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Topics: World News
Jake Massey
Spain is making a lot of train journeys completely free from September, in a bid to help tackle the cost of living crisis.
The nation's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has announced that multi-journey tickets for trains operated by the state-owned rail network, Renfe, will be free of charge from 1 September through until the end of the year.
The 100 percent discount applies to commuter services and medium-distance routes, shorter than 300km.
It comes after the government announced last month that all public transport - including metros, buses and trams - would be discounted by between 30 and 50 percent.
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It is hoped the measures will encourage public transport use and help citizens struggling in the grips of the cost of living crisis.
Speaking on Tuesday (12 July), Sánchez said: "I'd like the people of Spain to know that I'm fully aware of the daily difficulties that most people have.
"I know salaries cover less and less and that it's difficult to get to the end of the month.
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"I am going to work my skin to the bone to defend the working class of this country."
Students over the age of 16 who receive grants will also receive a 100-euro (£84) supplement, he said.
The free travel will be funded by a windfall tax on banks and energy companies, enabling the trains in Spain to move freely on the plains.
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"This measure encourages to the maximum the use of this type of collective public transport to guarantee the needed daily commute with a safe, reliable, comfortable, economic and sustainable means of transportation, amid the extraordinary circumstances of the steady increase of energy and fuel prices," the Spanish Ministry of Transport said in a statement.
The popularity of Sánchez's left-wing coalition government has declined in the third year of its scheduled four-year term despite introducing multiple measures to help people weather the current financial hardship.
The government last month announced an emergency economic package worth more than nine billion euros (£7.6bn).
Spain emerged from the pandemic with its economic outlook looking bright, but the war in Ukraine, soaring inflation, high energy costs and severe unemployment are now proving to be major obstacles for a recovery.
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Sánchez said Spanish consumers need to save energy by working more from home and using less heating and air conditioning.
"We can do it and we are going to do it," he said.
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