Spanish government brings back popular summer youth travel scheme with discounts of up to 90 per cent

Young people aged between 18 and 30 in Spain will once again be able to enjoy significant discounts for travelling around Spain and Europe on public trains and buses from July to September through the government's 'Verano Joven' (young summer) programme.

The Verano Joven 2025 subsidies are still to be officially announced, but last year the discounts were up to 90 per cent on some journeys and the ministry of transport has hinted that the discounts will be similar this summer.

The discounts will be effective for journeys made between 1 July and 30 September and will be available to Spaniards and foreigners legally resident in Spain who were born between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 2007. In order to apply for it, they must register with their ID card on the website that the Ministry of Transport will set up for this purpose once the order is published in the Official State Bulletin (BOE), as in previous years. In this way, the beneficiary will receive a code that can be applied every time they buy a ticket.

This will be the third year of the Verano Joven programme and the budget for this year will be 120 million euros, a little less than in 2024.

With this initiative, the government aims to reduce the use of private vehicles, with the consequent reduction of emissions and accidents, as well as to bring public transport closer to young people and encourage their personal development, while at the same time boosting the national tourism and cultural sector.

Last summer, 2.3 million young people aged between 18 and 30 registered on the website to take advantage of these subsidies and made a total of 5.2 million journeys by train and bus between 1 July and 30 September, an increase of 30% compared to the first year of the programme in 2023. According to the ministry, 65% of these were train journeys and 35% were road journeys. In addition, some 7,142 Interrail passes were sold.