I just returned from a 2.5 week trip to Spain late last night. I'm still recovering but wanted to write a quick post about the storage locker situation in Spain - basically they are no longer in use at bus or train stations.

I had a 30 minute window to connect buses in Girona 2 weeks ago. Buses are generally very reliable and this has never been an issue for me in the past. However, the travel gods were not smiling on me this particular day and my first bus was over 40 minutes late and I missed my connection. The next bus was not due for another 5 hours. So, I put on a smile and decided to make the best of it - I'd just put my luggage in a storage locker and visit Girona (again). The woman at the ticket counter in the bus station told me there were no luggage lockers. The train station is just next door to the bus station and one of my travel books referenced lockers in the train station. As I crossed the street I was happy to see the sign indicating the storage lockers. To my surprise they were covered over and obviously not in use. The Renfe agent would only say "no lockers" so I went to the tourist information booth at the station. The woman informed me that about 2 months ago all of the lockers at both the bus and train station were closed due to security issues. The only exception were the largest cities (ie. Madrid/Barcelona) where they could afford private agencies to run the lockers. I'm not sure about Cordoba as I know this is a popular day trip.

Ugh - how unfortunate for those of us who depend on public transporation during our trips. This will definately have an impact on my future itineraries as I often weave day trips to cities in between as I travel. I can't fault the government for this decision - it's just unfortunate.

Hope this helps others who may be planning their trips.

WHOA! That IS BIG! Thank you SO MUCH, CathyM, for the update. As you say, it will definitely change itineraries and management of sight seeing around Spain. It is a shame but I can't say I'm surprised. Luckily, for the time being, they do still have them in Barcelona and Madrid.

Question: Did you speak to the tourist information booth person in English or Spanish? I'm always curious about the bilinguibility of tourist office people.

Saludos, MadridMan

Actually, the woman at the bus station only spoke spanish. So, I spoke to her in my limited spanish and she was very sternly told me there were no lockers. I questioned my interpretation when I looked at my guidebook that said the train station had lockers and was very happy when I saw the large sign outside the train station indicating luggage storage.

The woman at the TI at the train station was very fluent in english. I was able to point out the lockers directly to her and this was not the first time she had to tell this story to a tourist. She said that this was the case in Spain and in France and it happened a couple of months ago.

Perhaps I'll write to Renfe directly to get the official word.

Oh no! I leave for Barcelona in two weeks and have about a 5 hour lay over at the airport. I was hoping there was short term storage as I wanted to take a 2 hour hop on off tour before making my connections. Any suggestions would be helpful. Is there any storage at the airport in Barcelona?

The lockers in the bus and train stations I've seen in the last 2 weeks have had signs on saying that they're out of use. I got so used to seeing it I stopped registering it, but I'm pretty sure the ones in Cordoba were out of use too.

I wouldn't attempt to do a 2 hours hop on/off bus tour of Barcelona with a 5 hour layover....even if the lockers at the Barcelona airport are open. It's just too short of a time period to allow for the full circuit of the bus and not worth the expense.