Transport in Spain

{{Main|Rail transport in Spain}}

File:High speed and mixed high-speed services via conventional lines in Spain.svg

Image:Spain-Railways.png

File:MadridCAF1969.jpg

Spanish railways date from 1848. The total route length in 2017 was 15,333 km, of which 9,699 km were electrified.{{Cite web|date=21 April 2021|title=The World Factbook - Europe - Spain|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/spain/|access-date=27 April 2021|website=www.cia.gov}} Four different track gauges are used in Spain.

{{Main|Track gauge in Spain}}

• Iberian gauge ({{RailGauge|1668mm}}): 11,333 km (6,538 km electrified at 3 kV DC)
• Standard gauge ({{RailGauge|1435mm}}): 2,571 km (all electrified at 25 kV AC)
• Narrow gauge ({{RailGauge|1000mm}}): 1,207 km (400 km electrified)
• Narrow gauge ({{RailGauge|914mm}}): 28 km (all electrified)

Most railways are operated by Renfe; narrow gauge lines are operated by FEVE and other carriers in individual autonomous communities. It is proposed to build or convert more standard gauge lines, including some dual gauging of broad gauge lines, especially where these lines link to adjacent countries.

A high-speed rail line (AVE) between Madrid and Seville was completed in 1992. In 2003, high-speed service was inaugurated on a new line from Madrid to Lleida and extended to Barcelona in 2008. The same year, lines from Madrid to Valladolid and from Córdoba to Málaga were inaugurated. In 2010, AVE line Madrid-Cuenca-Valencia was inaugurated.{{cite news|last1=Rosenthal|first1=Elisabeth|title=High-Speed Rail Gains Traction in Spain|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/science/earth/16train.html|access-date=24 December 2017|newspaper=The New York Times|date=15 March 2010}}{{cite web|title=The advent of high-speed trains in Spain|url=http://www.adifaltavelocidad.es/en_US/infraestructuras/lineas_de_alta_velocidad/madrid_sevilla/historia_madrid-sevilla.shtml|website=Adif Alta Velocidad|access-date=24 December 2017}}

{{See also|Trams in Europe}}

Image:Madrid - Estación Concha Espina - 20060910.jpg

Image:Ferrocarril_urbano_en_España.svg

• Alicante - Alicante Tram
• Barcelona - Barcelona Metro and Tram
• Bilbao - Bilbao metro and Bilbao tram (Euskotren Tranbia)
• Castellon - Trolleybus
• A Coruña - under construction
• Granada - Granada Metro
• Jaén - Jaén Tram - completed but not operated
• Madrid - Madrid Metro
• Málaga - Málaga Metro
• Murcia - Murcia tram
• Palma - Palma Metro
• Parla - Parla Tram
• Santa Cruz de Tenerife - Tenerife Tram
• Seville - Seville Metro and MetroCentro
• Valencia - Metrovalencia
• Vélez-Málaga - Vélez-Málaga Tram - ceased operations
• Vitoria-Gasteiz - Vitoria-Gasteiz tram (Euskotren Tranbia)
• Zaragoza - Zaragoza Tram

• {{flagicon|Andorra}} Andorra – no (Andorra has no railways)
• {{flagicon|France}} France – yes – break-of-gauge ({{RailGauge|1668mm}})/({{RailGauge|1000mm}})/({{RailGauge|1435mm}}) (new high-speed line without any break-of-gauge)
• {{flagicon|Portugal}} Portugal – yes, same gauge
• {{flagicon|Morocco}} Morocco – no – proposed undersea tunnel. break-of-gauge ({{RailGauge|1668mm}})/({{RailGauge|1435mm}})
• {{flagicon|Gibraltar}} Gibraltar – no (Gibraltar has no railways)

{{Main|Gibraltar Tunnel}}

File:0035-Sóller_Marktplatz.JPG.]]

