With heatwaves striking Spain almost every summer the pleasant breezes of Galicia in the north-west are more alluring than ever. Here are the best places to visit and where to stay.
Free tickets are available to tourists and Spanish residents for bookings on cercanias (commuter service) or media distancia (medium-distance) trains offered by Renfe, the national operator.
Spain excels in high-speed lines, but visitors will discover so much more on older tracks winding through deserts, sierras, sleepy villages and George Orwell country
A report funded by the German government published in January, with input from environmental groups in Germany, Poland, Spain and France, has recommended the creation of a new coordinated rail network in Europe, booked via a single website, to counter the recent domination of no-frills airlines that has witnessed 149 of Europe’s 365 cross-border rail links put out of action. A mere 8% of all passenger travel within the EU, the report found, is now by rail.
The report further highlighted that 17 of the 20 most popular air routes in Europe cover less than 700 kilometres (434 miles), with intra-European flights of less than 1,000km (621 miles) pumping out 28 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.