The low-cost train operator iyro has announced it will launch a direct route between Malaga and Barcelona this year.
The Italian-owned company revealed the service will begin on December 15 and will see one outbound and one return every day of the week.
The journey will make stops in Cordoba, Madrid, and Zaragoza and will take around five hours and 50 minutes, according to The Olive Press.
In total, it will cover a distance of around 478 miles.
The Malaga-Barcelona service will leave at 11.35am and arrive at 5.37pm, while the reverse route will depart at 11.50am and arrive at 5.42pm.
The tickets, which are already available online, start as low as €24 (£20.27) each way, rising to €26.37 (£22.27) on weekends.
As such, national Spanish operator Renfe has complained that its rival’s prices are “too low” and create “unfair competition”.
iyro has been a distributor of Spain’s high-speed railway network since it began operations in November 2022, running 12 trains per day on the route between Madrid and Bareclona as well as occasionally at Zaragoza.
The 302-mile journey between the two iconic Spanish cities, travelling at over 220 mph, according to the iyro website.
Since its launch, it has expanded across the country, connecting some of the biggest cities and regional capitals in Spain including Barcelona with Seville, as well as Madrid, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Tarragona, Valencia and Alicante.