Spain weighs halting Madrid-Barcelona AVE during works as Illa urges service to stay open

A closure floated after the Urda and Adamuz crashes

Transport minister Óscar Puente has put on the table the option of halting commercial service on the Madrid-Barcelona high-speed line while it is renovated, a model he linked to Germany. According to ministry calculations reported by El Confidencial, a full shutdown would shorten the modernisation of the Madrid-Calatayud section from five years to between 12 and 24 months. Puente raised the idea on Friday, 30 October, at his second press conference since the Urda accident in Toledo, and acknowledged that such a decision would provoke strong social opposition. The Urda and Adamuz accidents this year have killed more than 100 people, according to La Vanguardia, with dozens more injured. Any works would also depend on ERTMS, the European train control system, which is expected to enter service in early 2027 on the Andalusian line.

Passengers and the economic stakes

The corridor is the busiest stretch of Spain's high-speed network. The CNMC counted 14.6 million passengers on Madrid-Barcelona in 2024, a record that was 6% above the previous year, and the route accounts for more than a third of all commercial high-speed users. Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo together run more than 500 weekly frequencies on it, and rail holds 82% of trips against air on the route. El Confidencial estimates that a cut lasting up to two years would affect close to 30 million trips, a demand that air and road transport could not absorb in the short term. Iñaki López, presenter of the LaSexta show Más Vale Tarde, argued that the line carries an average of 40,000 passengers a day and that Spain's radial rail network cannot divert traffic the way Germany's mesh network can. He closed his segment with a warning:

“We cannot afford to stop the Madrid-Barcelona line. Brace yourselves for at least five years of delays.”

Engineers and the regional government push back

Diego Marqueta, an engineer and court-appointed expert, offered a middle path: running some trains on the opposite-direction track, a technique that Spanish engineers describe as "banalización de las vías". He said this could work on roughly 20 to 30% of the sections, but that journeys would become considerably longer. Marqueta added that the signalling systems must first prove they can guarantee safety before any operation begins. Salvador Illa, the Catalan president, told Cadena SER on Monday, 2 November, that he backs keeping trains running during renovation. He put his position this way:

“If it is possible to make the investment while affecting the service as little as possible, I believe keeping traffic running during the works is the preferable option.”

Illa said the Urda investigation initially points to a possible human factor and urged caution until the causes are confirmed. He defended Puente's handling of the crashes, saying the minister has given all the explanations that have been asked of him and should keep doing so. Illa also recalled Pedro Sánchez describing another rail accident in such a short period as "not acceptable". He added that the Catalan government's agenda, including a transfer of Rodalies before the general elections on 29 November, has not changed because of the crash.

Andalusia scrambles for alternatives

Travellers in Andalusia have been left searching for seats since the line was suspended. At Seville's Santa Justa station, the final stop for the two trains involved in the Urda crash, a visitor travelling with friends to catch a flight back to Italy said the options were full. A traveller from Majadahonda extended a stay in Seville by one day after finding no trains or rental cars, and eventually bought flights for 120 euros per person, having first seen fares near 400 euros. At the Plaza de Armas bus terminal, queues formed at the counters, and a traveller from El Puerto de Santa María in Cádiz went to Seville after her cancelled AVE to Madrid.

Iberia and Iberia Express have scheduled 98 extra flights between Madrid and Seville and Málaga from 30 October to 8 November, adding 20,718 seats, which is 93% more capacity than initially planned. Economy fares on those routes are capped at 99 euros one way until 8 November. Air Europa added one extra daily flight in each direction to Málaga and to Seville. Vueling resumed Barcelona-Madrid flights on 5 October, offering more than 80,000 seats for the season through to the end of March, with demand rising mainly among business travellers.

Seville10,734

Málaga9,984

Seville

10734 seats

Málaga

9984 seats

Data from the article text

The airline push reverses a plan from October 2023, when the PSOE-Sumar coalition agreement included a measure restricting the Barcelona-Madrid air shuttle. The transport ministry led at the time by Raquel Sánchez then promised a technical study into replacing flights with high-speed rail on routes of up to 2.5 hours.