I do not think I have ever seen a minivan here. This is because gasoline is much more expensive here. Gas stations charge around 1.21 euros for a liter of gas (since Spain uses the metric system, they use liters instead of gallons). I did the math of converting liters to gallons and euros to dollars and found that it would be the equivalent of about $5.23 per gallon of gas! Yikes! This is why many people walk and take the public bus.
To travel to other cities in Spain, the train is also a popular form of transportation. Spain has trains that are similar to the trains that we might see in the United States. However, there is also a special train called the AVE. This is a high-speed train that can go almost 200 mph! It is SO fast. We might call it a bullet train because of how fast it moves. I have only taken this train one time because it is more expensive than the normal train, but it was so cool. I could barely see anything out the window because everything was flying by so quickly.
For people to travel to other countries, such as France, Germany, or the United Kingdom, many people will fly on an airplane. The biggest airports are in Madrid, which is the capital of Spain, and also in Barcelona, which is another big city in Spain. I have flown a few times. Often, the flights are very cheap in Europe, in general. One time I paid 10 euros for a flight, which is about $12. Can you imagine that! If you empty your piggy bank, you might be able to afford a flight within Europe!
