“It’s like this almost every day,” laments Paola, who is waiting for her train to go to Barcelona for work. It’s already one hour and 45 minutes late. She still doesn’t know when she will be able to leave Madrid.

“This is a huge problem. It’s okay when you have occasional delays, but when it becomes the norm, we have to ask ourselves questions.”

Like her, many Spaniards share daily on social media their mishaps and anger about the chaotic train situation across the country.

At the end of October, an overturned train and a passenger in a prohibited area blocked nearly 15,000 passengers in the two main train stations in Madrid.

In recent years, problems of all kinds have skyrocketed throughout the railway network.

Delays, breakdowns, crowds in stations, copper thefts that leave trains without service, trains stopped in tunnels, and passengers stuck for hours without water or electricity regularly make the European headlines.

“The most important problem, further than cancellations or delays, is that the quality of the service offered by the operators has deteriorated,” explains Jorge Morera from the Public Transport Promotion Association, a Spanish organisation that defends sustainable mobility through public transport.

“There are major capacity issues at stations, and there is poor management of disruption, which now affects passengers on a daily basis, even more on local and regional networks.”

Spanish national company Renfe recorded the highest number of delays in its history last year, both with its AVE high-speed services and medium-distance trains, according to a company report.

Renfe claimed many causes, including the rising demand for rail, numerous improvement works within the railway network, and issues related to competing companies.

Spain’s trains have more competition, but at what price?

Spain has a unique train situation in Europe, as three different train companies operate high-speed services.

Renfe lost its monopoly in 2021, and since then, it’s been pitted against the French state train company Ouigo España, and Iryo, which is partly owned by Italy’s Trenitalia rail firm.

In response to this increased competition, Renfe launched its own low-cost, Renfe Avlo.

“We have more trains and better prices, which is good, but there are some other things that are not good for passengers,” says Morera. “Renfe has changed its policies and reduced the compensation for disruption since this new scenario. This is not good news for passengers.”

Renfe no longer offers refunds of the full ticket price for delays of only 30 minutes. Instead, it compensates 50 per cent for delays of one hour and 100 per cent for delays beyond 90 minutes.

The drop in prices and the opening up to competition led to a huge increase in traffic and passengers.

Train travellers set a historical record in Spain last year, exceeding 665.2 million passengers, a 20 per cent increase compared to 2019, according to data from the Spanish national statistics institute (INE).

“I think the keyword is growing pains,” said Juan Montero, a professor of administrative law and economic regulation at the National Distance Education University (UNED) in Madrid.

“The transformation that was introduced by liberalisation has been a really big success for users”, he says.

“The number of trains running in the network and the number of passengers have dramatically increased. Some corridors even double. But the system still has some trouble adapting to it. Problems are, in some ways, the consequences of success,” adds Montero.

The Spanish rail network must modernise and expand

Faced with increased traffic and a lack of investment during the financial crisis, several projects are underway on the rail network, such as the transformation of the Charmartin train station in Madrid.

One goal is to double the capacity of high-speed rail and reach a total of 25 train tracks.

The project is scheduled to be completed in June 2026. Ultimately, it could increase passenger numbers up to 55 million in 2030 – up from 36 million in 2023.

But until then, the station has caused delays for both commuter and medium- and long-distance lines.

The expansion of the Barcelona Sants station faces similar challenges.

The arrival of new trains manufactured by the national company Talgo also has a share of responsibility after the network had to wait more than two years for delivery.

“These new trains caused some troubles. They were late to deliver it, and it seems that they rushed the contract a bit to furnish these trains 100 per cent ready to run,” says Juan Montero.

Renfe has blamed the manufacturer for the incidents and breakdowns of its new trains and is now claiming millions in damages.

Spain also needs to modernise its signalling system, particularly on the oldest Madrid-Sevilla line: “It is an extremely expensive and time-consuming operation,” adds Montero.

What’s the future of Spain’s railway network?

Will the Spanish rail situation improve in the long term? It’s hard to say, especially since the country’s three low-cost train operators are still expanding their activities. Rival services covering Andalusia are due to be launched next month.

