Spain's situation is bad: very high gas prices (now at the same level as Finland, despite much lower purchasing power), poor public transport (train) services, opposition to nuclear energy, electric cars that are only affordable for the wealthy (and even then, the infrastructure makes them difficult to use), high VAT on electricity, etc. All this in a country where many people have to ration their heating or air conditioning because they often can't afford it under normal circumstances. Population seem to not care much about being miserable as the same parties that do nothing about it keep getting elected so good luck I guess.

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gib444 4 days ago | parent [-]

Poor train service? (Recent accidents aside)

Any areas in particular?

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schnitzelstoat 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

Here in Catalunya the Rodalies (commuter rail) is absolutely abysmal.

Yeah, the high speed AVE trains are nice if you want to go to Madrid, but if you just want to get to work it's a disaster.

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outime 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Well, I think that's a bit of an aside but sure:

- Track maintenance is horrendous, and it's public knowledge (not that it wasn't known before, it was just hidden)

- Many high-speed trains are now running much slower after the accident, and will continue to do so. Also, compensation for delays has been significantly reduced

- Some rather important routes (Madrid-Málaga, for example) still have no service after the accident

- The public train company (Renfe) is now setting up a bus company and openly saying that this is going to be very useful for years to come (wink wink)

- Cercanías is absolute garbage in most areas but especially in Madrid, with constant delays, broken trains, etc

- The pricing situation has improved with recent competitors (Ouigo, Iryo, etc) but it's often still laughable - I've been taking flights instead of trains when I travel there since they're much cheaper (and nowadays definitely much faster, given all the issues)

I could continue but I guess that's plenty. I'd say taking a train in Spain nowadays is an exercise of faith for many.

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gib444 4 days ago | parent [-]

Sorry didn't mean to go off on a tangent, it's just I like trains, and Spain (and have an Interrail trip coming up and I was considering including Spain. They are famously Interrail unfriendly though)

I followed the accident but not much news following, so that's really really interesting. I didn't know Madrid-Malaga still has no service, nor that Renfe had set up a bus company!

I haven't been to Madrid for a few years. Sad to hear the Cercanías is so bad these days

	▲	outime 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		If you ever visit Madrid again, I can say that buses and the metro usually work pretty well (they do get quite crowded at peak hours, but I guess that's the case everywhere) and you probably won't need to rely on Cercanías for typical "tourist" activities. If you're planning to travel between cities though, I'd be a bit wary of long-distance trains! PS: Roads are becoming worse as well but I've seen worse abroad. Just wanted to point out that infrastructures in the country are decaying quite a bit in general.