalunya
  The Institut Cartogr?fic de Catalunya, on its pages for map download in English, also provides an excellent range of high-quality, freely downloadable maps. They come in Mr. Sid format.
• Navarra
  The Dirección General de Obras Públicas. Gobierno de Navarra, on its pages mapas gratuitos, provides excellent freely downloadable maps of Navarra and its road system.

Others
Some maps have been scanned and are in the public domain (according to www.elgps.com/mapas.html). Normally they contain an associated .map file for use with the OZIExplorer program. Those known to be available are:

• Mapa del Principado de Asturias  (4,5Mb) (por Javier Riestra)
• Mapa de Mallorca 1:50000 (1,8Mb) (por Rafael Lobera)
• Mapa completo de España (0,6Mb) (por Francisco Amado)
• Mapa geológico de Cazorla (0,27Mb) (por Jesús Cabrera)
• Mapa de la Coruña (7,1Mb) (Por Francisco Amado)
• Mapa de Córdoba (438kb) (por Jesús Cabrera)
• Mapa de España (216kb)
• Mapa de Gibraltar (196kb)

You can obtain all the maps you need, as well as GPS units and accessories, at the excellent Mapas y Compañía in Málaga. Contact details as follows:
Mapas y Compañía
C/. Compañía, 33
29008 Málaga
Tel: 952 608 815