In the last few hours, several autonomous communities have rushed to guarantee, in one way or another, the maintenance of public transport bonuses after these declined in yesterday’s lively parliamentary session. After the ‘no’ of Junts and the Popular Party to the omnibus decree, a hodgepodge of rules in which the Government intended to mix the revaluation of pensions with the transfer of a mansion in Paris to the PNV, one of the things that have declined were land mobility aid.
From today, there are no free passes for Cercanías, Rodalies, conventional Media Distancia and state-owned bus lines, and no direct aid to the autonomous communities and local entities to pay 50% -to be distributed between the State and the autonomies and local and provincial administrations- of the price of tickets and multi-trip tickets for urban and metropolitan collective transport.
It is no small thing, since the Government planned to allocate 1,608.7 million euros to finance this extension of the free measures for six more months and, after this, the new bonus scheme, which had to come into force from July 1 (it also declined with yesterday’s parliamentary fiasco).
Madrid will assume the part of the State
As ABC announced yesterday, the Community of Madrid will maintain the 60% discounts and for a few days it will do so at its own expense – until now the central Executive financed half – while the Government finds a solution. This bonus, of course, can only be maintained in the case of the Madrid transport pass, not in the Renfe or state bus tickets.
What happens in the coming days will depend on how quickly the Government tries to approve the aid through another decree or seek a solution through the Ministry of Transport. For now, the spokesperson for the Madrid Government, Miguel Ángel García, has asked Minister Óscar Puente to transfer the funds to the communities of these aids. As ABC announced yesterday, if this does not happen the regional government is considering a change in rates that will be downward, but it is not yet known how close the figure would be to the discounts that were in force until yesterday.
Catalonia maintains the bonus until further notice
In the case of Catalonia, all the Territorial Mobility Authorities (Girona, Lleida, Tarragona and Barcelona) will maintain the reduced prices until the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility publishes the order canceling the bonuses, as reported by the Generalitat and the ATM of Barcelona in separate communications. And once that official annulment occurs, which will happen sooner rather than later, The ATMs will maintain the part that corresponded to Catalonia, which was 20% in this case. Beyond this, the Catalan Government has not specified whether it intends to adopt a solution similar to that of Madrid in the first days, while it waits for the central Government to propose an alternative.
The Balearic Islands maintain free
In the case of the Balearic Islands, the regional government of the PP confirmed yesterday that it will maintain free public transport that is its responsibility – only for residents of the islands – and also that of the city of Palma. In addition, the Minister of Mobility, José Luis Mateo, announced that the popular parliamentary group in Congress will present an initiative to protect free of charge in the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands and improve State aid. In reference to this, yesterday Mateo recalled that in 2024 the central government contributed 14.6 million euros for this aid, and the regional government 54 million euros; The regional government wants more funds.
30% of the state in Murcia disappears
The Region of Murcia will continue to subsidize public transport by 20% for multi-trip intercity transport vouchers, which is the part of the aid that corresponded to it in those services in which it has powers. However, the 30% contribution from the State that was guaranteed until June disappears. Yesterday, the Government delegation in Murcia put figures on what the Murcians have lost: «Public transport users in the Region of Murcia will no longer benefit from the 3.7 million euros destined to subsidize transport in the community; as well as the more than 681 million directed to free and discounted Renfe and state buses, and to improving the quality of public transport throughout the Peninsula.
Basque Country maintains sales
Both the three Basque councils and the Vitoria government have confirmed that they will maintain the 50% aid, but only for a few days and in a different way depending on the service in question. Thus, Metro Bilbao and Bizkaibus guarantee the discount until February 20, Álavabus until January 31, and transport dependent on the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, until June. To do this, the Basque administrations will have to assume 30% of the discount that corresponded to the Government. It remains to be seen how the expenses will be distributed. Until now, the remaining 20% was distributed between 10% for the Basque Government and 10% for the provincial councils and town councils.
Tenerife and Gran Canaria ensure free
In the case of the Canary Islands, both the councils of Gran Canaria and Tenerife have guaranteed that they will maintain free public transport. As in the case of the Balearic Islands, The Canary Islands had this exceptionality recognized for public transport throughout 2025 due to its insular status.
The president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Dávila, recalled that in December the Cabildo adopted an agreement by which public transport was maintained free of charge on the island, with which she wanted to send a message of tranquility, although she assured that They will fight so that “those millions” from the State arrive. The president of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Teodoro Sosa, has expressed himself along the same lines, and has also recalled that the General State Budget (PGE) includes an item to finance this initiative, pointing out that in any case the aid is guaranteed. . On the other hand, the general director of Transport of the Government of the Canary Islands, María Fernández, has asked the Executive to present an exclusive decree on transport given that the measure affects all autonomous communities.
Castilla y León maintains its contribution in Avant and bus
The Junta de Castilla y León, for its part, has announced that it will only maintain the regional bonus for the intercity bus, as reported by Europa Press, so that It does not plan to assume the State’s share, 30%.
Regarding the high-speed railway lines, the Board will maintain the 25 percent discount that was in force on 23 Avant train lines for those travelers with multi-trip tickets for the medium-distance high-speed railway on the lines declared to be of Service Obligation. Public. This discount is the result of an agreement that the Board signed with Renfe and is compatible with 50%launched by the Government of Spain, which until now meant a total discount of 75%.
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