Is train travel in Spain possible without seat reservations?

The rail planner app is not reliable for anything.

You need reservations for many trains in Spain, even for some regional trains. You could try the rail planner app's function to look for trains without mandatory reservations but then you'll need to verify the timetables. Reservations for regional or MD trains can be free of charge though or only €4.

From Barcelona to Valencia and Madrid there are a few regional trains without reservation. Also from Madrid to Segovia.

Some are free of charge. Could depend on the region.

Does not depend on region-RENFE is a big state-run organisation that does not do such discriminations.

BUT the reason why many more R-trenes MUST RES for now is that free travel scheme for those who live there and commit to using trenes at least 15/16 times or so per mes=month. Which leads to many hombres pasajeros doing RES but not turning up (or that is what locals tell in some magazines).

F.e. one could, only 1/day and expect retrasa=delay, use R-trenes from Mad to Bcn and along costa from Bcn to Vlc. and a few Vlc-Alacant-Murcia. As for now these are also with RES.

In fact about the only area where its doable is Catalunya-around Bcn, as also the frequency for such trenes is enough to use them without serious planning.

OTOH in Andalucia its a nightmare (if one thinks of that for having to visit the counter all the times).

It MIGHT also be possible limited in Galicia (far north-west, Santiago de C / Coruna), but I dk actual situacion there for now. 

Anyway, for long-distacne between these regions its always RES and for now also mostly hi-speed AVE.

Regional trains do require free seat reservations, or at least I've been told so last time I used them (a year ago, Feb. 2022). I've also been issued free reservations, both for the Valladolid-Oviedo regional train and the Zaragoza-Canfranc one. No seat assigned in the former, so pretty absurd, but it might have been due to covid and no longer be the case. 

There are also fairly few frequencies, and they take considerably longer.

Tomorrow between Barcelona and Valencia, there is just one Regional Express, taking 5h24, and there are 5 Euromed (about 2h50) and 4 Intercity (around 3h30). Unless your value of time is really low, I'd think you would not opt for those. 

The regional trains from Madrid to Segovia might be different, as these are extended Cercanías journeys (usually requiring a switch in Cercedilla, not shown in timetables). 

Only in Catalonia, as far as I know. 

My rule of thumb is to always assume reservations are necessary, and therefore ask at a ticket office. 

Commuter train services (Rodalies) in Catalonia have been decentralised and therefore have different rules. 

Reservations were already compulsory before those free passes were introduced. In fact, those passes have led to the debate whether to remove the obligation to reserve (and thus allow standing passengers). 

RENFE do not include the "compulsory reservation” attribute in the timetable data for these trains they send to the European Timetable Centre (see e.g. the DB planner). They do for many others, so they seem to make a distinction. I used Madrid to Segovia back in 2015 without a reservation. Things might have changed but if that is so, then RENFE is sending incorrect timetable data.

Might be indeed. I used Canfranc-Zaragoza in 2015 without a reservation. RENFE still indicate this train as not having compulsory reservations.

A friend of mine used a few last Autumn in Galicia or Asturias (I forgot exactly which ones) for which he got free reservations.

That might be the best strategy… although so far for me and my friends, the indications in the DB planner were correct.

Schelte wrote:

If you have a 1st class pass, you can chose the Premium fare in an AVE/Euromed and get a meal - this costs slightly more (€24).

Is this ‘Premium fare’ the AVE reservation cost referred to in the Interrail app for 1st class (presently €25.50)?

In August 2022 these cost me €24.80 in Premium. Officially €23.50 but Renfe charges a 5.5% booking fee when booking through their ticket offices, and there is no way to book these online. Not sure if they have increased this year, or whether Interrail just adds €2 as their standard booking fee. In any case it’s close to that.

You could also ask for them to be booked in Comfort for €13.70. Especially outside meal times, Premium makes little extra sense in my opinion; you do get drinks and club lounge access, but I don’t think that’s worth the €11.

Hi Schelte,

When are the meal times? And wouldn’t you be guaranteed a meal between Madrid and Granada, or only if this was during a meal time?

The precise meal times are not very clear, but depend on the departure time of the train. I think you can determine it from the icons in the timetables but I am not sure. 

