Celebrating Sustainable Spain

13.07.2024 - 04:58 / lonelyplanet.com

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Jul 8, 2024 • 10 min read

Sun-dappled coastlines, soulful creative arts, famously terrific gastronomy – welcome to one of the globe’s most-loved travel destinations, now also an emerging leader in developing sustainable tourism.

In recent years, Spain has been taking important strides to put sustainability at the forefront of its long-established tourism industry, which pulled in more than 85 million visitors in 2023. This Mediterranean-hugging beauty has been working hard to spread tourism well beyond high season for years, encouraging off-season travel while also highlighting lesser-known regions and pushing forward a wealth of sustainability-driven projects.

Destinations all over Spain are now striving to achieve more balanced tourism models, such as the Balearic Islands, which have introduced a wave of circular tourism initiatives. Several Spanish cities have also outlined plans to achieve climate neutrality by 2030, including Madrid, Valladolid, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Zaragoza and Valencia, which was crowned European Green Capital for 2024.

In other news, flight-free transport across Spain is booming, from electric urban buses to brand-new train routes; creative and adventure projects are helping to revitalize rural regions; more and more travelers are choosing to sidestep the high season; and single-use plastics (such as straws, cutlery and cups) have been banned in Spain since 2023 as part of EU-wide regulations. And the Canary Islands are investing massively in water power and wind farms, with wind power growing by almost 140 percent in recent years. No surprise then that Lonely Planet named Spain one of our 2024 Best In Travel destinations for sustainability.

Spain has one of the largest high-speed rail networks in the world, with reliable, locally popular trains whizzing across most of the country in just a few hours. Getting from, say, Barcelona or Málaga to Madrid in under three hours is a breeze, though there are also plenty of more leisurely routes where soaking up the scenery at a slower pace is half the fun. These days, train travel across Spain is a joy as you watch the landscapes morph from endless olive groves into quiet sprawling plains before glimpsing jagged peaks in the distance from the comfort of your seat. Book ahead to secure your desired route and bag the best prices.

The national electric-powered rail operator Renfe (which runs the incredibly on-time high-speed AVE trains) now shares space with other low-cost rail companies such as Ouigo and Iryo, which means prices and route options are kept refreshingly accessible. Over the last few years, a wave of fresh itineraries has opened up rail travel even more, benefitting both local communities and travelers. New AVE services