Rail safety becomes a campaign issue as PP, Vox and PNV attack Sánchez's transport policy

Koldo case searches reopen the rail debate

On 5 November the Guardia Civil carried out searches and arrests in the Koldo case. One search targeted the home of former transport minister José Luis Ábalos, who is currently in prison, and the Unidad Central Operativa (UCO) asked Adif Alta Velocidad for information on alleged rigged contracts. Xavier García Albiol, the People's Party (PP) candidate for Congress in Barcelona, said the operation showed that the government had put money ahead of track maintenance and safety. He described the searches as a campaign by Koldo and Ábalos to cloud the picture, and argued that a PP government would order a full audit that could expose information not yet public.

Urda crash becomes the central reference point

The Urda (Toledo) rail accident, which left 69 dead according to Europa Press, has become the reference point for the parties. Albiol spoke of 115 deaths in his remarks and said mourning them was not enough while money was allegedly diverted to other priorities of the Socialist party. Ignacio Garriga, secretary general of Vox and leader of the party in Catalonia, spoke in Figueres (Girona) on Friday, 6 November, and demanded criminal responsibility over the crash. He accused Pedro Sánchez of turning the Transport ministry into the operational base of PSOE corruption, saying it had been used to place party-linked people, award contracts to friends and collect commissions. Garriga also said the executive ignored warnings from train drivers about track maintenance and safety systems, and that Vox would not be satisfied with resignations alone.

Opposition attacks on maintenance and road safety

Albiol made his remarks in Viladecans (Barcelona) on 5 November, during a visit to the Can Palmer neighbourhood where he met residents alongside PP provincial president Manu Reyes. He said the Catalan motorways that stopped charging tolls some years ago were deteriorating, and accused the PSOE government of doing nothing on their upkeep. He warned that the lack of works could lead to serious accidents on the roads.

“Any day we could have a scare like the one we have had with the trains, on Catalonia's roads or motorways.”

Albiol's warning was directed at Catalonia in particular, which he said needed urgent maintenance measures. He also argued that the Socialist party had left Spain's infrastructure in a poor state, a claim he tied to the Adamuz and Urda accidents as cited in coverage of the campaign.

Feijóo's rail and road pledges

Alberto Núñez Feijóo intends to approve an urgent plan to restore reliability on Rodalies in Catalonia and on Cercanías elsewhere, according to La Vanguardia. The plan would start with the lines that concentrate the most breakdowns, delays and cancellations, and would renew tracks, trains and equipment with safety as the priority. The party programme closed on 5 November and is due to be presented in the coming days. Its road section gives priority to conserving the existing 26,500 km network. Feijóo's team cited Renfe data showing 400,000 fewer Rodalies passengers in September than in the same month a year earlier, and pointed to a fatal accident in Gelida in January when an embankment fell on a train.

Coalition limits and the 11 November strike

Aitor Esteban, president of the PNV, said his party will not back any majority that needs Vox, and questioned the government's spending on indiscriminate transport subsidies over many years. He also questioned the purchase of high-speed trains able to exceed 300 km/h and the appointment of Carlos Cuerpo to head the Transport ministry. Esteban argued that maintenance must come first.

“It seems terrible that we are even thinking about increasing speed on these sections, when there had even been talk of closing lines for a year.”

Garriga asked voters who had backed the PSOE, the PP, Comuns, Sumar and Aliança Catalana to support Vox in the 29 November election. He called the general strike planned for Wednesday, 11 November, political, accused the unions behind it of acting as government mouthpieces, and said Vox would cut their subsidies. He also set Figueres as the entry point for mass illegal immigration and drug trafficking, and proposed tighter road controls and more police at airports and sea borders.