Rail Europe

How can it be a scam when the rules say exactly that? Did you cancel literally last minute (less than 3 days before)?
https://www.raileurope.com/legal-conditions/rpp/article/rail-protection-plan-6937

It also says that admin costs will not be refunded so you can't expect to regain 100% of the value of your purchase.
*The refund will be equivalent to the cost of the product itself; no refunds will be given for shipping and handling costs or the price of the Rail Protection Plan.

I fail to understand what you are complaining about. You are getting the refund correct? Are you complaining that the $17.50 was not refunded? But that is the insurance premium you paid to get the coverage. All insurance works that way. Where is the scam??? Need a better explanation.

Perfect example of the misuse of the word “scam”.

but due to the unrest in Spain I cancelled my travel plans

What unrest? You changed your mind at the last minute, and expect a refund? Timidity is not a valid reason.

I would not have bought that extra so-called piece of protection anyway. I don' t need to pay extra in order to get a refund in case of loss or cancelation, neither of which is going to happen.

It's quite likely that you would have paid less for point-to-point tickets than for the rail pass (though the cheapest tickets would have been non-refundable); when you reschedule your trip, take a good look at ticket prices on renfe.com to be sure a rail pass makes economic sense for you.

Forget it -- Typical first time poster's rant about nothing. He/She will not be back.

So many mistakes here, so little time.

Scam - no
Rail Europe - never
Unrest in Spain cancellation - huh?

It does seem to be seriously kicking off in Barcelona.