The EU Commission has just recently announced the number of European youngsters that have been granted free travel passes under the DsicoverEU programme, with youngsters from Spain being on the top five list.
According to the EU Commission, on the most recent round of applications that closed at the end of March, a total of 16,789 youngsters from Spain applied for the free passes.
The same revealed that of the total number of applicants from Spain, 3,458 of them got selected for the free passes, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The free passes to travel across Europe were granted through DiscoverEU. DiscoverEU is a programme of the Erasmus+ that gives the opportunity to youngsters from Europe to discover the continent through learning experiences.
Moreover, the programme also gives the opportunity to European youngsters to learn more about using environmentally friendly transport means as all selected participants will be travelling predominantly by rail.
The selected participants from Spain as well as those from other countries will get to travel with the free passes for 30 days between mid-June 2023 and September 2024.
Apart from being granted free travel passes, the selected participants from Spain will also be provided with a discount card. This card can be used for food, accommodation, educational visits, cultural activities, local transportation, and more.
Hundreds of other participants from other countries participating in the Erasmus+ programme have also been selected for the free passes.
Apart from Spain, the top five list of countries whose youngsters were granted the highest number of free passes to travel across Europe includes Germany, France, Italy, and Poland.
Data provided by the EU Commission show that a total of 6,072 German youngsters have been granted free travel passes on this round.
Moreover, the same revealed that 4,919 French youngsters, 4,341 Italian youngsters, and 2,767 Polish youngsters had been awarded free passes that can be used from the middle of this month.
In order to be eligible for the free passes, all applicants must be 18 years old, and they must be citizens of one of the participating countries in the Erasmus+ programme.
“To be eligible, young people must be EU citizens or legal residents of the EU. Citizens or residents of one of the third countries associated to the Erasmus+ programme, like Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Türkiye, are also eligible to apply,” the Commission explains.
During their travel period, selected participants from all countries will be able to make new friends, learn more about other cultures, as well as discover their European identity, among others.