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we have purchased a 2 month global Eurail pass for Spain & Portugal, Our trip begins in Spain on June 1st 2023. All accommodation bookings have been made so we know exactly on what dates we’ll be traveling from city to city in Spain and Portugal .

Our question is regarding seat reservations. We’re aware that seat reservations cannot be booked online for these countries & need to be made either at a ticket office or at the station.

We arrive Madrid 1st June & wish to take train straight to Cordoba. Do we run any risk of not being able to make a seat reservation when we arrive in Spain? Because of time of year we’re concerned we won’t get on the train. Is there some way we can secure a booking before arriving in Madrid?

We are currently in New Zealand and will be the UK from the 10th May.

Any help much appreciated

The ever so customer-friendly Spanish railways made online pass reservations impossible. The remaining known options are listed here:

You could order by phone from DB or by email from the DB agent mentioned on Seat61. There's a GBP 12.50 booking fee per order and the reservations still need to be sent via the post.

Finally, International Rail, a UK travel agent, seems to be able to book Spanish reservations as someone recently found out and they can send them via e-mail, as someone recently discovered. They have a GBP 15 booking fee per order.

Thank you so much for your reply. How incredibly frustrating!!! Makes me question the value of the Eurail pass for Spain. At this stage my next step has been to send an inquiry to International Rail in the hope they can help even if it means paying more over and above the seat reservation. 

Next if that doesn’t work will try - Seat61 - To make Spanish passholder reservations in advance, email andy@railtravelcentre.com, the same rail expert that runs www.discoverbyrail.com.  He can arrange passholder reservations in Spain, if necessary even at short-notice.  His normal handling fee is £17.50, but he'll reduce this to £12.50 if you quote 'seat61' in your email.  One handling fee is charged 'per booking', where a booking can be more than one passenger reserved on more than one train.  Remember to tell him if your pass is 1st or 2nd class.

It’s really only the very first train from Madrid to Cordoba we’re concerned about. Hate to arrive & not be able to make our first nights accommodation in Cordoba because there’s no room on the train.

Also, am I right in that once we arrive Madrid we could visit a station ticket office and book all our future train seat reservations in advance in the one visit, seeing as we have a very structured trip and know exactly which day, time and train we’re wanting seat reservations for?

Thanks again for your info - invaluable 

Also, am I right in that once we arrive Madrid we could visit a station ticket office and book all our future train seat reservations in advance in the one visit, seeing as we have a very structured trip and know exactly which day, time and train we’re wanting seat reservations for?

Yes you could do that. Also be warned that the queues in Atocha station can be very long and much shorter in Chamartín station.

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