Spain will debut in 2026 one of the most ambitious measures in public mobility in recent decades: a single transport pass that will allow the use of Metro, Cercanías, Media Distancia and state buses anywhere in the country for 60 euros per month. For young people under 26 years of age, the price is reduced to 30 euros. The announcement, made by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, during his traditional end-of-year assessment, marks a milestone in the promotion of sustainable mobility.
The measure, which must be approved in Congress and will be in force from the second half of January, is in addition to the extension of the current public transport subsidy scheme introduced during the inflationary crisis.
With this new season ticket, traveling from Vigo to Santiago by Media Distancia train or traveling by bus between communities will no longer be an unaffordable expense for many families. Although the service will not include the AVE or the Larga Distancia, its implementation represents a paradigm shift in the way public transport is structured in Spain.
An integrated model
Pedro Sánchez has stressed the “transformative” nature of this measure, which not only aims to alleviate the monthly expenditure of millions of people, but also to encourage the use of collective transport as opposed to private vehicles. “We are going to change forever the way in which Spaniards understand and use public transport”, said the President in La Moncloa.
The government expects that, progressively, the autonomous and municipal networks will adhere to this system, integrating their own tickets into a single mobility platform. If this happens, Spain could come closer to models such as Deutschlandticket in Germany, which has been a success in terms of sustainability and territorial cohesion.
Madrid, awaiting full integration
In Madrid, where there is already a monthly season ticket with reduced fares and well-defined fare zones, the question now is how this new ticket will be coordinated with existing season tickets. The Community of Madrid, which manages its own fare system, will have to negotiate with the central government the terms of adhesion to the new model.
For Madrid users, the measure could mean a competitive advantage if the scope of the season ticket is extended to trips outside the metropolitan area or if the current price is standardized with the new national fare. In any case, the announcement marks the beginning of a stage in which intercity journeys and connections between cities could become much more accessible.