California will spend 9 trillion dollars, 20 years, and enormous amounts of drama and still have slower trains than Spain. 

But sure make fun of siestas and lazy Europeans and so on. Getting lots done in that frantic American workday of yours? How much of it was spent stuck in traffic?

Average train speed by country:

Seeing the public transit in Spain (trains, and even buses and subway) was eye-opening for me. I thought Spain was supposed to be more of a backwater, but it's even better than northern Europe.

I love Spain, particularly Barcelona 
I could never understand why so many excellent Spanish nurses came to work in the NHS
Lots have returned now post Brexit
Adored working with them

Spain and France are tied for best countries in Europe IMO.

Took the bus from Bilbao to Pamplona and back. So good. Later took a bus from the Geneva airport to Chamonix, even better.