Report
Spain will try out a nationwide public transport subscription
The announcement was made immediately after he also spoke about salary increases for civil servants, all intended to refute the notion that his government was on the verge of falling.
Spain will begin trialing a new single integrated state subscription for trains and buses starting on January 19. This was announced on Monday by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez during his annual end-of-year meeting with journalists.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente has been working on this idea for some time, with the intention of creating a single ticket for all urban and interurban transport throughout the country. At this point, Spaniards will have available a single ticket valid for regional and interregional trains and intercity buses operated by the state at a flat rate of €60 per month (€30 for people under 26). This won’t include metros, urban bus lines and trams, which will continue to operate with their own fares (which will continue to be partially subsidized by the state and some regions in 2026, thus reducing the cost to consumers).
According to the government, this measure will help more than 2 million users. Prime Minister Sánchez, who has failed to pass a budget for the third year in a row, wanted to convey the picture of a lively and active executive taking significant measures to help with people’s daily expenses. The announcement was made immediately after he also spoke about salary increases for civil servants, all intended to refute the notion that his government was on the verge of falling.
Puente believes that in the future agreements will be reached with local administrations that want to join the single-ticket project. “We would have liked to start from day one with the incorporation of autonomous communities and municipalities, but technical and, above all, political reasons have not made it possible,” he said, in reference to the fact that many regions are currently governed by the Popular Party (PP). However, he said he was “convinced” that over time they will “gradually join.”
Greenpeace, which proposed the initiative, celebrated the announcement as “an important first step” but is calling for more: it wants local authorities to join, the project to be economically sustainable in the long term and the price to be more affordable. It is also calling for “luxury emissions” – such as those from private jets, yachts and luxury cars – to be taxed to finance it, along with the introduction of VAT on international airline tickets.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/trasporto-pubblico-la-spagna-punta-sul-biglietto-integrato on 2025-12-17