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In early October 2019 it was announced that Talgo had been awarded a 39 million EUR contract to build an eight-car variable gauge 3 kV DC/25 kV AC high speed laboratory/diagnostics train, consisting of two power cars with a combined power rating of 8,000 kW and six intermediate trailers, and capable of running at speeds of up to 330 km/h.

1 January is a public holiday, at national level, right? Well, according to Renfe’s Class 106 AVRILs, so it should be for trains as well!

The Talgo-built Class 106 high speed trains are posing a headache for Renfe Viajeros, from the very start of commercial services.

The first variable-gauge Class 106 EMUs carried their first fare-paying passengers on services linking Madrid to Galicia and Asturias on 21 May 2024. The same day fixed-gauge 106s appeared on AVLO services to Catalunya and Levante.

On 11 April 2024 it was announced that Renfe had now received the first ten Class 106 AVRIL high speed trains.

On 11 April 2024 MITMS Minister Óscar Puente announced that Renfe had now received the first ten Class 106 AVRIL high speed trains.

During the pre-election campaign in Zamora on 17 July 2023, MITMA Minister Raquel Sánchez announced that Renfe would start up its low cost AVLO services on the Galician high speed line in 2024 - no specific date was given.

In June 2022 MITMA announced that the Variante between La Robla and Pola de Lena, under construction since 2004 at cost which is likely to exceed 4 billion EUR, would be inaugurated in May 2023.

There are hopes that salvation of the services between Barcelona and Lyon/Marseille might come in the shape of Renfe's new Class 106 Avril fleet.

On 11 December 2022, the international high speed train services between Barcelona and Lyon and Madrid, Barcelona and Marseille were withdrawn.

During a nocturnal test run with Talgo staff on board early on 7 September 2022, a Class 106 Avril reached 360 km/h on the 1,668 mm gauge high speed line between Ourense and Santiago de Compostela.

The first members of the new high speed Class 106 fleet were expected to have been handed over to Renfe in January 2021 in readiness for commercial operation in summer 2022.