train in Spain

I am in the same boat... er, train. Or any vehicle, for that matter. I have to face forward. When you book your ticket on Renfe, there are generally three different levels - Basico/Basic, Elige/Elite, and Premium. After you have selected your departure time and coach level, in the next window scroll down to the "Specific Seat" section. Select "Seating Preference". It will cost $5.00 if you have opted for a basic or elite level, but is included in the premium level. You don't actually select your specific seats until a few windows later. We typically select my forward-facing seat and my husband's rear facing seat with the table between us. He is fine in a moving vehicle sitting forward, backward, sideways, or upside down. In this manner, we both get a window seat. The extra cost is well worth not having the rest of my day (actually BOTH of our day) ruined with my motion sickness.

I'm glad you brought that up that topic. I've tried to call RENFE several times and only get a recorded message in Spanish. I speak some myself, but they speak too fast for me to understand which prompts to select. Do they have a line for English speakers? Since I have only gotten recorded messages, I assume they are not available 24/7.

have a look at the website www.seat61.com. Lots of info about train configuration.