Street parking in Cartagena costs €0.60 for one hour and €1.60 for two hours, and it is only charged on weekdays from 9:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 20:30 and on Saturday mornings. Saturday afternoons, Sundays and holidays are free, and so are afternoons and Saturdays in August. Blue spaces allow up to 2 hours 30 minutes; green spaces offer a €2.40 all-day pass. This guide covers the ORA zones and hours, how to pay, the underground car parks and the free periods.
Do you need a car? Not for the old town, which is compact and best seen on foot. A car pays off for La Manga, Cabo de Palos, Calblanque and the Murcia countryside. The nearest airport is Región de Murcia (RMU) at Corvera: compare car rental at Murcia Airport on DiscoverCars or pick-up points in Cartagena itself, and read our guide to car hire in Spain.
Street parking in central Cartagena is run by the ORA (Ordenanza de Regulación de Aparcamientos), operated for the city by EYSA. Kerbs are painted in three colours: blue for short stays (30 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes), green for longer stays with cheap half-day and day passes, and orange for residents only. One hour costs €0.60 and two hours €1.60, and the ORA only charges on weekday mornings and evenings and on Saturday mornings.
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| ORA ticket | Price in 2026 | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| 30 minutes (minimum) | €0.20 | Blue and green zones |
| 1 hour | €0.60 | Blue and green zones |
| 2 hours | €1.60 | Blue zone maximum is 2 h 30 per stay |
| 3 hours | €2.50 | Green zone only (blue is capped at 2 h 30) |
| Green zone, morning or afternoon | €1.80 | Cheapest option for a half day |
| Green zone, all day | €2.40 | Covers both paid periods |
| Cancelling a fine for overstaying | €3 | Only if you overstayed by less than 1 hour |
Source: ORA Cartagena hours and tariffs, checked on 20 October 2026.
| Day | Morning | Afternoon |
|---|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 9:00–14:00 paid | 17:00–20:30 paid |
| Saturday | 9:00–14:00 paid | Free |
| Sunday and public holidays | Free | Free |
| July | Saturdays free | As normal on weekdays |
| August | Weekday mornings paid | Afternoons and Saturdays free |
Outside these hours you can leave the car in a blue or green space without a ticket. Three more Saturdays are free all day: the Saturday after Viernes de Dolores, Holy Saturday, and the Saturday after the Carthaginians and Romans festival. Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are not holidays, so the ORA works as normal.
Every ORA street has a ticket machine. Press the central button, choose aparcar, type your number plate and the time you want, then pay. The machines take coins only (no 1 and 2 cent coins, no notes) and give no change, so carry the exact amount. Their card slot only works with the operator’s own prepaid card. The ORA website also links to the Mowiz online meter. A ticket bought on a Sunday or holiday starts at 9:00 on the next working day.
Overstayed? If you exceeded your ticket by less than one hour, you can cancel the fine at any ORA machine for €3, but only within one hour after the end of your ticket. If you had no ticket or overstayed by more than an hour, the fine cannot be cancelled.
Short visit to the old town: a blue space near the Roman Theatre, Calle Mayor or the port for up to 2 h 30. Two hours cost €1.60.
Half or full day: look for a green space and buy the €1.80 half-day or €2.40 all-day pass. Green spaces are more common outside the pedestrian core.
Garages: several underground car parks serve the centre. On the ElParking booking site we found these with prices on 20 October 2026:
| Car park | Address | Price shown |
|---|---|---|
| Parking Avenida de América | Plaza de México 2 | €3 per hour |
| Los Soportales de la Lonja | Calle Carlos III 20b | €20.80 per day |
| IC Hospital Santa Lucía | Calle Minarete | €14.55 per day |
| Plaza de España – Alameda | Plaza de España | No price shown |
Booking-site prices depend on your dates, and the operators publish no walk-up tariff we could check, so treat them as a guide. Underground garages often have low height limits; check before you drive in with a van or roof box.
Parclick lists Cartagena as a city but showed no bookable car park when we checked. It is still worth a quick look before a busy weekend: Parclick in Cartagena.
Cartagena approved its low emission zone ordinance in 2023, covering the historic centre and the Ensanche. Unlike Madrid or Barcelona, the city chose not to ban cars by DGT environmental label, and we found no official notice of label-based fines in force. You do not need a Spanish environmental sticker to drive into Cartagena, but parts of the old town are pedestrianised, so follow the signs.
Cruise ships berth at the Muelle Alfonso XII, a few minutes on foot from the Roman Theatre and Calle Mayor. If you are meeting a ship by car, the same ORA rules apply on the streets behind the waterfront, and on cruise days the central garages fill up early. We found no official car-park tariff for the port area itself, so we do not quote one.
White-line spaces outside the ORA area are free, but the ORA publishes only a map of the regulated streets, so we do not name specific free streets.
Cartagena parking cost estimator
Check Parclick in Cartagena →Pre-filled with €0.80 an hour, the average of a 2-hour ORA ticket (€1.60). The first hour costs €0.60; in a green zone a whole day costs only €2.40.
An ORA ticket costs €0.20 for 30 minutes, €0.60 for one hour, €1.60 for two hours and €2.50 for three hours (green zone only). In green zones a half-day pass costs €1.80 and a full day €2.40.
The ORA charges Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 20:30 and on Saturdays from 9:00 to 14:00. Saturday afternoons, Sundays and public holidays are free, Saturdays are free in July, and afternoons and Saturdays are free in August.
Between 30 minutes and 2 hours 30 minutes. For a longer stay use a green space with the €1.80 half-day or €2.40 all-day pass, or an underground car park.
Not with a normal bank card. The meters take coins only (no 1 and 2 cent coins), give no change, and their card slot only reads the operator’s prepaid card. The ORA website links to the Mowiz online meter.
If you overstayed by less than one hour, you can cancel the fine at an ORA machine for €3 within one hour of your ticket ending. Without a ticket, after a longer overstay or in an orange residents’ space, it cannot be cancelled.
Yes, on paper: the 2023 ordinance covers the historic centre and the Ensanche, but the city chose not to ban cars by environmental label, and we found no label-based fines in force.
Región de Murcia International Airport (RMU) at Corvera is the closest. Alicante Airport is a longer drive to the north-east.
