Website for train tickets in spain

Renfe is the Spanish railroad company. I always try to use the country specific train company. I've never had problems with Renfe though its my understanding that some did, I think last summer? Trainline is a 3rd party train company. I've used them when I can't get the country's train site to work for me. For me, that has only happened with SNCF (France) and in that case when my trip was cancelled due to COVID, Trainline told me I had to get the refund from SNCF while SNCF said it needed to come from Trainline. So, I'm not big on Trainline.

RENFE is "one" of the train companies in Spain -not "the" company. It is the biggest by far -former state monopoly for most of Spain- but has never been the only one; and with the end of the monopoly over 20 years ago, now other companies compete in some of the most popular journeys.

So depending on your route, you might have different choices (hence different websites to look at), or just one. Furthermore, note that not all trains can be pre-booked, in fact, for regional and commuting trains you buy your tickets at the station -be at the ATMs or the ticket booth- on the day you're travelling.

I bought high-speed train tickets from Madrid to Zaragoza using Trainline a few months ago. The tickets were not yet available on the Renfee site so using the 3rd party seller was the best option at the time, as I wanted to make sure I had a specific timed ticket. Fast forward to two days ago when I was buying high-speed train tickets on Renfee. I must have entered all the information (name, passport, etc) for two people at least 6 times and could not get the site to accept my credit card. Finally, I used the PayPal option and it worked fine.
Trainline adds on a fee because it's a 3rd party seller, Renfee does not.

The tickets were not yet available on the Renfee site so using the 3rd
party seller was the best option at the time, as I wanted to make sure
I had a specific timed ticket.

If the tickets aren't available from the company that actually runs the train, then the tickets aren't available. Full stop. There are however several companies that are happy to take your money in exchange for a promise to try to buy you a ticket once they become available.

For Madrid to Zaragoza you can also use Iryo, www.iryo.eu. They release their tickets further in advance.

We just booked tickets using Renfe this morning. As soon as I saw our date was available I purchased. The price goes up as the tickets are sold. We also paid with PayPal.

So if you want a quick and easy transaction, use www.raileurope.com or www.thetrainline.com, but if you really want to avoid their small booking fee and are prepared to overcome confusing translations and a website which keeps slipping back into Spanish, try using Renfe.com with the help of the advice below.

The above words come from the Man in Seat 61 page. I'll be honest, as I read his page on train travel in Spain, I got more and more confused. I had planned to use the Renfe site to order tickets as it got closer to the dates I'll be traveling, but now I'm wondering if I should use the raileurope site instead.

Thanks for asking this question!

I'll be honest, as I read his page on train travel in Spain, I got
more and more confused. I had planned to use the Renfe site to order
tickets as it got closer to the dates I'll be traveling, but now I'm
wondering if I should use the raileurope site instead.

Renfe's site can be confusing, which is why I tend to recommend Iryo instead. So if they are an option for your trip, try them instead.

In some cases the third-party sellers don't list all the trains available; the ones missing may be among the least expensive.

The Renfe site can be a bit fussy at times, especially with the credit card verification process. I had to call my credit card company a couple times before I was able to successfully purchase one set of one-way tickets. Right after that purchase, I tried purchasing another set of tickets but ran into verification problems, and a couple of minutes later got the website is undergoing maintenance message. When I checked the next morning, the price of the tickets on Renfe had gone up and I was once again unable to purchase the tickets (trying 3 different credit cards). I then went to the trainline site, purchased the tickets (at a higher price) without any problems.

Trainline is not a train company but a 3rd party ticket vendor, immediately after purchasing the ticket on Trainline we received email confirmation as well as a PDF of the Renfe tickets.

I would recommend that you let your credit card company know that you will be traveling to the EU before attempting train ticket purchase. Also I would try the Renfe site first, if it won't allow you to purchase available tickets, I would then go to Trainline knowing that there is an add-on fee built into the ticket prices.