After many weeks of political debate and uncertainty, the Spanish and Catalan governments have stepped on the gas and, in less than 24 hours, have defined and announced next year's transport fares and ticket types. Now, with these new changes, understanding the vast array of options, prices, and discounts is no easy task, and users will have to carefully consider which ticket offers the best value starting next year. We break down all the changes and announcements made in the last few hours in four sections:

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced during his year-end review before Christmas that a travel pass for public transport throughout Spain will be available starting in 2026. The announcement, which had already been hinted at months earlier by Transport Minister Óscar Puente, comes just days before the end of the year and, therefore, before transport fares are set to increase, following a lengthy political debate about the appropriateness of widespread reductions in train tickets. The pass will cost €60 per month for general travelers and €30 per month for young people up to 26 years old. The plan is for it to come into effect in the second half of January. However, the details of this new transport pricing system are still unclear: for example, what role the autonomous communities will play or how the system will be structured. Avant prices (high-speed trains but regulated at public prices that are also overflowing in Catalonia)

Change in rail transport discounts, which will no longer be free in July. The Regional Minister for Territory, Sílvia Paneque, rectified this and announced changes this Wednesday in the Government's control session. Paneque confirmed that the discounts for regional trains will be increased from the initially planned 40% to 60% starting in July. The Minister stated this in a response to ERC and clarified that this will correct the Comparative "grievance" between users of regional trains and commuter trains.

It's only been a year since he was appointed director of the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità. Before that, Manuel Valdés - an engineer by training - had spent 17 years at Barcelona City Hall, where he promoted the new bus network, the low-emission zone, the superblocks and the tram along the Diagonal. All this experience, he says, has helped him to delve into the "engine room" that is the ATM: "In the morning I want to see the message that everything is working normally."

The drastic discount in ticket prices will be felt – positively – by commuters' pockets, but also – and clearly negatively – by the public transport system's coffers. The Metropolitan Transport Authority (ATM) has approved this afternoon to halve the price of most transport tickets from September 1 to December 31. Thus, T-Usual and T-Jove monthly and quarterly tickets will be half price and T-Casual 10-journey tickets will cost 30% less. The price of tickets for single-parent or large families and the unemployed, which already enjoyed a discount, will also be halved, as will Berguedà and Ripollès packs.