Influx of passengers on trains to beaches due to warm weather and free tickets
Renfe reports a 30% increase in travelers over June weekends
Every weekend, Barcelona residents escaping the city's high temperatures and crowded tourist hotspots embark on a pilgrimage to coastal towns, especially in the neighboring Maresme or Garraf counties, and Rodalies Renfe train stations are even more packed than usual.
"Today we're going to Badalona," a woman called Rosa Ribera at Barcelona's Clot-Aragó station told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) on Sunday.
"We're going by train because it's hard to find parking there and the train is very comfortable."
"There are a lot of people here," Victòria Bilbao, another passenger on her way to Sant Pol de Mar, said. "I hope we all fit."
Not only are the warm weather and tourists encouraging Barcelona residents to leave the city, but the fully subsidized Renfe train tickets are too.
To go to Sant Pol without one, Bilbao argued, is not particularly cheap. "It's a €10 round trip," she said. "I think that's pretty expensive."
The latest Renfe figures confirm there are indeed more people traveling by train than before the pandemic.
According to the Spanish rail operator, demand has gone up 23% year-on-year, a phenomenon that is even more noticeable on weekends or holidays.
There were 30% more passengers over the weekend this June than last, and 6% more throughout the month as a whole compared to the same month in 2019, before the pandemic.
The company also noted "a progressive increase in demand" for subsidized tickets, with 680,000 reserved in May and June alone.