“It’s true that delays are getting worse in Spain, but it’s more on a specific period. And if we compare it to other EU countries, it’s way less,” says Montero. “In France, for example, it’s not an event, it’s a constant”.

“Spain was well connected with many countries with night trains before,” adds Morera, “but since the coronavirus, these trains have decreased, and a lot of connections to Spain with France and other countries have disappeared.”

Morera hopes that efforts will also be made to consider travellers’ needs, including more intermobility and cross-border connections. That’s when the leader of Europe’s rail renaissance will truly shuttle into the future.

Paris never fails to capture the hearts of tourists, and many now choose to stay in a home-away-from-home holiday rental.

But renters may soon be disappointed: the city is cracking down on Airbnbs and other rental companies.

The French government passed a law in May 2024 making it harder to rent out properties on Airbnb for short-term lets. The ruling received cross-party support and Paris is the first municipality to roll it out.

Right now, there are 95,461 Airbnb listings in the city, of which 89.3 per cent are entire properties, compared to just 9.5 per cent private rooms and 0.4 per cent shared rooms, Inside Airbnb data reveals.

Paris has a system for leasing apartments commercially.  But 20 per cent of lets don’t have licences, making them illegal – and it’s these that Paris hopes to crack down on.

Rental agencies dominate the short-let booking platform, as 31.7 per cent of Airbnb hosts in Paris have multiple listings.

The top two hosts, in fact, are international property companies: Blueground has 781 entire home/apartment listings, and Veeve has 533. Meanwhile, the third largest host in Paris is Pierre De WeHost, a concierge service.

Airbnb hosts that don’t comply with Paris’ laws could be fined up to €100,000

From 1 January 2025, Paris will be handing out fines to unlicensed hosts.

If properties have an illegal change of use, owners could be fined up to €100,000 outright. Likewise, any concierge services – often used by homeowners to manage bookings – could be fined €100,000 for ‘being complicit in fraud’.

Properties not registered as tourism rentals could face a €10,000 fine – or €20,000 if owners have made a false declaration or used a false registration number.

The city further plans to set a legal limit on the number of nights a short-term tourist rental can have guests – from 120 to 90 nights each year, as is the rule in London and San Francisco.

Anyone who is found to be renting out their property for more than 90 nights could be charged €15,000.

Once the new laws come into play, hosts who do not remove illegal adverts from short-term rental platforms could be fined €50,000.

Small hotels will benefit from Paris’ Airbnb crackdown

With fewer accommodation options, boutique and independently-run hotels will likely be deemed the next best thing and benefit from the crackdown.

Due to the shortage of affordable housing and complaints of rowdy Airbnb neighbours, Parisians will likely welcome this law.

Likewise, property managers who manage residential buildings support the law but worry about its practical implications.

“It’s not that easy to prove a tourist rental,” one Parisian property manager told Le Parisien. “You have to bring in a bailiff several times to prove the activity. And that has a cost.”

Several associations that represent holiday rental owners have already raised concerns.

The European Holiday Home Association says “rules must always be based on evidence and they should be suitable” and “should not target one industry player with an aim to solve looming and overly complex local issues”.

UNPLV, the French short-term rental association, is calling on Parisian elected officials “not to apply too quickly a very political and legally fragile law” that goes against EU rules in a city that already has the “most restrictive” regulations.

“While the high cost of living in Paris is pushing many Parisians to leave the capital, the new measures envisaged by the city of Paris will deprive furnished rental owners of the possibility of topping up their income and meeting their expenses or the cost of energy renovation of buildings,” adds UNPLV.

Airbnb highlights that these measures are still only a wish of the Paris city council, but does not expect it to have a major impact on its business in the capital.

“We believe these new measures are a distraction that won’t solve the housing issues in Paris, introduced by an administration that is ignoring the real local challenges related to tourism concentration in central Paris”.

How will fewer holiday rentals in Paris affect tourists?

