Spain: Cable Theft That Caused Rail Chaos Was ‘Act of Sabotage’, Says Minister.
By Caroline Ameh
Spain’s transport minister has described the theft of vital signalling cables from the country’s high-speed rail network as a “serious act of sabotage,” after the incident caused major delays to services between Madrid and Seville during a busy bank holiday weekend, affecting over 10,000 passengers.
The state-owned rail operator, Renfe, confirmed that cables were stolen late Sunday from four different locations around Toledo, south of the capital, severely disrupting operations on the line connecting Madrid with the southern region of Andalucía.
As teams from Renfe and the railway infrastructure firm Adif worked to restore services, Transport Minister Óscar Puente stated, “We have suffered an act of serious sabotage on the high-speed line between Madrid and Seville.” He added that the Guardia Civil had launched an investigation and appealed to the public for any information.
Speaking on Cadena Ser radio Monday morning, Puente emphasized the deliberate nature of the act. “This is a low-value theft. Whoever did it knew exactly what they were doing. There were no cameras, and the financial gain is negligible compared with the enormous disruption caused,” he said, noting that about 150 metres of cable were taken.
Renfe president Álvaro Fernández Heredia echoed the minister’s concerns, describing the theft as suspicious. “It’s not normal to have cable stolen from four different points and in both directions in a single day,” he told state broadcaster RNE. “It’s strange, and I’m sure the transport ministry and police will be thoroughly investigating this, because we haven’t seen anything like it before.”
When asked whether he believed the incident amounted to sabotage, Heredia replied, “I do. The theft of signalling cable, on which safety infrastructure depends, is sabotage – even if it’s technically theft – because it undermines critical infrastructure.”
By 9:30 a.m. Monday, Renfe and Adif announced that services on the Madrid–Seville line had resumed, with operations expected to normalize throughout the day.
Meanwhile, stranded passengers at Madrid’s Atocha station expressed frustration. “We’re here with tourists from everywhere – France, Portugal,” said Alberto Valero, visiting from Mexico with his family. “Everyone is at a loss because of the total disarray.”
The rail chaos follows an unprecedented and still-unexplained power blackout across Spain and Portugal the previous week. The conservative opposition party (PP) seized the opportunity to criticize the socialist-led government for what it called repeated infrastructure failures.
“This is the second Monday in a row with scenes unworthy of the fourth-largest economy in the eurozone,” said PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo. “People are paying more taxes for poorer services. Spain needs to function again, and that’s my goal.”
Environment Minister Sara Aagesen, speaking to El País, warned that the causes of the earlier power outage may take days to fully understand. She cautioned against premature speculation linking the incident to renewable energy sources.
“Blaming renewables is irresponsible and simplistic,” she said. “They’ve long been part of our energy mix. We’ve had similar days with even higher renewable input and lower demand – and the system has performed perfectly.”
