MADRID, 11 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, announced this Thursday that Renfe has exceeded one million free passes issued for Cercanías, Rodalies and Media Distancia "in just 10 days."

Puente has highlighted on the social network

"If all the royal decrees approved yesterday had been rejected, all those people would have been directly and concretely harmed," he stated.

The Congress of Deputies approved this Wednesday the validation of the decree that includes the reduction of VAT on basic foods, transport aid and the increase in pensions with the CPI by 172 votes in favor, 171 against and 7 abstentions.

With this regulatory package, among many other points, the reduced VAT on basic foods, pasta and oils is extended and this same tax is modified on electricity and natural gas bills, which go from 5% to 10%, compared to the 21% original from before the energy crisis. Also included is free Cercanías and a 50% discount on regional transport.

Regarding the free tickets issued to travel by train, 73.5% are tickets to travel in the different centers of Cercanías, Rodalies and Cercanías Ancho Métrico, and the rest correspond to Media Distancia tickets.

In addition to the free passes for regular travelers, Renfe has sold more than 14,500 tickets with 50% Avant discounts for use on high-speed medium-distance services.

Following the approval by the Council of Ministers of the free passes for 2024, Renfe will create specific multi-trip tickets that will be valid for each calendar quarter of the year 2024.

This year, Renfe is going to carry out initiatives to prevent the irregular use of passes in the Media Distancia and Avant services, where irregular use is still detected that prevents all citizens from enjoying these measures, when reserving places that they do not occupy later.