The EU floor all three must meet
Regulation (EU) 2021/782 applies to Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo on their long-distance services, and it starts the clock at 60 minutes. When a delay of an hour or more at the final destination is expected, a cancellation included, the operator must immediately offer a choice between refund and re-routing[4]. The refund is the full ticket price for the part of the journey not made, under the conditions by which you paid[5]; the re-routing is continuation under comparable conditions at the earliest opportunity[6].
Silence is not an answer. If no re-routing options reach you within 100 minutes of the scheduled departure, you may buy a rail, coach or bus alternative yourself and recover reasonable costs[1]. Keep the receipt.
| Situation | Renfe | Ouigo | Iryo (as reported) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator cancels the train | Refund or alternative, money back to the original payment method | Alternative Ouigo transport or refund, whatever the notice | Another train or full refund with 48+ hours notice |
| Short-notice cancellation | Set by its general conditions | Day before: 100% before 17:00, double after, as refundable vouchers | Double the ticket price within four hours of departure |
| Delay of 30 to 59 minutes | Nothing under 60 minutes | Voluntary 50% non-refundable voucher | Not reported |
| Delay of 60 to 89 minutes | 50% | 50% in a refundable voucher | 50% |
| Over 90 minutes (Ouigo: 90 or more) | 100% | 100% in a refundable voucher | 100% |
| Juntas Arbitrales de Transporte | Accepted | Not accepted | Not reported |
Compensation is a separate layer, and it runs on these terms:
- 25% of the ticket price for a delay of 60 to 119 minutes, and 50% from 120 minutes[2][7]
- Not on top of a refund: it covers tickets whose cost has not been reimbursed under the refund article[8]
- Paid in money if you ask[9], within one month of the request[10]
- Refunds themselves due within 30 days of the request[11], with a voucher standing in only if its terms are flexible and you agree[12]
- Operators may skip payouts below EUR 4 per ticket[13]
Operators may be more generous than this floor, and all three are. None may go under it.
When the operator cancels the train
Renfe, the operator of the original AVE service into Córdoba, owes you the EU choice between a refund and re-routing when it cancels a train[4]; its general conditions define a cancelled journey as one that cannot be made as the ticket contracted[14], and a refund goes back to the original payment method[15]. A train stuck on the line is taken to the origin station, an alternative origin or the final destination, where physically possible[16]. Fare-by-fare refunds for cancelled and delayed Renfe trains are broken down in Renfe train delay claims for Córdoba.
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In the conditions in force as of October 2026 (version 9, valid from 21 August)[17], Ouigo, whose trains from Madrid to Seville and Málaga stop at Córdoba[18], gives the simplest rule: whatever the notice, you choose between alternative Ouigo transport and a refund[19]. The swap window is 30 days from the notice, free, with no extra fare if the new ticket costs more[20]. Compensation then scales with warning:
Iryo's side comes second-hand. Iryo serves Córdoba[24], and press coverage in December 2024 reported that a cancellation with at least 48 hours' notice means another train in similar conditions or a full refund[25], and that a cancellation within four hours of departure earns double the ticket price[26]. Its customer-service reply of May 2025, quoted on OCU's public complaints pages, points passengers to atencion.cliente@iryo.eu with invoices for extra expenses[27]. These are reports, not published terms, and the current text is on iryo.eu.
Ouigo's conditions give the exact tier for any notice period the ladder above skips. Both the Ouigo ladder and the Iryo four-hour mark are commercial compensation, layered on top of the refund-or-reroute floor[4].
Delays: three schemes against one floor
In the conditions in force as of October 2026, Renfe gives 50% of the fare for an arrival 60 minutes or more late[28] and the full fare once the delay passes 90 minutes[29]. Iryo's customer service has told complainants, in a reply of May 2025 quoted on OCU, that it pays the same: 50% over 60 minutes and 100% over 90[30]. Ouigo starts earlier, with a voluntary 50% non-refundable voucher from 30 minutes[31], then 50% from 60 minutes[32] and 100% from 90 minutes, both as refundable vouchers[33]. Against the EU minimum of 25% for a 60 to 119 minute delay and 50% from 120[2][7], Renfe and Ouigo both pay more[28][32].
