Transport in Spain

[5] 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).

AVE trains run on a network of dedicated high-speed rail track owned and managed by Adif.

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.

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.

[citation needed] 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.

Air traffic is also the main mode of transport linking the Balearic and Canary Islands to the mainland.

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