Trains in Spain

The official site is renfe.com. There are two types of trains the standard ones and the ones called AVE which are considerably faster, but more expensive. Barcelona - Malaga is a long trip, so it might be worth it getting the AVE.

Personally I use the trains a bit in Spain, mainly between Barcelona and Alicante and also Barcelona to Madrid. They are , in my view, fantastic and very very cheap compared with say UK. Renfe is heavily subsidised by the tax payer of course  and there have been a lot of developments to the high speed network.

Barcelona to Malaga would be a great journey  and I think the fastest train is about 5 hours 15 mins and utilises the AVE high speed train stock which is modern. Think there a couple of direct trains each day from Barcelona otherwise change at Madrid.

I travel on the Euro Med from Barcelona to Alicante which is a wonderful journey. I try to book well in advance and travel Preferente which is 1st class. Well worth it with complimentary food and drink and the price is very competitive if you book well in advance. Beats flying although it does take longer but you can relax enjoy the scenery or watch a film and enjoy that food they provide in Preferente although they are cutting down a bit on the catering.

I am not a snob but Preferente is well worth the money if you are travelling long distance, Touriste is perfectly acceptable and the trains  usually keep to very good time in Spain.

Probably should not say this but if you Google  The Man in Seat 61 that site is a wealth of information for train travellers. The Renfe site  has an English option and is reasonably easy to use for booking tickets once you subscribe (no cost) which you save to a phone or print out yourself. They also have a English speaking help line if you have problems and that is very helpful.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for replying this was very helpful for me and I really appreciate all the information you posted.