At a pre-campaign event in Guadalajara, Santiago Abascal urged Vox supporters not to take opinion polls for granted. He described his party’s offer as a far-reaching but orderly change and accused the Government of damaging social cohesion.
His sharpest claims concerned Adif. Abascal accused the rail infrastructure body’s senior management of spending money on relatives, kickbacks, appointments and bonuses. He questioned whether its purpose had been to undermine high-speed rail or cause the deaths of more than 100 Spaniards. Those were allegations made in his speech, separate from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds.
On 6 November, the EPPO opened an investigation into possible fraud involving European funding for the Madrid-Seville high-speed line, following the 28 October collision near Urda, Toledo. The inquiry covers funds for track maintenance and upgrades to safety, signalling and communications systems, including projects financed through NextGeneration EU and the European Regional Development Fund. The Guardia Civil’s Central Operative Unit supported evidence-gathering. Investigators sought documentation from Adif, the State Railway Safety Agency and Spain’s Court of Auditors. The EPPO said it launched the investigation on its own initiative; it has not announced that funds were misused, identified suspects or established a link between any financial irregularity and the crash.
The Urda case is the second EPPO inquiry connected with the line in 2026. The first opened in March after the Adamuz accident in Córdoba, where 46 people died on 18 January. The Urda collision killed 69, bringing reported deaths in the two separate incidents on the Madrid-Seville corridor to 115. The Adamuz technical investigation remained open after the Urda crash, examining whether existing inspection practices could detect rail breaks or infrastructure defects that might otherwise go unnoticed. Spain also requested technical assistance from the European Union Agency for Railways for the Urda investigation. The investigation is being conducted nationally by the Independent Administrative Authority for the Technical Investigation of Railway, Maritime and Civil Aviation Accidents and Incidents.
Abascal called for senior figures in what he described as a criminal mafia to face trial. He said they should be imprisoned only if judges decided it was warranted. He also attacked Pedro Sánchez personally, describing the Government’s eight years in office as a dark period.
On policy, Abascal rejected what he called claims that Vox would cut pensions. He said the minimum vital income should go to Spanish nationals and argued that people entering Spain illegally should leave. He named national priority and deregulation as campaign themes, alongside remigration.
He criticised the Health Ministry’s campaign telling migrants without legal residence that they could receive care in the public health system while their cases were processed. Abascal claimed public healthcare was overwhelmed, with unacceptable waiting lists. He said people died while waiting for appointments or surgery.
Abascal also criticised socialist supporters who chanted the name of former transport minister Óscar Puente at an event in València. He said the crowd had not chanted the names of victims of Adamuz, Urda, the dana or the blackout.
