Transport publishes the conditions for young people to travel this summer with discounts of up to 90% on bus and train tickets

The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) has today published two Secretary of State resolutions that set the conditions of sale and use of bus and train tickets, with discounts of up to 90% that aim to make it easier for young people between 18 and 30 years old, both inclusive, to travel this summer in Spain and Europe.

To benefit from the measure, young Spaniards and young people from any EU country with legal residence in Spain, born between 1993 and 2005, must use the form on the Mitma website to register and confirm they meet the requirements and, if applicable, obtain the personal and non-transferable code they must use to purchase the Interrail pass and the discounted train and bus tickets on the websites of the respective operators.

Registration will be open from today, 1 June 2023, and must be completed at least 24 hours before the first ticket is purchased. The tickets will be available for purchase as soon as the companies finalise the necessary technological modifications.

Interested parties can register using qualified certificates for electronic signatures, such as the Cl@ve system, or by entering their name and surname (as it appears on their DNI or NIE), date of birth, DNI or NIE number and expiry date, together with the EU Citizen Registration support number and the nationality.

The code, consisting of the DNI or NIE number and a set of characters, will be sent to their mobile phone or email address. The code is valid for the entire period and all means of transport are included.

Discounts

The discounts will be applied to the price of single or round-trip tickets with a travel date between 15 June and 15 September 2023

as follows:

• 90% discount on conventional medium-distance and metric gauge services.
• 50% discount on Avant single tickets.
• For all our rail operators' commercial long-distance and high-speed services: 50% discount, with a maximum of €30 per ticket.
• 90% discount for regular state bus services.
• 50% discount on the Interrail Global Pass (flexi), valid for 10 days in a 2-month period, when sold through Renfe. The discount is applied to the official Interrail fares, with their price variations depending on age, etc. In 2022, 81% of the passes sold in Spain were the Global Pass type, of which the flexi type accounted for 89% of sales.

The price of the discounted ticket will not include any charges for cancellation or change, issuance, taxes, baggage or any other aspect ancillary to the carriage. Therefore, if the user cancels the trip, they will have to bear any possible cancellation charges.

It is estimated that the discounts could be of benefit for 12.5 million trips made by young people in Spain during the three months they are valid for, and double sales of Interrail passes. Compensation will be settled on the basis of the number of journeys made.

The initiative, regulated by Royal Decree-Law 4/2023 of 11 May, provides for the financing of discounts on medium-distance railway services under the jurisdiction of the Government of Catalonia, as requested by the regional government. The measure may be extended to other medium-distance services provided by Renfe under agreements or contracts with other autonomous communities.

Conditions and penalties

The resolutions contain a number of conditions to prevent the inappropriate use of discounted tickets, including the possibility of penalties. To this effect, the ministry can withdraw the registration code from beneficiaries who accumulate more than six detected misuses, either in rail or road transport.

To monitor the situation, the ministry will draw up a register of improperly used tickets, identifying the beneficiary and, once six uses have been detected, potentially notifying the offender by text message or email that the code has been withdrawn and that they will not be able to register again to benefit from this measure.

The company will give advance warning of any misuse by SMS message to the mobile phone or registered email address, and of the possible consequences of the misuse.

The following cases are considered as misuse:

• The use of the registration code by a person other than the registered beneficiary. The code is obviously personal and non-transferable.
• Failure to cancel a trip that has been booked but not made at least 24 hours in advance shall be considered improper use. The company may reduce this period in accordance with its usual marketing and sales practices.
• In the case of state bus lines, the concessionary company may reduce this 24-hour time limit for short journeys where most of them are for regular mobility. To this effect, changing tickets on these journeys will not be considered misuse.

The booking of more than one return journey per day for the same origin-destination with the same rail or bus company will not be allowed unless the first journey has been made or cancelled in advance.

Accessible transport for young people

In the current situation resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, marked by inflationary tensions affecting, among others, the passenger transport sector, it is necessary to adopt a public policy that facilitates the use of public transport by young people for journeys both in Spain and in Europe during the summer season of 2023.

The aim is to facilitate leisure trips during the summer using a safer, more reliable, comfortable, economical and sustainable means of transport than private cars. It is also intended to encourage young people's learning and independence, and to strengthen personal relationships and European feeling.

At the same time, it seeks to help the recovery of the tourism and cultural sectors post-pandemic, boosting national destinations and collaborating with the development of rural Spain. Historical and cultural heritage is thereby promoted.

Interrail

Within the European framework, Interrail is a personal and non-transferable pass, which can be purchased and used by people legally resident in Europe, and which allows travel by train in 33 European countries or by boat (between Italy and Greece). In existence for over 50 years, it has been used by millions of young people as a way to travel around Europe.

The European institutions have recognised the role of the Interrail Pass as an instrument to promote young people's knowledge of the other EU countries and, therefore, help "create Europe".

The Government of Spain shares the EUs objective and wants to make it easier for young people of Spanish nationality or from an EU country with legal residence in Spain to access this type of travel during the summer period of 2023.

Non official translation