Claiming compensation from RENFE for a delayed or cancelled train

Regulation (EU) 2021/782 sets the legal minimum for every railway company holding a European licence (RENFE, Iryo and Ouigo). If your train arrives late at your destination, you are entitled to 25% of the ticket price when the delay is between 60 and 119 minutes, and to 50% of the ticket price when it is 120 minutes or more.

On high-speed and long-distance services, RENFE offers more favourable compensation, restored by law (Ley 9/2025, de 3 de diciembre, de Movilidad Sostenible, the Spanish Sustainable Mobility Act) since 1 January 2026: 50% of the fare from 15 minutes of delay and 100% from 30 minutes. Where this scheme improves on the European legal minimum, whichever is more favourable to you applies. The exact thresholds may vary depending on the service (AVE, AVLO, Alvia, Euromed or Intercity), so Managora checks the conditions that apply to your train before claiming.

If the train is cancelled, you have the right to choose between a full refund of the ticket or alternative transport to your destination under comparable conditions. If you accept the alternative transport and still arrive late, the delay compensation is calculated on that final delay.

When the expected delay on arrival is more than 60 minutes, the company must offer you free assistance while you wait: food and drink in reasonable relation to the waiting time, provided they can reasonably be supplied at the station or on the train.

If the delay forces you to spend one or more nights away, or to extend your stay, the company must cover hotel accommodation and the transport between the station and the accommodation. Keep every receipt (food receipts, hotel invoice, taxi) because they are the basis for claiming those costs.

Delay compensation and assistance are compatible: you can get the percentage of the fare back and, on top of that, have the company cover meals or accommodation where applicable.

The company can be exempt from paying compensation if the delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances outside railway operation: extreme weather conditions, natural disasters, serious public health crises or the passenger's own fault, provided it could not have been avoided even though all reasonable measures had been taken.

Important: strikes by the railway company's own staff are NOT considered an extraordinary circumstance, so compensation is due in that case. Nor does the infrastructure manager's conduct generally exempt the company.

Each operator may set a minimum threshold below which it pays no compensation, which the Regulation caps at 4 euros per ticket. Below that amount the claim may not succeed.

You must always go to the company first. With RENFE you can request compensation under the punctuality commitment through the form on its website, giving the booking reference, the date, the route and the amount. There are also the complaints form and the libro de reclamaciones (complaints book) at the station. The company must give you a reasoned reply within one month.

If RENFE does not reply, replies out of time or rejects your claim without sufficient grounds, you can escalate free of charge: hoja de reclamaciones (the official complaint form), the Junta Arbitral de Transporte or de Consumo (transport or consumer arbitration board) of your Comunidad Autónoma (region), or the municipal consumer office (OMIC). You can also go to the Dirección General de Transporte Terrestre (Directorate General for Land Transport) of the Ministerio de Transportes, which is the national body that enforces the Regulation.

Managora gathers the documents, drafts the claim with the correct legal basis, files it with the company on your behalf and, if necessary, prepares the escalation to the Junta Arbitral or to the competent body. You can see the price of the service on the service page.

The legal framework in force is Regulation (EU) 2021/782, applicable since 7 June 2023, which replaced the earlier Regulation 1371/2007. In 2024 Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/949 was also adopted, setting a common European form for reimbursement and compensation requests.

From 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2025 a less favourable scheme was in force: RENFE removed the compensation for delays of 15 and 30 minutes that it used to apply on the AVE and replaced it with 50% of the fare from 60 minutes and 100% from 90 minutes. That scheme is no longer in force.

The biggest change came on 1 January 2026: the thirty-first additional provision of Ley 9/2025, de 3 de diciembre, de Movilidad Sostenible restores the earlier thresholds by law, so on high-speed and long-distance services you are again entitled to 50% of the fare from 15 minutes of delay and 100% from 30 minutes. It is no longer a commercial commitment that the company can withdraw at will: it is a legal obligation.

How it applies is disputed. RENFE argues that the rule needs implementing regulations and has meanwhile kept its previous policy on some tickets; the Ministerio de Transportes started the reform of the Reglamento del Sector Ferroviario (the Spanish railway sector regulation) in January 2026 and consumer organisations are demanding that the compensation set by law be paid. Managora claims on the most favourable legal basis and, if it is refused, prepares the escalation to the competent body.