Junts and ERC demand that the Generalitat take full control of Rodalies following the Urda (Toledo) accident, which resulted in 69 deaths, as the debate over regional management reopens.
According to eldebate.com, the train accident in Urda (Toledo), which left 69 dead, has become an argument for the independentist parties, who are calling for more powers for the Generalitat. Junts and ERC are seizing the railway crisis and the resignation of the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, to insist that Catalonia should take control of Rodalies.
The clearest voice comes from Míriam Nogueras, spokesperson for Junts in the Congress, who wants the transfer to go beyond a mixed company. According to her proposal, the Generalitat should take over the tracks, trains, stations, and, above all, the financial resources. In an interview on Catalunya Ràdio, she summarised it this way:
“Governance is better from proximity”
The president of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, has also used the minister's departure to advocate for the railway transfer. On his social media, he wrote:
“ERC has been working for a long time to ensure that all railway powers and tools are in the hands of Catalonia. I wish many more had joined us”
However, the proposal leaves a question in the air: whether transferring a competency to the Generalitat improves management. The precedents in education and health compel us to view that argument with caution.
In education, the Department of Education has acknowledged a failure in the PISA tests. The sample did not meet the OECD requirements, and 23.2% of the selected students were excluded, compared to the 5% maximum recommended. In total, 591 out of about 2,500 students did not take the test, and the department has opened disciplinary proceedings and dismissed the general secretary, Teresa Sambola.
The 2026 Education Yearbook from Equitat.org also warns of a decline in graduation rates in ESO, dropping from 93% in 2020 to 87% in 2024. The early school dropout rate stands at 13.5%.
In health, the most recent and comparable data from the Ministry of Health, corresponding to December 2025, places Catalonia among the regions with the longest surgical delays. Catalan patients wait an average of 142 days to enter the operating room.
For Rodalies users, for now, the demand remains in the political realm, with no published information specifying a timeline for the transfer.
Trending on the web
You may also like
