Taking trains in Spain

My sister-in-law, Maryann, and I purchased Eurail Spain passes for use in March-April 2014 — valid for six months and good for one month after the first day of travel.

With most Eurail passes, “six segments” represents six days. However, with the Spain pass, “six segments” means six trains.

Upon the advice of a Rail Europe agent, we prebooked four of our segments, beginning with March 31 (Málaga-Madrid) and including April 4 (Madrid-Bilbao), April 9 (Bilbao-Barcelona) and April 11 (Barcelona-Valencia). Because we weren’t sure of our dates for the other two segments, between March 25 and March 27 (Málaga-Seville, round trip), we left them open.

In Málaga we were informed that we couldn’t use the pass for Málaga-Seville because our first date of travel had already been reserved in the computer for March 31 (Málaga-Madrid).

When I had been on the phone with the Rail Europe agent, I was very specific as to my intentions to travel Málaga-Seville-Malaga prior to March 31. Still, I had been given incorrect information.

An extremely patient and understanding Spanish rail agent in Málaga understood our problem and corrected it by canceling all of our reservations, making the Málaga-Seville round trip our first reservation for the pass and then rebooking all of our original reservations!

I have a warning regarding most railway stations in Spain. There is an electronic eye in the middle of the sliding glass door between the train tracks and the station. I’m sure it’s not often that only one person goes through the door at any one time, but when I attempted to go through one of these doors slightly to one side of the center, it closed, knocking me down. I learned to always approach these doors precisely in the center, where I could be detected by the sensor.

In addition to a ticket-and-passport check, several Spanish railway stations also have a security check.

Track numbers of departing trains are seldom posted more than 20 minutes before departure. 

Standing in a long, very slow-moving line of people boarding, with the departure time looming we started to panic. However, we were told that long-distance Spanish trains (which require reservations) will always wait for ticketed passengers to board before departing. As long as there are people in line, the train will wait.

On regional trains in Spain, there are no seat reservations. A ticket is required to pass through the turnstiles, both prior to boarding and upon arrival.

None of the Spanish trains on which we traveled had schedule itinerary listings. On board each train, there was an electronic screen indicating the next station. 

All of our long-distance trains had snack bars but no dining cars. 

The trains were clean and fast, and the scenery was fantastic.

DIANE PITMON

Dayton, MN