Spain's rail subsidies: millions spent, no works started

The waste of public funds on rail infrastructure is at the heart of the matter: European subsidies have been received since 2020 for train improvements, and the winning company, with prices far below what ADIF had budgeted, has still not begun the works.

There is a scene that repeats itself in many bars: someone says that Europe has poured a pile of millions into the railways, that the money has already been spent, and that nobody really knows on what. The radio said so. Since **2020**, according to that account, rail improvements have been subsidised with a considerable sum of millions. The problem is not a lack of money: the money is already committed and the works are not starting.

## A tender far below the estimate

For those rail improvements, a company won the tender with a bid far below what ADIF had calculated. The message describes it as "Chinese quality", an expression mixing low price with distrust. The fact is that the contract was awarded on that low bid and, to this day, the works have still not begun. There lies the crux: it has been paid, it has been awarded, and there is no construction in sight.

## The story of the bought vote

The political reading made of this is that governments promise aid to the most disadvantaged to win votes and that, once in power, they hand out money for the same purpose. After a while, the spending turns into a hole. It is an interpretation, not an accounting fact: the message provides no figures for that distribution nor any audits. What it does claim is that the citizen ends up worse off than before and that socialist voters themselves refuse to acknowledge the failure of the system.

## Saving just in case

The writer says that since **2019** they started saving because they saw the collapse coming. Their plan, if it arrives, is to buy houses at half of what they cost from those who need liquidity. They present it as a favour, not as taking advantage. It is a personal forecast, not a proven consequence of rail policy.

If you are going to make financial decisions based on this matter, consult a professional.