Renfe fires one of the workers accused of sabotage

BarcelonaThe Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has confirmed this Wednesday in Congress the dismissal, by Renfe, of one of the Two workers accused of "boycotting" the departure of commuter trains during last month's strike. The second employee, whom the operator was also investigating for sabotage, has been, for the time being, investigated. "We'll see what happens with the case, if we gather enough evidence," Puente stated in his response to his appearance before Congress, in which he claimed that they "will not hesitate" to punish these actions.

On April 2, Renfe removed these two workers from the Commuter Train Management Center for allegedly giving "incorrect instructions" to the drivers, which caused around forty trains to not leave the Hospitalet de Llobregat station.

March was a dark month for the commuter rail network.: : In 18 of 31 days, incidents were recorded that paralyzed the service of several lines, from the fall of a catenary that caused Dozens of travelers will walk along the Bellvitge roads until a cable breaks which stopped the R3 for three hoursIn total, more than seventy problems were reported. In light of the constant breakdowns, Esquerra and Bildu requested an urgent appearance by the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, which took place this Wednesday in Congress.They lent their votes to the Republicans so they would have enough. But, far from self-criticism, the Socialist minister has boasted about the State's "record" investment in the commuter train system and its 1,000 trains to remedy the "historical deficit" in the Catalan network: Transport executed 607 million in investments in 2024, 50% of the 2020-2030 figure. With data from the first months of 2025 in hand, he expects to maintain or even exceed this investment rate.

But, when asked how many of the incidents are due to the "negligence or lack of investment" of Pedro Sánchez's government, Puente replied in his unashamed style: "Absolutely none." The entire opposition (including Sumar) has turned against him to avoid giving a clear answer as to when and how the State will act to guarantee a functioning service and to hide behind the works to justify some service alterations (for example, after the inauguration of the Berà tunnel or at the disconnection at Sants station). "Between January and March, there have only been 12 days of normal service," complained ERC MP Inés Granollers, who demanded urgent improvements to the service. From Junts, Isidre Gavín has called on Puente to make public the territorialized execution data to prove that more investment is being made.

March, a month that is "hardly surpassable"

Puente began his appearance by reviewing, one by one, the incidents that have left train users without services during the month of March, "a month of incidents that is difficult to surpass." However, he avoided taking responsibility, arguing that not all of them were due to the poor condition of the infrastructure, but also to accidents, conflicts with striking personnel, and breakdowns resulting from construction work.

In this regard, Puente placed special emphasis on vandalism, a problem "that is not the responsibility of the service provider" and which he asked the pro-independence parties, who complain of a lack of investment, to discuss more. Of all the stone-throwing incidents at trains across Spain, 60% occurred in Catalonia. "It's practically a Catalan phenomenon; stones aren't thrown at trains in other parts of Spain," Puente pointed out. Furthermore, one in five fraudulent uses of the alarm by graffiti artists to paint trains occurs in Catalonia, as does one in five cases of objects being placed on the track to obstruct it. "They're asking us for empathy, and we have it, but start empathizing with this problem and condemn these acts," he urged ERC and Junts.

Breakdown during appearance

However, Puente denied that the railway chaos was worsening and pointed out that, in the second half of March, incidents were down 10% compared to the first half. "The incidents are decreasing and the backlog is getting smaller," he added. While Puente was speaking, A new breakdown has left lines R1, R2, R2 North, R3, R4 and R7 out of service.. The strike lasted about fifteen minutes until Adif technicians were able to repair the incident.

Faithful to their strategy of wearing down the Spanish government, the PP and Vox have made it convenient to rub the latest scandals in the Ábalos case in Puente's face. PP deputy Nacho Martín Blanco has reproached the socialist party for not having made public the results of the "ghost audit" to clarify responsibilities in the medical supplies buying and selling scheme, while Vox deputy Carina Mejías has put her finger on the sore spot with José Luis Ábalos's mediation so that his loversAs one of them, Jessica, recognized): "How can trains work if we had ministers dedicated to placing friends?" he said.

Union rejection

Alferro and the Railway Union attacked Puente's statements, which they consider "irresponsible, damaging, and deeply dangerous." They assert that they are "totally false," that there is no record of any employee being dismissed, and that the disciplinary proceedings are still under investigation. "This is an early conviction and a violation of the fundamental right to the presumption of innocence," the two unions stated in a joint statement. Therefore, they demanded an immediate rectification from the Spanish government, as well as an end to "institutional hostilities" and the resignation of the management leaders of Renfe and Cercanías. They accuse them of having directly contributed to generating operational chaos during the strike.