Affordable, accessible and sustainable transport helps more people discover more places. Spain's Verano Joven programme shows what is possible when public policy and a strong coach network work together.
Launched by the Spanish Government in 2023, Verano Joven offers substantial public transport discounts on regular domestic intercity coach services to young people aged 18 to 30 during the summer months.
Designed to make travel more affordable, the programme has become an example of how shared passenger road transport can support a more balanced and sustainable tourism model.
Everywhere and anywhere
Spain's nationwide coach network allows young travellers to reach major cities as well as smaller towns, rural communities, coastal destinations, natural parks and cultural heritage sites. Many of these places have limited rail connections or are difficult to access without a private car.
Making these journeys more affordable helps spread visitors more evenly across the country, creating new opportunities for local businesses and regional economies while reducing pressure on the most visited destinations.
The reach of the coach network is central to the programme's success.
In Spain, buses and coaches account for 62% of all collective passenger transport journeys, while the state-run regular coach services included in Verano Joven in Verano Joven serve 1,814 municipalities and 2,369 population centres, providing sustainable mobility across almost the entire country.
The programme also demonstrates the value of close cooperation between public authorities and the bus and coach sector. Operators represented by IRU member CONFEBUS provide the services that connect cities, towns and rural communities, ensuring that affordable travel translates into greater accessibility and a more balanced distribution of tourism.
Striking results
More than 2.3 million young passengers travelled by bus and coach through Verano Joven in 2025, compared with 1.6 million when the initiative was introduced in 2023. That represents an increase of almost 45% in just two years. Today, more than one in three young people in Spain choose coach travel during the summer campaign.
“Rising demand has encouraged operators to expand services, increase capacity and strengthen cooperation across the sector while maintaining the high standards of safety and reliability for which coach travel is known,” said Jaime Rodríguez Medal, Director of CONFEBUS.
Travel, discover and enjoy
Lower fares have encouraged more young people to travel beyond Spain's best-known destinations. Smaller communities, rural areas and seasonal destinations are welcoming new visitors, extending the economic benefits of tourism across a much wider territory.
Spain's experience also offers ideas that reach beyond its borders. Initiatives that encourage affordable travel while making full use of existing coach networks can help more people discover destinations that might otherwise remain overlooked. Better integration of coach services into programmes such as DiscoverEU would give young Europeans greater access to smaller communities and regional destinations across the Union.
Regular bus and coach services and tourism coaches play a unique role in making this possible. They connect destinations that other transport modes often cannot reach, improve accessibility for residents and visitors alike, reduce reliance on private cars and strengthen territorial cohesion.
As Spain's Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, described Verano Joven, it is “an investment in mobility and in opportunities for a generation that deserves to travel, discover and enjoy our country.”
Spain's experience shows that tourism and mobility deliver the greatest value when they are planned together. Making bus and coach travel more affordable does more than help people travel; it improves access to destinations, supports local economies and spreads the benefits of tourism across a much wider territory.
Giving buses and coaches a stronger place in tourism planning would help more communities share those benefits while offering travellers a practical and sustainable alternative to private cars.