Óscar Puente points out that 50% of railway incidents occur in Catalonia and points to the Generalitat

He claims that Catalonia’s infrastructure “has been abandoned for a long time”

Aug. 29 () –

The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, has pointed out that 50% of all incidents unrelated to infrastructure that occur in Spain occur in Catalonia, pointing to the Generalitat as it has the authority to deal with security.

The minister made this statement in an appearance before Congress and in response to criticism from Junts, which has attacked the Government for what it considers to be “mistreatment” of the investments that Catalonia receives.

In his response, the minister explained that Catalonia has 25% of the country’s commuter train network, but that 50% of the incidents occur there, something he attributes to a problem with security, which is the responsibility of the Mossos d’Esquadra.

“Stones are thrown at trains in no part of Spain, except in Catalonia. We will have to do some educational work in this regard. Last weekend, a person was injured on board a train due to a stone throwing. The same thing happens with the cutting of overhead lines. Is Adif to blame for the fact that 40 metres of overhead lines were cut, for the fact that so many overhead line thefts occur in Catalonia? Who is responsible for security in Catalonia?” he asked.

INVESTMENT DEFICIT

Regarding the investment deficit that Junts has denounced in Catalonia, citing a report that estimates that 17% of the investment in commuter trains was destined for Catalonia between 1990 and 2018 compared to 48% in Madrid, Puente has acknowledged that the infrastructure in Catalonia “has been abandoned for a long time”, but has said that since 2018 his Government has been “fixing the problem”.

“The autonomous community to which this Ministry allocates the most investments is Catalonia, and the second is Andalusia. And it is not by whim, it is because they need it,” he argued.

Puente has argued that last year 940 million euros were invested in this area in Catalonia, growing from 860 million in 2022 and 637 million in 2021, while this year, with 400 million between January and May, the figure for last year is expected to be exceeded.