FANTASTIC story! And you told it with cinematic style.

By the way, Gardyloo, one of the few dozen words I do recognize in French is the one for imbecile: it is "imbécile" - as for how to speak it, I bow to the more skilled.

Most of the posts on this thread are two years old...but there is a lot of good information.
As someone said: trains vary from country to country, and you'd really just need to hear from someone who had taken the Spanish trains "lately".( I just noticed that the original question was 2 yrs. ago!)
Swiss trains are wonderful, clean,...as are Germany, UK etc. WE lived in Portugal for 2 years, and though we didn't take the trains I understand the ones from Portugal to Spain weren't too special.
THe only night train we've taken was in Turkey~~~from Istanbul to Ankara (when our daughter was teaching in Ankara)..about 15 yrs. ago. It was wonderful, very clean, good breakfast etc. Each cabin had an upper and a lower, very clean sheets, nice window, and a sink. Fun!

We also took the overnight from
Istanbul to Ankara, several years ago.
The bunks were comfortable and clean.
I would do it again. We got a senior
rate.
Also took an overnight from Bucharest
to Sophia. Not quite as nice, but the
conductor had a great sense of humour
and we met several couples from other
countries. I would do it again.