The new probe focuses specifically on EU funding tranches allocated to overhaul signalling, communications and emergency safety mechanisms along the Madrid–Seville line.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has launched a second criminal investigation into suspected fraud involving European Union funds earmarked for the modernisation and safety systems of Spain’s Madrid–Seville high-speed rail corridor.
The fresh inquiry follows the deadly October 28 rail collision near Urda in Toledo province, central Spain, which killed 69 people and injured about 180 more, intensifying scrutiny of the state rail manager Railway Infrastructure Administrator (Adif) and the Spanish transport ministry.
As part of the proceedings, delegated European prosecutors and specialist officers from the Civil Guard’s Central Operational Unit (UCO) carried out searches at the Madrid headquarters of Adif, the State Railway Safety Agency (AESF) and Spain’s Court of Auditors (Tribunal de Cuentas).
The EPPO said it had opened the case on its own initiative.
The new probe focuses specifically on EU funding tranches allocated to overhaul signalling, communications and emergency safety mechanisms along the Madrid–Seville line.
While judicial authorities note that fraud inquiries run on a separate legal track from forensic technical inquiries into crash causality, investigators are examining whether diverted funds compromised infrastructure upgrades or led to substandard work on key safety infrastructure.
The development comes just months after the EPPO launched an initial probe on March 20 into maintenance funds for the same high-speed link, following a separate derailment on January 18 near Adamuz in Córdoba province, Andalusia, that claimed 46 lives.
In that earlier case, prosecutors focused on a stretch of track near kilometre 318.7.
Beyond the high-profile deadly accidents, chronic disruptions and severe delays have plagued Spain’s rail network, sparking commuter outrage.
The twin European inquiries add mounting international pressure on Madrid’s rail management.
European scrutiny has deepened as Brussels reviews EU funding for Spanish rail safety drawn from cohesion packages and post-pandemic recovery funds, coinciding with domestic anti-corruption raids that saw former transport minister José Luis Ábalos and senior procurement officials placed under active investigation for rigged public infrastructure tenders.
The EPPO said: “No further details will be made public at this stage.”