Paris is undeniably popular with visitors. As one of the world’s top tourist destinations, the French capital received 47.6 million visitors last year, half of which came from overseas, according to Statista.

Fewer tourists in central Paris would put less pressure on the city’s iconic landmarks and attractions like the Eiffel Tower and soon-to-reopen Notre Dame.

The crackdown could also revive neighbourhood culture, as more locals and independent artisans can afford to move back into the city centre.

Less availability in Paris could also nudge visitors to consider other French cities, such as Lyon or Bordeaux, helping to combat overtourism.

However the UNPLV warns that Paris’ short-term rental shakedown could deprive families who cannot afford a hotel room and encourage “an overconcentration of tourism and its detrimental effects on central districts”.

Airbnb adds that, “limiting how often Parisians can share their primary home will only benefit big hotel chains and drive tourists’ accommodation prices up, while hurting many local families who rely on hosting to make ends meet”.

Paris isn’t the first major city to try to reduce holiday rentals. New York banned short-term rentals in 2011, withmixed results. While hoteliers have reaped the rewards, critics say that it has made hotels more expensive without improving housing affordability – and may even have driven short-term rentals underground into the black market.

Earlier this year, Catalonia said it planned to revoke short-term licences for the 10,000-holiday apartments in Barcelona over the next five years. The city currently has less than20,000 listings on Airbnb.

Passengers on an Antarctic cruise have staged a hunger strike after the ship’s engine failed, forcing the expedition to be cut short.

SH Diana, operated by cruise company Swan Hellenic, left Cape Town on 13 November for a 21-day voyage to the southern region.

However, one of the ship’s electric motors experienced an “unexpected malfunction”, putting an end to the €10,000 trip.

The vessel is due to arrive at its next departure port in Ushuaia, Argentina, on Saturday to undergo repairs.

Passengers stage hunger strike over insufficient compensation

Around 170 passengers are currently onboard the SH Diana, the company’s largest ice-class expedition liner, which is inching towards Ushuaia at a speed of just six knots or 11km per hour.

The cruise itinerary was scheduled to include stops at iconic Antarctic spots like Elephant Island, Heroina Island, Paulet Island, Brown Bluff, D’Urville Monument, Yankee Harbour and Deception Island.

However, engine failure forced the Antarctica port calls to be cut short and the ship to make its way to its next departure port instead.

Passengers had paid up to €10,000 for the voyage and are angry that Swan Hellenic has not offered to compensate them in full for the cruise.

“They made the right call not to go to Antarctica for safety reasons, but it is being handled very badly by Swan Hellenic,” one passenger told UK newspaper the Times.

“To go to Antarctica is a trip of a lifetime and this specific sailing made it achievable for many on board to do so as it’s a repositioning sailing that had attractive deals.

“Many of the passengers are very angry and it was getting nasty yesterday. The company needs to make a better offer to quell the continuing rising anger.”

A small group of Russian passengers have reportedly staged a hunger strike in protest.

Cruise company has offered refunds ‘significantly higher than the legal requirement’

Swan Hellenic has offered a 50 per cent refund or a 65 per cent future cruise credit to be used within two years.

The company has also promised daily excursions when the ship makes port in Ushuaia, where passengers will be waiting until 3 December for their return flights.

Swan Hellenic’s chief executive Andrea Zito said in a statement that the refund offered is “significantly higher than the legal requirement of approximately 30 per cent”.

He acknowledged, however, that the “3.5 days lost on the Antarctic Peninsula leg of the sailing understandably was considered by most guests to be a highlight of the 21-day cruise”.

“As expected, not all of the guests were immediately satisfied with this compensation and have tried to build up pressure through discussions on board and by making demands on the captain and senior staff in order to obtain an even higher compensation for themselves,” he added.

“A select few chose to stage a hunger strike in their protest which is rather counterproductive. We are working towards a swift end to this action.”

SH Diana has been branded as an eco-friendly ship which claims to be “completely self-sufficient” for up to 40 days.

It uses zero-emission battery technology allowing it to operate silently when docked in ports, marine reserves and other protected natural areas.