In July, the Spanish government declared many of its trains would be free from 1 September to 31 December – an initiative focused on alleviating financial pressures on commuters.
Taking advantage of the offer as a tourist was a non-starter due to having to select a regular route and repeating it much like, well, a commuter. Another aspect of the scheme, however, is 50 per cent off a “BonoAve Flexible” pass on high-speed Ave trains – taking it from €735 to €367.50 (£321) – which includes 10 journeys plus free returns on various cities’ metropolitan Cercanias networks (normally about €10 a pop depending on the length of journey).