In December 2003, Morocco and Spain agreed to explore the construction of an undersea rail tunnel across the Strait of Gibraltar, to connect their rail systems.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3317149.stm|title=Europe-Africa rail tunnel agreed|date=14 December 2003|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}

{{Main|AVE}}

Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) is a high-speed rail service in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to 330 km/h (205 mph). The name is literally translated from Spanish "Alta Velocidad Española" (Spanish High Speed), but its initials are also a play on the word ave, meaning "bird". {{As of|2024|July}}, the Spanish high-speed rail network is the longest HSR network in Europe with {{convert|3,966|km|mi|abbr=on}}{{cite web|url=https://www.adifaltavelocidad.es/red-ferroviaria/red-de-alta-velocidad|title=Red de Alta Velocidad|publisher=ADIF |access-date=10 July 2024}} and the second longest in the world, after China's.

AVE trains run on a network of dedicated high-speed rail track owned and managed by Adif. The first line was opened in 1992, connecting the cities of Madrid, Córdoba, and Seville. Unlike the rest of the Spanish broad-gauge network, the AVE uses standard gauge tracks, permitting direct connections outside Spain. Some TGV-derived trains do run on the broad-gauge network at slower speeds, and these are branded separately as Euromed.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

On the line from Madrid to Seville, the service guarantees arrival within five minutes of the advertised time, and offers a full refund if the train is delayed further, although only 0.16% of trains have been so. In this regard, the punctuality of the AVE is exceptional compared to other non-long-distance Renfe services. On other AVE lines, this punctuality promise is more lax (15 minutes on the Barcelona line). A possible reason for this is that AVE services slow down to 200 km/h for the Sierra Morena section of the journey because of the tight curves and 250 km/h for the Córdoba-Seville section, possibly on account of medium-speed services running on the line, meaning that they have an easy means of recovering lost time if held up earlier in the journey.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

In 2020, access to the Spanish high-speed network was liberalised, and the AVE has since been joined by private competitors Ouigo España and Iryo.

The AVE connects the following cities:

• Madrid – Valencia
• Barcelona – Madrid
• Seville – Madrid
• Ciudad Real – Madrid
• Tarragona – Madrid
• Valladolid – Madrid
• Madrid – Toledo
• Madrid – Cordoba
• Madrid – Murcia

Since the high-speed route between Barcelona to Madrid was launched in 2008, 75% of travelers now choose the train over the airplane, with flight passengers accounting for 25% of travelers.{{Cite web |date=2023-02-20 |title=Train three times as popular as plane in Barcelona-Madrid route as high-speed rail turns 15 |url=https://www.catalannews.com/business/item/train-three-times-as-popular-as-plane-in-barcelona-madrid-route-as-high-speed-rail-turns-15 |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=www.catalannews.com |language=en}}

{{Main|Highways in Spain}}

File:Red alta capacidad españa.svg

Image:Autovia de la Meseta.jpg.]]

File:Matrícula automovilística España 2000 7137 CHW.jpg design.]]

• Total: 681,298 km (2008)

:* Expressways: 17,228 km (2018){{Cite web|title=Catálogo y evolución de la red de carreteras | Ministerio de Transportes, Movilidad y Agenda Urbana|trans-title=Catalogue and evolution of the road network|url=https://www.mitma.gob.es/carreteras/catalogo-y-evolucion-de-la-red-de-carreteras|access-date=27 April 2021|website=www.mitma.gob.es|language=es}}

Highways in Spain are divided into "autopista"s and "autovía"s, the former being controlled-access highways. As of 2019, Spain had 12,255 km of roads designated as part of the European comprehensive TEN-T network, of which 10,932 km are motorways. Bridges accounted for 220 km (2.1%) of this network and tunnels for a further 86 km (0.8%).{{cite web |title=CEDR TR 2020/01: Trans-European Road Network, TEN-T (Roads): 2019 Performance Report |url=https://www.cedr.eu/docs/view/6063289f6eb55-en |website=www.CEDR.eu |publisher=Conference of European Directors of Roads |access-date=4 December 2021 |language=english |date=2020}}

