The Spanish government approves €20 million in compensation for the victims of Adamuz and Gelida

MadridThe Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has announced a new decree law to expedite the payment of compensation to victims of railway accidents following the accidents in Adamuz and GelidaAt the press conference following the Council of Ministers meeting, he assured that the families of the deceased and the injured must have immediate access to the necessary financial support. In this regard, he announced a plan of up to 20 million euros for the tragedies in Andalusia, with 45 deaths, and Catalonia, with 1 death. He explained that under the new regulations, the families of a fatality would immediately receive 72,000 euros as a non-refundable grant from the State, another 72,000 euros as an advance on civil liability insurance, and subsequently another 72,000 euros as an advance. In other words, according to Puente, within three months, the families of fatalities could receive up to 210,000 euros. "We will not allow a repeat of what happened in Angrois; they will not have to wait ten years to receive compensation," he said regarding the 2013 Galician train tragedy. The minister boasted of his "transparency" and "facing the music," contrasting it precisely with the government's actions. "I'm not hiding away; I'm facing the music," he declared, alluding to the role of the Valencian president, Carlos Mazón, during the DANA storm. "This minister is the best guarantee for the victims to know the truth," he asserted. However, he declined to comment on the progress of the investigation being led by the Railway Accident Investigation Commission (CIAF). after focusing on welding the tracks of the Adamuz section

Puente downplayed the fact that there were both new and old sections of track, and also expressed reluctance to allow the president of the CIAF (Railway Accident Investigation Commission), Ignacio Barrón, to publicly comment on the progress of the investigation. "Then it forces me to enter into the public debate on matters where we shouldn't be," he said, adding that "the non-renewal of some sections of track is irrelevant to the accident in question. There's nothing unusual about welding rails from different eras together." The minister's statements come just after Barrón on Monday He stated that his investigation focused precisely on the weld failure and also questioned Adif's decision to renew the Andalusian high-speed rail line in sections rather than completely.

The Barcelona-Madrid section

Despite the accidents, the minister defended the Spanish rail system as "one of the safest in Europe" and downplayed the speed restrictions currently in place on several sections of the high-speed line. One of the most affected routes is the Barcelona-Madrid line, which on Tuesday experienced delays of up to an hour. In this regard, he took the opportunity to remind everyone that the Ministry of Transport will bring forward by a year the renovation of this high-speed line, which was originally scheduled to begin in 2027. Work will start this year on the Madrid-Calatayud (Zaragoza) section, the area with the most complaints. "Most train drivers are reporting problems related to comfort. We don't want to wait for the track to deteriorate further, so we've decided to bring forward its complete renovation to 2026," he explained, while also reaffirming the commitment to increasing the speed to 350 kilometers per hour once the work is finished. He wanted to emphasize, in this regard, that speed had nothing to do with the Adamuz accident.