Train Rides in Spain Will Be Free for the Rest of 2023
You'll be able to go short- and medium-length distances without spending a dime.
A popular, and most importantly, free travel hack is officially extending its services.
Last year, the Spanish government and Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez saw how much inflation was affecting people and in an effort to ease the cost crunch, it made a significant portion of train rides in the nation free. The initiative, which launched last September and was supposed to end this spring, has successfully been extended to December 2023, The Points Guy reports.
Thanks to the program, commuter trains and mid-distance regional lines will no longer have fares. The qualifying trains are operated by the national company Renfe.
For tourists, this means you'll be able to get between Barcelona, Seville, Madrid, and Bilbao for free. You'll also have access to smaller towns outside these major cities without additional travel costs. However, it is important to note that not all trains participate in the initiative (including some high-speed trains), and it might take you a little longer to reach your destination.
To get the free train tickets, you'll have to pay a small deposit of 10 euros (roughly $11) for commuter services and 20 euros (roughly $22) for medium-distance trains. But don't worry, you'll get the deposit back as long as you complete at least 16 train journeys by the end of 2023.
The free tickets will only be available for multi-trip tickets (which include a minimum of 10 return trips), not single fares, as The Points Guy reports. Keep that in mind when planning out your travel. If you are planning a trip to Spain this last portion of the year, you can take out some of your allotted inter-country travel budget and spend it on food.
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Opheli Garcia Lawler is a Staff Writer on the News team at Thrillist. Follow her on Twitter @opheligarcia and Instagram @opheligarcia.