For traffic safety per population, Spain in 4th out of 27 in 2020.https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/document/download/d2e7b66b-1cfd-422a-a36c-b2be1cff49e5_en?filename=erso-country-overview-2023-spain_0.pdf

There were 32 deaths per million inhabitants in Spain while there were 45 deaths per million in neighbouring France.

https://etsc.eu/spain-launches-major-new-national-road-safety-strategy/

For traffic safety per registered vehicle, Spain in 3rd out of 23 in 2020.https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/document/download/d2e7b66b-1cfd-422a-a36c-b2be1cff49e5_en?filename=erso-country-overview-2023-spain_0.pdf

For the risk of death car occupants are the bigger group of vehicle victims (639 or 38%) but for the risk of serious injuries motorbike is the biggest group of victims (2979 or 37%) in 2020.https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/document/download/d2e7b66b-1cfd-422a-a36c-b2be1cff49e5_en?filename=erso-country-overview-2023-spain_0.pdf

There are 1,045 km of waterways{{cn|date=August 2023}}, but they have minor economic importance.

• Gas: 7,962 km
• Oil: 622 km;
• Refined products: 3,447 km (2006)

{{Main|List of ports in Spain}}

File:004_2015_06_02_Fahrzeuge_Personenverkehr.jpg

The most important ports and harbours are Algeciras, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao and Las Palmas. Other major ports and harbours include Alicante, Almería, Cádiz, Cartagena, A Coruña, Ceuta, Huelva, Málaga, Melilla, Gijón, Palma de Mallorca, Sagunto, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Los Cristianos (Tenerife), Santander, Tarragona, Vigo, Motril, Seville, Castellón de la Plana, Pasaia, Avilés, and Ferrol.

File:MMM_Aérea_Puerto_de_Algeciras.jpg

File:Barcelona-port.JPG

• Total: 169 ships (1000 GT or over) 1,902,839 GT/{{DWT|1,874,161|metric|disp=long}}
• Ships by type (2006):

:*Bulk carrier: 9

:*Cargo: 13

:*Chemical tanker: 14

:*Container: 27

:*Liquefied gas: 9

:*Passenger: 1

:*Passenger/cargo: 49

:*Petroleum tanker: 15

:*Refrigerated cargo: 5

:*Roll on/roll off: 20

:*Specialized tanker: 2

:*Vehicle carrier: 5

Domestic air transport is in fierce competition with the AVE. For example, the Madrid-Barcelona route was Europe's busiest air route prior to the opening of a high speed rail line in this corridor. Air traffic is also the main mode of transport linking the Balearic and Canary Islands to the mainland.

{{Main|List of airports in Spain}}

• Total: 96 (2006 est.)

:*10,000 ft (3,048 m) and over: 16

:*8,000 to 9,999 ft (2,438 to 3,047 m): 10

:*5,000 to 7,999 ft (1,524 to 2,437 m): 20

:*3,000 to 4,999 ft (914 to 1,523 m): 24

:*under 3,000 ft (914 m): 26

Main airports are Madrid, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Málaga, Gran Canaria, Alicante, and Tenerife South.

Image:iberia.a321-200.ec-jgs.arp.jpg of Spanish airline Iberia]]

• Total: 61 (2006 est.)

:*5,000 to 7,999 ft (1,524 to 2,437 m): 2

:*3,000 to 4,999 ft (914 to 1,523 m): 15

:*under 3,000 ft (914 m): 44

• Iberia Airlines
• Air Europa
• Wamos Air
• Vueling Airlines
• Binter Canarias
• Pyrenair
• Islas Airways
• Easyjet

In 2009, there were 298 heliports. {{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}

• Plug-in electric vehicles in Spain

{{reflist}}

{{Spain topics}}

{{Transportation in Europe}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Spain}}