High-speed rail continues to set records in Spain. Since the railway liberalization began in May 2021—the date the first journey operated by a company other than Renfe, in this case France’s Ouigo, was completed—the number of travelers has kept rising. The Madrid-Barcelona corridor long surpassed pre-pandemic figures and drove quarterly traveler numbers up by more than a million. The same trend is evident across other routes (Madrid-Valencia, Madrid-Málaga/Granada, Madrid-Seville, and Madrid-Alicante) as more liberalized corridors welcome new operators.
Travel capacity has increased, prices have fallen (by up to 24% on some routes), and the traveler tally has climbed. The latest Railway Observatory, which provides annual data and recently released the 2022 closing report, confirms a substantial rise in travelers on liberalized corridors. Data from the CNMC for the third quarter of 2023 also show a 32% year-over-year growth in overall high-speed travel.
With lower prices, who is riding high-speed trains? The chief executive officer of Ouigo España recently noted that for the first time in Spain families, including children, young people, students, and freelancers, are using these trains, expanding beyond the traditional business traveler who had largely filled capacity. Beyond these profiles, industry sources report another phenomenon: tourists who visit Spain to travel Barcelona-MMadrid and back, or plan trips that include a high-speed leg.
From the agencies we work with, it is clear there are many tourists from countries where high-speed rail is less common who see Madrid-Barcelona or Valencia trips as a core experience of visiting Spain. For example, Americans or Latin Americans, and Japanese travelers who want to compare experiences, have emerged as notable travelers in Spain.
We are seeing a phenomenon that either did not exist or occurred only on a small scale in the past. It used to be common for a tourist in Madrid to take the Avant service to Segovia and Toledo, but now the trend extends across the peninsula. People come to Madrid, Barcelona, or Valencia, and rather than staying in a single city, they plan to visit multiple cities because the high-speed offer and favorable prices make it easier and more affordable. This explains much of the growth in demand for high-speed travel, where induced demand—trips that did not previously occur—is now common.
Popular routes for foreign travelers
Although there are no detailed data on why travelers choose these routes, the sense that foreign tourism contributes to the high-speed surge is widely shared in the sector. Trainline, a British-based rail price comparison site, provides data on which routes are most booked from abroad in Spain. It should be noted that the site’s traffic is predominantly British (about 41%), followed by Italian and French travelers.
In 2023, 63% of bookings for the Seville-Barcelona route came from foreign tourists, 63% for the Málaga-Barcelona route, and 40% for Madrid-Seville trips. For the Madrid-Barcelona route, foreign bookings accounted for 18% of last year’s volume. Moreover, Madrid-Barcelona ranks among the top three routes on Trainline’s platform across all the countries where it operates.
The liberalization is boosting city-to-city tourism in Spain, according to a Phocuswright market analyst. This shift reduces overnight stays since a day trip is possible, thanks to rising flight prices, higher fuel costs, and cheaper train tickets—all of which push travelers toward the train for convenience and cost savings.
Even with growing competition, Renfe remains the dominant operator and the one moving the most travelers. The company notes that rail transport benefits from higher tourist demand in Spain, using major cities like Madrid and Barcelona as hubs. Renfe emphasizes frequent services between these metropolises and the introduction of direct connections such as Barcelona-Seville, Barcelona-Málaga, León-Murcia, and more. A notable pattern is travelers who stop in Madrid and then board trains to Barcelona, Valencia, or Málaga before a cruise leg.
To promote AVE travel among foreign tourists, Renfe has formed partnerships with tour groups that market the high-speed service in their home markets. The company estimates a potential niche of twenty million travelers, since about 78% of foreign tourists who visit Spain stay for at least four days.
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