Renfe's Ordeals
During the early Middle Ages, the ordeal was a legal institution by which disputes were settled through divine judgment. To this end, God was invoked to rule on a particular issue, and this was done through rituals to which the person accused of having sinned or broken human or divine laws had to submit. These rituals usually consisted of tests that allowed the court to determine God's opinion on the dispute in question. One of the most common tests consisted of forcing the accused to place their hands in a fire, or to hold a red-hot iron in their hands. If they did not burn, or the burns did not cause serious injuries or death, the court considered that divinity had sided with that person, and that they were free of guilt even before humankind. This seems to be the origin of common colloquial expressions such as "to put one's hand in the fire for someone," or "to cling to a red-hot iron or nail." Another classic ordeal consisted of immersing the accused in water for a long time: if they didn't drown, or didn't emerge crippled, it meant that God had declared them innocent. Since the jurists of the time had to admit that ordeals were based on magical approaches, from the 12th century onwards, with the adoption of Roman law, they evolved towards more rational means of proof: thus, torture was instituted, in which the tribunal of the Holy Inquisition excelled.
Thus, we can say that commuter train users suffer a real ordeal. Taking Renfe trains with the expectation of arriving at work (or wherever) on time has long since become an act of faith bordering on magical thinking, trusting that the train on this or that line will arrive at your destination on time, or even that it will arrive at whatever time it is, like a red-hot iron because there is simply no other alternative.
On the other hand, many users would like to subject those responsible for this situation to a trial by ordeal, to see if God would absolve them of guilt or make them burn in the flames of guilt. Aside from the terrible service provided by Renfe—another state structure that seems to have gone directly from dictatorship to democracy with only superficial facelifts—the unrepentant disinvestment by Spanish governments over the decades (repeatedly denied by both the Popular Party and the PSOE, with the same obstinacy as among the Catalan parties) is a sufficiently eloquent example), which means that what should be resolved with money, good technicians, and good management teams becomes a kind of curse. This Monday, a new clause was added: strike call-off which has led to a new mess: the right to strike is inalienable and non-negotiable, but the right to a covert strike does not exist.