Notice the difference in icons next to "Cafetería/Bar móvil". The 14:35 AVE from Madrid to Granada shows this icon, suggesting a meal

The 15:33 AVE from Granada to Madrid shows this other icon, which I think has to be interpreted as a snack:

The early morning one shows this icon, suggesting breakfast: 

And the late evening one shows this different icon expectedly for dinner:

But, Renfe being Renfe, there is no official guide of these icons anywhere, so this is really guesswork. The linked information page is a broken link, so not helpful either. I can't however think of a different explanation why someone would have gone through the effort of setting up these different icons though.

You can see these icons by searching the train in the Renfe timetable search, and clicking in the "Prestaciones" column on "ver".

It will say on the ticket (see for instance the bottom ticket which mentions "ALMUERZO" - Lunch. A snack is referred to as "Merienda"). Be aware that you don't get a choice of meal on board (just one option), so if you have any dietary preferences register them up to 12 hours before departure (either when booking or later through a ticket office or by phone, I guess).

This all, to be clear, only when booking premium. When booking the cheaper comfort you only get a 1st class seat but no service. I personally think the Snack ("Merienda") option isn't worth the €11, but the meals are. Note drinks are also included - including alcoholic beverages.

The top picture was my breakfast between Madrid and Valencia. The bottom one my lunch between Zaragoza and Figueres (note however meal service stopped in Barcelona, I think they don't offer it between Barcelona, Girona and Figueres).

Probably in Galicia as in Asturias there is just one weekly MD: it only runs on Saturdays from Valladolid to Gijón, and is in fact an Alvia, where a small number of seats are sold as MD. I'm pretty certain these seats are sold for €4, though the time I wanted to book it it was sold out.

I ended up travelling in the slightly later Regional - which was indeed free and for which I got the below reservation. Not sure how they would treat you without a reservation, but they were pretty convinced at the ticket office it was necessary and they were able to pull this out of their system. According to DB this train has no compulsory reservation.

I'll check with my friend which trains he used.

Which means RENFE are (or were) sending incorrect data. Thanks for this info. It might still be/have been a COVID measure but RENFE being RENFE, they don't see making life easy through clear information as a priority.

Hello - I’ve just got my global pass (F/C) and am still confused about RENFE seat reservation charges. Am I to assume by this booking that, as I have a F/C pass I DO NOT expect to pay for a seat reservation on shorter duration regional Spanish trains?  Best Regards

1. This is not a booking. This is just the digital equivalent of writing a train on the trip report of a paper pass.
2. "N/A” just means that the app doesn't have a price. There are a number of reasons why that could be the case, but it does not affect the requirement to book a reservation. In this case, it seems this train does not have first class.
3. Reservations are mandatory for anybody using this train.
4. A reservation is €4. Normal fare Sevilla-Huelva is €12.70. If you have a flexipass, that's not worth using a travel day for.
5. If you haven't started travelling yet, then it's best to deactivate your pass. Activating in advance does not have advantages, only a possible disadvantage, since you can only deactivate until 23:59 CET before validity starts. If something unexpected happens after that, e.g. you wake up ill, then it will be too late to cancel activation and you'll loose one or more travel days.

Thanks - good advice. 

Hi, i want to travel the same route, opposite direction and from sevilla onward. So i will use a travel day..

But still i have the same question, because my interrailpass is of no use is i have to pay the fulle amount for seat and reservation? 

How does this work? also for other MD (medio distancia) trains in spain.

Thanks.

Additional question:

where did you find the 4 euro reservation fee? I only can find the ticket costs 12,70 at RENFE, without discounts for interrail. 

I changed my plan (in July) and ended my trip in Spain rather than starting it there. I’m glad I did because compared to the previous 17 countries I travelled to (where I paid zero res fees) I found Spain (RENFE) was a complete outlier in the InterRail scheme, as acknowledged by seat61. Reservations and fees were required for even the shortest journeys. Trying to even get seat reservations on trains from Madrid to Vigo was all but impossible within 4 days and having to join long queues at the reservations office just to ask about seat availability and then queue up again to go through security scanning, was in complete contrast to the ease of the previous 17 countries where I basically turned up and took a seat. In the end I became so hacked off I took a train to Zaragoza and then to the French Pyrenees just to leave the country. If I do want to tour Spain in the futureI’ll probably opt for the Renfe Spain pass instead: https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-spain.htm  as I think it will be cheaper and less stressful than an InterRail pass. 

Thanks Casey!