Thieves have stolen copper cables from Spain’s high-speed train network, causing disruptions in services, leaving thousands stranded and trapping passengers on trains overnight.
The theft specifically targeted line cables in four locations within a 6-mile stretch between Madrid and Seville. Transport Minister Oscar Puente described it as a “serious act of sabotage”.
Thousands of passengers were left waiting in Madrid‘s Atocha station on Sunday evening after the network was hit was delays.
Mexican tourist Alberto Valero and his family spent hours stranded at the station due to delays on the Madrid–Seville train line.
Valero said: “We’re here with tourists from everywhere – France, Portugal.
“Everyone is at a loss for what to do because of the total disarray.”
Train services on numerous lines of the high-speed network were suspended.
Nine trains were left stranded between stations, and many passengers were forced to spend the night onboard, as reported in interviews on Spain’s state broadcaster TVE.
On Monday morning, only a few trains left Madrid for Toledo, as services to cities further south, like Seville and Malaga, were still suspended, Spain’s railway infrastructure company ADIF said on X.
The train connecting Madrid and cities in the South was expected to resume service at around 9.30am on Monday, ADIF said.
The railway company said its staff were working to replace the stolen cables and reestablish the service.
The network links most major cities but is exposed to cable thefts as it runs through vast, empty countryside.
It comes after Spain and Portugal were plunged into blackout last Monday – affecting more than 55 million people and lasting more than half a day.
Spain’s Interior Ministry declared a national emergency and deployed 30,000 police to maintain order as both governments held emergency cabinet meetings.
In Madrid, emergency crews carried out 286 rescues to free people trapped in lifts, while passengers in Portugal were forced to flee darkened underground tunnels.
Traffic lights failed, mobile networks collapsed, and desperate residents queued outside shops, petrol stations and banks to grab supplies and cash.
Airports in Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona ground to a halt, with hundreds of flights delayed or cancelled, leaving tens of thousands of British tourists stranded.
Hundreds of passengers were also left trapped on trains.
Spain‘s transport minister said 11 trains remained stranded with passengers on board on Tuesday, nearly nine hours after the blackout.
At least five people are known to have lost their lives to various tragedies in the 24 hours of the blackout.
The blackout was dubbed the worst in European history – eclipsing the 2003 outage that hit 56 million people in Italy and Switzerland.
