The European Public Prosecutor's Office investigates a possible fraud in high-speed works after the Urda accident
The investigation affects the Madrid-Seville line and puts the use of European funds in the crosshairs
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BarcelonaLast March it already did so with the Adamuz accident, and now it returns. The European Public Prosecutor's Office has opened another investigation, the second one, to clarify possible fraud in the money allocated for the maintenance of the Madrid-Seville high-speed line, which has accumulated two accidents in less than a year: in January in Adamuz, with 46 fatalities, and less than ten days ago in Urda, with 69 deaths.
Specifically, the European Public Prosecutor's Office –which is the body that ensures, among other things, the proper use of European funds– is investigating whether the Union's money allocated for the renovation of this line (both tracks and maintenance, signaling, and communication systems) has been used correctly.
The investigation, which has been opened on the European body's own initiative, has the support of the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard. The actions are currently focused on the headquarters of the infrastructure manager (Adif), the State Railway Safety Agency (Aesf), and the Spanish Court of Auditors.
The Public Prosecutor's Office explains that this "exceptional" confirmation comes after the high public interest the case has generated, and stresses that it will not provide any further details at this stage of the investigation.
Two accidents in less than a year
This is the second time that the European Public Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation in Spain for this same reason. The first was in March of this same year, just after the Adamuz accident. At that time, several media outlets pointed out that the inquiries were attempting to determine if there had been a crime of embezzlement and fraud of European aid. It was also pointed to a possible mismanagement of the more than 100 million euros coming from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) destined for the works to remodel the Madrid-Seville line, the oldest high-speed line in Spain.
At that moment, the Ministry of Transport indicated that the Public Prosecutor's Office always intervenes in cases where European public money is involved, and that it was "no novelty" that it was doing so now, pointed out the then still minister Óscar Puente.
