These vehicles can perform certain driving tasks such as accelerating, braking, and staying in the lane, but the driver must always be prepared to intervene and take control.
The transport sector is already the largest CO2 emitter in Spain, far ahead of industry (18%) and agriculture (12%), and its contribution increases every year, pushing us further away from the emission targets set by the Paris Agreement. The transportation sector accounts for 33% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Spain, with road transport alone contributing 28.4% of total GHG emissions. In contrast, other modes of transport have a significantly smaller impact.
Air pollution caused by traffic is the most harmful to our lungs and particularly affects the most vulnerable populations: children, the elderly, and people with respiratory diseases. It is a major public health issue, causing 25,500 premature deaths annually, most of them due to pollution in large cities.
The “Pollution Cap” Over Madrid
Collectively, private transport accounts for 26% of mobility while emitting 60% of CO2, whereas public transport is responsible for 48% of mobility while emitting 40% of CO2.
In Spain, the Municipal Transport Company (EMT) dedicates 2,200 buses to public passenger transport, 350 of which are electric, with a few hydrogen-powered ones. There are approximately 3,000 bus transport companies in Spain, the largest of which is Alsa, which owns more than 6,000 vehicles. In total, Spain has over 60,000 buses for public transport.
Automated transport in Spain
Currently, only Level 2 autonomy vehicles are allowed to operate in Spain. These vehicles can perform certain driving tasks such as accelerating, braking, and staying in the lane, but the driver must always be prepared to intervene and take control. The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) is highly interested in deploying autonomous vehicles in Spain. A Royal Decree on automated vehicle circulation has already been drafted, and on June 9, 2024, a public consultation was launched to facilitate the introduction of Level 4 and 5 automated vehicles.
There are two pioneering, albeit anecdotal, cases of automated public bus usage in Spain:
- The first autonomous bus from the Municipal Transport Company (EMT) was tested in Madrid in January 2025.
- Spain’s first “private” autonomous bus, the EZ10 model, is 100% electric and operated by Alsa. It covers a 3.7-kilometer route within the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) campus.
The role of trains for public transport in Spain
More trips are made by urban bus (1.2 million per year) than by metro (846,000 trips). Regarding metropolitan transport, buses account for 22% of total trips, with an even distribution between buses and rail transport.
Spain has 900 trains, of which 400 run on diesel and 500 are electric. The latter include the 360 daily trips on high-speed or bullet trains operated by the National Railway Network of Spain (Renfe). With a total rail length of 15,652 kilometers, nearly 1,500 stations, and 1.7 million train trips per year, Spain’s railway network has experienced uneven growth. Significant investments have been in high-speed rail, mainly funded by the European Union (EU), but major deficiencies remain in connectivity and conventional rail lines linking the country.
Despite having the world’s second-largest high-speed rail network (almost 4,000 km, second only to China and ahead of Japan and France) and the highest density of high-speed rail per capita, Spain’s rail system is one of the least utilized. The Spanish and European rail systems, which should be key allies in achieving sustainable mobility, have been systematically underfunded and significantly reduced over the past three decades. Meanwhile, more polluting infrastructures like highways and airports have expanded and received massive funding.
The “Resurgence” of High-Speed Rail
The recent revival of high-speed rail in Spain coincides with the end of Renfe’s monopoly. The emergence of low-cost companies such as Iryo and OUIGO has introduced alternatives to the Ministry of Transport’s rail services, increasing competition and driving down ticket prices. This increase in usage also aligns with government-issued discounts and transport passes introduced after the pandemic, leading to a 33% rise in public transport use in Spain since 2022.
Increase in the number of high-speed rail passengers in Spain.
Source: National Institute of Statistics (INE)
In 2024, an average of 405 million trips per month were recorded via bus and train, marking an increase of 100 million trips per month compared to 2022. These figures come from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE).
This growth trend solidified, with average monthly trips reaching 3.2 million in 2023 and increasing to 3.3 million per month from January to June 2024. The Spanish government’s transport discounts and passes since September 2022 have resulted in an estimated CO2 reduction of 300 tons per day, costing the state €1.6 billion annually.
To sustain this trend, it is necessary to make these initiatives permanent. The main proposal is a national unified transport pass covering trains, buses, and metros. The estimated total cost of implementing an annual pass would be around €2 billion per year—a fraction of the climate-harmful subsidies currently granted annually.
Funding Sustainable Transport
Greenpeace has proposed several funding solutions to support the implementation of a national transport pass, ensuring it remains sustainable and accessible to citizens. These include:
- Applying reduced VAT only to land-based passenger transport while eliminating tax exemptions for more polluting modes.
- Taxing aviation fuel, which could generate nearly €5 billion in revenue.
- Increasing the general taxation of hydrocarbons could reduce CO2 emissions by between 5.3% and 12.9% while also increasing revenue.
Additionally, the Spanish Association of Public Urban Transport (ATUC) advocates allocating a portion of environmental fuel taxes to public transport funding, estimating that this could contribute €500 million annually.
The Path to Sustainable Mobility
The most urgent and necessary measures to reduce transport’s environmental impact are increasing energy efficiency, reducing transport activity, and decreasing fossil fuel dependency. For transportation to be sustainable, zero-emission vehicles, whether battery-electric or hydrogen-fuel cell-powered, must be promoted.
Green hydrogen is expected to be the fuel of the future, as it can be used in fuel cells to generate electricity through chemical reactions. Some road vehicles already use this technology, but it requires significant development to become a key part of global sustainable mobility. Currently, hydrogen-powered buses are ten times more expensive than conventional models, and their production process (including fuel production) is three times more polluting than that of electric vehicles.
Spain will allocate between 280 and 400 million euros to developing renewable hydrogen through the EU Innovation Fund. According to Europa Press, this amount is in addition to the 1.2 billion euros in EU funding from the same fund, bringing the total financing mobilized by the renewable hydrogen auction to around 2 billion euros.
Let’s hope that the benefits of this investment for citizens and in the fight against climate change don’t take as long to materialize as the funds invested in the high-speed train, which is now experiencing its “resurgence” 30 years after its launch.
Emerging technologies, from electric vehicles to zero-carbon energy sources, are crucial in combating climate change. However, for them to be effective, transport strategies must benefit everyone, including the most disadvantaged. As highlighted in a UN report published before the Sustainable Transport Conference in Beijing in October 2021, “The transformative potential of sustainable transport can only be realized if improvements lead to poverty eradication, decent jobs, better health and education, and greater opportunities for women and girls.”
ATUC stresses the need for mobility plans to integrate metropolitan areas and coordinate with surrounding municipalities. These plans should promote multimodal integration, including other sustainable options like carsharing and cycling, and explore on-demand transport for low-density areas.
Spain is an exception in Europe in that it currently lacks a national Mobility and Public Transport Funding Law. Such legislation is necessary to ensure long-term investment in public transport, particularly if it is to play a key role in combating climate change.
The law is expected to be approved before the end of the current legislative term and must facilitate the launch of a national unified transport pass by 2026.
Eventually, private cars are the most inefficient mode of transport, occupying 70% of public space in big cities despite being the most polluting and inefficient option. Sustainable mobility is urgent for several reasons: human health and well-being, economic efficiency, climate change, etc. Increasing public transport availability and reducing car dependency, particularly in large cities, is essential for closing the social gap caused by the current model, ensuring a fairer energy and climate transition.
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Spain Country Manager Juanjo Santos.