The European Prosecutor's Office launches an operation with the UCO due to the Urda tragedy and demands documentation from Adif

The European Prosecutor's Office has launched this Friday a new anti-corruption operation due to the Urda railway tragedy.

According to sources from the EL MUNDO investigation, the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard is carrying out information requests in Adif, the Court of Accounts and the State Railway Safety Agency.

This new operation takes place after the opening of an investigation into a possible fraud that affects European funds intended for the renewal and improvement of security, signaling and communications systems on the high-speed train line between Madrid-Seville, on which the tragic accident occurred on October 28, near Urda (Toledo).

The European Prosecutor's Office has decided to open this investigation ex officio and, given the seriousness of the events, has ordered the UCO agents to appear this Friday at the aforementioned organizations so that they can claim the files without further delay, sources from this department indicate.

As EL MUNDO revealed, last March, the European Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation to determine the use of European funds intended for the maintenance of the section of track where the Adamuz (Córdoba) railway tragedy occurred, which caused the death of 46 people.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office is empowered to investigate crimes that affect the financial interests of the Union. However, the opening of ex officio procedures is something "exceptional", since in most cases the community body decides to initiate a procedure because it has previously received a complaint or complaint. The figures corroborate this point. Of the hundred verification processes initiated in 2025 (108 in total), the European Public Prosecutor's Office only acted ex officio on four occasions.