It’s a childhood dream of the way a passenger train should look. Parked in a quiet siding in Bilbao’s art nouveau Concordia station, the Expreso de la Robla has low-slung carriages with a smart livery in deep green, black and dusty red, the name of the train picked out in gold along the side.
In the dining car, breakfast is served: peaches, omelettes, toast with olive oil. I cast my eye over the wood-panelled interior, the smart young staff in dark blue uniforms with gold piping, and the tables beside the push-up windows. My 32 fellow passengers are mainly Spanish couples whose faintly exhausted air suggests that they are fleeing the August madness of rammed beaches, excessive heat and in-laws.
Spain has long been a leader in the luxury train business. The historic Al-Andalus service, which trundles around the cities of the south, and the Transcantábrico, which recently celebrated 25 years of well-upholstered trips along the north coast from La Coruña to San Sebastián, are just two of the best-known products of Trenes Turísticos de Lujo, a subsidiary of state railway company Renfe.