Three scandalous facts surrounding Angrois that give us reasons to politicize Adamuz

Some, especially from the left, are complaining these days about attempts to politicize the Adamuz train accident.

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What's new about this is that the left, which brutally politicized the Prestige oil spill in 2002, the Yak-42 crash in 2003, the March 11, 2004 attacks, the Metrovalencia train crash in 2006, the Valencia floods in 2024, and so many other events, is now saying that a train accident shouldn't be politicized simply because it might affect a left-wing government.

One thing is very clear: when there is a serious accident like this, it is logical to ask whether political responsibility can be assigned, especially at a time when we are experiencing a clear deterioration of our railway infrastructure. In fact, in Spain the number of railway accidents and derailments has increased considerably since 2018, precisely the year Pedro Sánchez came to power.

Of course, we citizens must be demanding and critical of our politicians, regardless of who is in power. I applied this principle on this blog in a case that affected me deeply, as it occurred in my region and precisely on the day I was in the city: the Angrois train accident in Santiago de Compostela in 2013, which I have been reporting on for years, while others had already lost interest. Ordinary citizens, not involved in politics, had to make their voices heard in the public sphere to demand Justice. If this is politicizing, then so be it.

As you may recall, in 2023 I already exposed here the tricks that were used to cover up the responsibility of the PSOE and the PP in that accident (since this is an independent website and does not receive subsidies from anyone). On June 20th of that year, I transcribed here the complaints of the victims' platform of that accident against the PSOE, the PP, and Podemos. I believe it is a good summary of what happened after the accident:

"In 2016, the EU concluded in its report that the government failed to comply with the obligation to investigate due to a lack of independence and for not analyzing the causes affecting Fomento, Renfe and Adif.

It speaks volumes about our institutions that this investigation has not yet been launched. Neither the PP nor the PSOE governments have done so, nor has the latter's coalition government with Podemos, despite initial support and subsequent silence.

One of the first journalists to report on the tragedy said that in Angrois everything was public: the train, the track, and even the driver. Everything public, except for political responsibility.

Mr. Blanco advertised that the new high-speed rail line had safety systems that would have prevented the tragedy. He changed the original project in haste, removing the safety system from the most dangerous section. And he boasted about having completed the project ahead of schedule.

Ms. Ana Pastor promised in Parliament an independent investigation and cooperation with the justice system. Several court orders pointed to the lack of cooperation from the Ministry of Public Works, Renfe (the Spanish national railway company), and Adif (the Spanish railway infrastructure manager). She pressured the EU to suppress the report that refuted the official version: that an independent investigation had been conducted, that the train driver was solely responsible, and that the accident did not involve a high-speed train. During her tenure, the ERTMS safety system was deactivated because it was causing delays, and a written warning from a chief train driver alerting to the danger was ignored.

Having read that statement from the victims, I would like to point out three shocking facts so that we realize what happened, simply because many have lost interest in that accident:

• The victims had to collect 267,000 signatures for the European Railway Agency to publish its report on the accident, since the Rajoy (PP) government pressured them not to publish it, because although that high-speed line had been inaugurated by a PSOE government without the necessary safety measures, it was a PP government that decided to continue operations without implementing those measures. Thanks to pressure from the victims, in July 2022 that European report came to light, pointing out that the official Spanish investigation of the Angrois accident was not independent and lacked "key elements". The European report sided with the victims, since on June 5, 2014 they had reported that "the Railway Accident Investigation Commission (CIAF) is not complying with European regulations (European Directive 2004/49/EC), as it is not independent."
• The ERTMS automatic braking system, which would have prevented the accident, was not activated on the Angrois section until ten years after that tragedy, at the end of August 2023. Ten long years to activate a system that would have prevented the deaths of 80 people and that was supposed to have been operational when the line opened.
• The victims of the Angrois train accident had to wait 11 years for a ruling that finally forced the insurance companies of Renfe and ADIF to pay them 25 million euros in compensation. Only the train driver and the former Director of Safety in Circulation at ADIF were criminally convicted. All the political figures responsible went unpunished, which is a shame.

It is sad to have to say this in 2026, but the Adamuz accident will also be investigated by the CIAF, which still depends on the Ministry of Transport (that is, on the PSOE-Sumar coalition government), so its report will also not be independent and may be subject to political pressure.

Likewise, the government we have today in Spain is headed by the same party, the PSOE, that was in power when the Angrois high-speed line was inaugurated by the then Minister of Public Works, the socialist José Blanco, just before leaving his post to claim the credit, without that line being covered with the measures that would have prevented the Angrois tragedy.

Bearing this in mind, I believe that the Adamuz accident must be politicized so that its victims do not suffer the same fate as the victims of the Angrois train crash: an ordeal involving political actors from various parties, more interested in their partisan interests than in achieving justice. I also believe that this politicization must be carried out by citizens, media and associations willing to see whoever is responsible held accountable, whether from this government or any future administration, regardless of their party affiliation, if what we experienced with the Angrois train crash is repeated.

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Photo: Elentir.