Junts files criminal complaint against Renfe, Adif, and Roads Directorate
Junts per Catalunya filed a criminal complaint against Renfe, ADIF, and the Spanish Ministry of Transport’s General Directorate of Roads over the fatal train crash that killed a trainee driver and injured several others on January 20, 2026, in Gelida, elmon.cat reported. The legal action targets both state-run rail institutions and transport officials for alleged homicide by imprudence, injuries, and offenses against workers’ rights and risk catastròfic.
The crash occurred on the R4 commuter line when a passenger train collided with a precast concrete element from a retaining wall along the AP-7 highway. The structure collapsed directly onto the driver’s cabin, resulting in one fatality and leaving five passengers seriously injured. According to preliminary findings from the Railway Accident Investigation Commission (CIAF), water accumulation from heavy rainfall caused the wall to fail.
Legal filings and missed parliamentary deadlines
Lawyer Gonzalo Boye led the legal team that prepared the paperwork, submitting the criminal complaint on October 20. The filing followed a parliamentary mandate approved by the Catalan Parliament, which instructed the government to take legal action. After the executive branch allowed a four-month deadline to lapse without action, Junts pursued the case independently through the courts.
The legal action requests extensive investigative measures from the duty courts in Barcelona for referral to the Court of First Instance and Instruction Number 3 in Vilafranca del Penedès. The filing requests construction plans, title certificates for the pergolas and AP-7 walls, maintenance contracts active since 2021, and storm protocol records from both Adif and Renfe. The complaint also seeks the declaration as investigated parties of the technicians and those responsible in the security chain.
Political fallout and criticism of state infrastructure
During a press conference in Madrid, Míriam Nogueras blamed the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and the People’s Party (PP) for an unsustainable railway system, asserting that Spain has prioritized new lines over maintenance. Salvador Vergés, Junts’ spokesperson in the Catalan Parliament, detailed that the lawsuit also targets a potential catastrophe offense if judicial proceedings substantiate the necessary legal criteria.
The party’s parliamentary leader, Mònica Sales, directed criticism toward the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, accusing his administration of failing to defend regional interests against central authorities in Madrid. Sales argued that daily commuting on the Rodalies network has become an unpredictable lottery regarding safety and scheduling.
While the Ministry of Transport maintained that the collapsed structure had successfully passed recent routine and major safety inspections without flagging visible defects, the newly filed lawsuit counters that ground saturation was foreseeable and demanded proactive preventative measures.
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