Renfe president Álvaro Fernández Heredia previously served as a Más Madrid councillor in Madrid and as secretary-general for sustainable mobility at the Transport Ministry. His appointment is among the examples in a report identifying more than 30 people with political or union links across the boards and senior management of the country’s three main state-owned rail companies.
Renfe also operates regular Cercanías passenger services, listed by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility’s National Access Point. The company describes Cercanías as commuter transport for areas with intense, recurring travel demand. It says the service follows criteria including quality, efficiency, innovation and customer orientation.
The report argues that political-confidence profiles have gained ground against technical specialists. Fernández Heredia’s rapid rise under the PSOE-Sumar coalition has drawn criticism from opposition parties and from within Renfe, it says.
Renfe’s board also includes Ainhoa Morondo Quintano. She spent more than a decade at Irún town hall, serving as communications director from 2007 and as mayoral chief of staff from 2011 until December 2023. That year, Óscar Puente appointed her to lead the office of the secretary of state for transport and sustainable mobility. She later joined Renfe’s board.
Other board members identified include María José Gualdo Romero, the secretary of state for budgets, who worked with former Finance Minister María Jesús Montero in the Andalusian regional government. Alfonso Sahuquillo has links to the budget secretary’s office and previously held the organisation secretary post at the Socialist Youth. Beatriz Alcocer and Juan Antonio López are described as close to Puente. Eduard Gràcia Rodríguez is linked to Junts and the Assemblea Nacional Catalana (ANC).
Union representatives on the Renfe board include Raquel González Hernández of UGT and Mariano Sanz Lubeiro of CCOO. Diego Martín Fernández represents SEMAF (Sindicato Español de Maquinistas Ferroviarios). The report says no PSOE link is known in his case.
Several Renfe executives also have political backgrounds. Sergio Bueno Illescas, deputy director general for the presidency, strategy and institutional relations, was mayor of Santa Fe for 11 years and led the office of the secretary of state for relations with parliament. José Alfonso Gálvez, director general for business and operations, held senior posts under Puente when he was mayor of Valladolid. Ismael Bosch Blanco, a Renfe Viajeros board member, is a PSOE member and longstanding figure in Castilla y León. He served in the regional parliament and the party’s federal committee, and was Puente’s chief of staff at Valladolid city hall.
At Adif, the report describes changes under Puente as a gradual politicisation of the senior team. President Luis Pedro Marco de la Peña also leads Adif Alta Velocidad and has substantial rail-sector experience. He was also vice-councillor for infrastructure and transport in the Basque coalition government formed by the PNV and PSOE, serving under Iñaki Arriola and later Susana García Chueca.
Adif appointments highlighted in the report include Salvador Almenar, its communications and corporate reputation director, who worked as an adviser to Ximo Puig in Valencia and is described as close to Puente. Conchi Casillas became corporate director for people, strategy and security by Puente’s decision; she had stood on Socialist lists for Ávila’s provincial council and town hall. Ángel García de la Bandera, a former Valencia MP with ties to the PSPV-PSOE, was appointed director general for operations and management. Martín Navarro, deputy infrastructure coordinator, previously held the employment secretary role in the PSOE’s Valencia district executive and stood in the 2019 congressional election.
Adif’s board also has ministry officials Jesús Miguel Fumanal Orús and Domingo García Díez, who chairs its audit committee, as well as Transport Ministry adviser Sara Soto. Adif Alta Velocidad’s board includes María Isabel Vela Cuevas from the Finance Ministry and two Transport Ministry officials, Carlos María Juárez Colera and Tomás Herrero González. Its union representatives are Claudio Sanz Melón of FeSMC-UGT and Juan Manuel León Gallego of CCOO.
Puente has also faced political scrutiny over the Government’s backing after the Urda rail disaster, covered in this account of the political response.
