Using Uber or Lyft in Spain and Portugal

We only used Uber in Lisbon and Porto and not as airport transportation. It worked pretty well. In Lisbon there are streets that are blocked to cars but accessible to cabs (a pillar comes out of the asphalt blocking the street. The cabs have a device that makes it recede). Uber cannot access these streets and when traffic is bad it can matter. In Porto it was seamless.

In Spain, I've found taxis to be just as cheap as Uber. Most of the time, public transportation will take you anywhere you want to go in the city and out to the airport.

I used Uber in Madrid right before Christmas and found it as easy as one would expect. Though I do agree that public transport is best and that taxis are priced competitively, but in my case I was pressed for time and I didn't know where to find a taxi rank near my Airbnb. I wouldn't use it as my primary means of transport, but it is certainly handy at times.

Caroline