Raquel Sánchez, minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, announced that one of ten free Media Distancia season tickets was fraudulently redeemed. The government plans to respond with a new sanctions regime that could include confiscating deposits and removing subscriptions for those who abuse the program.
Following a review after leaving the European Union Transport Council meeting in Brussels, Sánchez described the regime change as a necessary action to curb fraud detected in about 10% of the roughly 640,000 free middle-distance passes issued so far, the category with the highest level of misuse.
In total, the program covers more than 2.2 million subscriptions, and Transit authorities detected fraudulent use in about 3% of that broader pool.
According to the minister, irregular and fraudulent behavior by some passengers has led to seats being reserved but not used, which deprives legitimate travelers of a place on trains and disrupts service for others.
Sánchez stated that the new sanctions regime announced on Monday aims to deter such abuse of free passes. The goal is to preserve the value of the program for the broad public and ensure it remains accessible to the largest possible number of travelers.
Under the measures, Renfe would be able to seize a 20 euro deposit and cancel a free subscription if a passenger is found to have violated the rules at least three times. The rules require passengers to cancel a seat reservation at least two hours before departure; failure to do so may trigger consequences even if the traveler ultimately uses a train.
Cancellation would apply only to the segment of the rail network where the irregular use occurred, but the operator would also suspend any new free passes for medium-distance routes for a period of up to 30 days from the date of cancellation for the associated rider.
Public reaction to the reductions in rail transport benefits has been largely positive in Spain, where more than 2.2 million people have already benefited from free passes. Approximately 1.6 million of these passes cover Cercanías and Rodalies travel, reflecting broad usage across regional networks.
The announcement underscores ongoing efforts to balance accessibility with accountability in public transportation programs, a challenge widely discussed in both European policy circles and among commuters in North American markets who value reliable, affordable rail options.