The form of payment is where the schemes diverge. Ouigo delivers compensation as vouchers through Mis Reservas on its site or app[34] and commits to pay it proactively[35]. The regulation says compensation is paid in money at the passenger's request[9], and OCU adds that on a cancelled Ouigo train a voucher in place of the ticket refund is acceptable only if the traveller expressly chooses it[36]. Renfe pays nothing for a delay under 60 minutes or one announced before you bought[37].
OCU's reading is that operators can revise their commercial policy but cannot skip the rules[38], which is why the regulation's floor is what you quote in a claim. Arbitration is where the budget entrants and the incumbent part ways: Renfe's conditions let customers take claims to the competent arbitration bodies[39], while Ouigo states that it does not submit to the Juntas Arbitrales de Transporte or de Consumo[40].
A low fare from one of the entrants that changed who visits Córdoba buys the same regulation floor as any Renfe ticket, but not the same route to arbitration.
Exemptions, and why you should not cancel first
Compensation has exits. The regulation denies it when you were told of the delay before you bought[41], and excuses operators for extreme weather, major natural disasters and public health crises[42], or for third parties such as people on the track, cable theft or sabotage[43]. Acts or omissions of the infrastructure manager and of other operators on the same line fall outside the exemption[44], which narrows what an operator can call extraordinary.
Operators write the exemption into their own terms. Ouigo excludes liability for force majeure and other causes for which the carrier is not liable under current law[45]. Iryo, in a reply of June 2026 quoted on OCU, placed its force-majeure clause in section 13 of its General Conditions of Carriage[46] and treated presence on the track as force majeure, a classification the passenger disputed[47].
Cancelling a ticket yourself is a different transaction from the operator cancelling it. On Renfe, Elige fares refund 70% when you cancel voluntarily[48] and Básico fares cannot be cancelled at all[49]; as a general rule, Ouigo tickets are non-refundable unless its conditions provide otherwise[50].
Do not cancel before the operator does
Wait for the operator's own cancellation or change notice before touching your booking. Screenshot the notice, and keep receipts for any substitute bought after the 100-minute mark[1].
When a whole line shuts rather than a single train, the operator-led route is free change: on 19 January 2026 Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo all suspended services and opened free automatic cancellation or date change[51]. The substitutes, from coaches to hire cars, are covered in Madrid to Córdoba when the high-speed line is suspended.
How and where to claim in Spain
Complain to the operator first, within three months of the incident[3]; the authorities come after, never before. The channels differ by operator:
- Renfe: a complaints book, a free complaints phone line and an online customer-service form[52]
- Ouigo: the web form at ouigo.zendesk.com, post or phone[53], or the official EU reimbursement and compensation form[54]
- Iryo: an online claims form, per 2024 press coverage[55], and invoices for extra expenses to atencion.cliente@iryo.eu, per its replies quoted on OCU[27]
If the operator refuses, the passenger may complain to the national enforcement body within three months of the rejection[56]. In Spain that is the Ministry of Transport's Dirección General de Transporte por Carretera y Ferrocarril, which monitors and sanctions[57]. You can write to viajeros.tcyf@transportes.gob.es, post a letter or go in person to the Ministry's offices[58]; the reply is advice and binds neither you nor the operator[59].
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For money, the Juntas Arbitrales de Transporte of the regions are the practical route: a compensation claim costs nothing and needs no lawyer[60]. A dispute above 15,000 euros, or one with a carrier that has not accepted arbitration, goes to court instead[61]. Beyond the fare, OCU says travellers can also claim justified extra losses such as non-refundable hotels and event tickets[62].
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Operators aside, the full set of ways in and out of the city is on getting to Córdoba. Check each operator's current conditions before relying on these figures, which are dated as stated here.