Renfe moved more than 1.5 million passengers during Holy Week, marking the period as the peak in demand for routes emanating from Madrid and extending toward Barcelona. The surge reflected a broad pattern of travel that bridged the capital with the country’s east and highlighted the sustained appeal of long-distance rail among travelers seeking efficient, reliable options during a traditionally busy travel window.
Specifically, the rail operator announced on Monday that the most requested itineraries were those linking Madrid with Andalusia, the Community of Valencia, Galicia, and Catalonia. There was also strong demand for services connecting Catalonia with Andalusia and for trains along the Mediterranean Corridor, underscoring how regional and cross-regional connections were pivotal this Holy Week.
These volumes illustrate a steady recovery in mobility, contributing to a notable reduction in road traffic and emissions. The improved rail movement helped prevent the use of roughly one million cars and avoided about 43,000 tons of CO2, reinforcing rail travel as a cleaner, more efficient choice during high-demand periods.
To accommodate the uptick in travel, Renfe boosted AVE and Long Distance services, along with Avant and Media Distancia options. This expansion ensured more capacity on core routes while maintaining service reliability during a peak travel timeframe, reflecting the operator’s commitment to meeting passenger needs with flexibility and consistency.
In total, the company offered nearly two million seats across commercial and medium-distance services during Holy Week. While this was substantial, it remained below the three million seats that Renfe provided in 2019 before the pandemic, illustrating both a strong recovery in demand and the lingering effects of recent travel restrictions on capacity planning.
On the first day of operations, Renfe recorded a daily traveler figure that stood out as a record since the pandemic began, with 163,576 passengers. Throughout the Holy Week period, Renfe also surpassed the 150,000-passenger mark on its busiest days, underscoring the endurance of rail as a preferred option for holiday travel and regional connectivity across Spain.