Canfranc Station

Canfranc opened in 1928 as the Spanish half of an international station on a line through the Pyrenees to France, and it was built on a scale far beyond any plausible traffic: 241 metres long with 365 windows and 156 doors, in a narrow valley at 1,195 metres. It handled smuggling, refugees and wartime traffic in tungsten and, it later emerged, Nazi gold; documents left in the building and found in 2000 revealed part of that trade. In 1970 a derailment destroyed a bridge on the French side and the line closed; the station stood empty and decaying for half a century, becoming a byword for ruin. Restoration completed in 2023 turned it into a hotel, with a new station built alongside and guided visits to the historic building.

What you actually see

• The 241-metre facade - a station built far beyond any traffic it received.
• The restored interior - the hall and platforms converted for hotel use.
• The wartime history - the smuggling, refugee and tungsten traffic explained.
• The Pyrenean setting - a vast building in a narrow mountain valley.

When to go

May to October for the easiest access and the valley at its best; the station is open year-round and the ski season brings its own traffic. Guided visits run at set times and book out in summer.

Honest expectations

The building is now a hotel, so access to much of it is limited to guests or guided tours at fixed hours. The long-abandoned condition that made it famous has gone with the restoration, which divides opinion. The line to France remains closed.

Nearby

Jaca and its citadel lie south; the Somport tunnel and the French border are north.