Why is copper theft on Spain's railways so common now and who's behind it?

Over the years, there have been many cases of criminals stealing copper cables from train lines in Spain in order to sell for scrap metal.

According to data from Spanish rail infrastructure manager Adif, 72 thefts were recorded in Spain in 2022, in 2023 the number climbed to 151, and in the first four months of 2024, 46 thefts had already been recorded.

The latest incident was on Sunday May 4th when part of the cable on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line was stolen, causing delays for 18 trains and affecting over 10,000 travellers on Sunday and Monday.

READ MORE: Spain opens probe after copper theft halts dozens of high-speed trains

Transport Minister Óscar Puente denounced the theft on his X account and called it an "act of serious sabotage”.

He later visited the site of the robbery and said that "there are two hypotheses" regarding what happened, "an economic one and one of causing harm", believing that "the most likely hypothesis is a deliberate attempt to cause harm on this tracks" given that the 150 metres of copper stolen are only worth around €1,000.

Nevertheless, copper theft can be a fairly lucrative business. Scrap metal from Spain is often transported to London, along with other products used in the production of basic goods, but it is also sold on the black market by criminal organisations.

According to Alicia García-Franco, secretary general of the Spanish Federation for Recovery and Recycling, thieves can get between €4 and €6 per kilo.

She explained to newspaper EL ESPAÑOL that “copper from overhead rail lines is a prized commodity because it has a higher purity”.

And why is the theft of this metal so damaging to Spain's rail network? Every metre of Spain's high-speed rail line has sensors, track circuits, and electronic systems that provide real-time information on the status of each section of the track, whether it's occupied, whether a switch is positioned correctly or if a train should stop or continue.

This data travels through buried cables and many of them are made from copper. When they are stolen, this flow of information is interrupted and the systems enter safety mode, reducing speed or halting trains completely.

Last year, Catalan police said that they were searching for Eastern European 'mafia' groups which could be responsible for several copper wire robberies.

"These are repeat offenders who have been committing these types of crimes for years because the sentences are so light; in most cases, they are accused of minor offences for which they don't even go to prison," the SAP-Fepol spokesperson stated at the time.

These criminal groups can sell copper to China for up to €10,000 per tonne. “China has a very high demand as a result of its industrial and technological development,” according to García-Franco.

The number of copper wire thefts on Catalonia's railway system alone is almost 1,000 since 2010, according to data provided by the Mossos d'Esquadra police force.

Catalonia is the region where the most of this type of larceny occurs. According to figures provided by the Ministry of Transport more than 50 percent of the thefts and vandalism in Spain happen in the northeastern region. It’s important to note however that these stats include robberies on trains and assaults, as well as copper thefts from tracks.

According to a former Adif worker in Barcelona who spoke to EL ESPAÑOL “These are well-planned operations; the thieves know exactly what they are doing”.

While it's a big problem for Catalonia and its regional network, it could be an even greater issue if it happens more often on Renfe’s high speed lines, causing more disruption and delays.

According to Transport Minister Óscar Puente, "whoever did it knew what they were doing because there were no cameras, and the financial gain is absolutely negligible compared to the enormous damage. I wouldn't call it theft, but rather sabotage".

It's not only in Spain where railway copper theft are occurring, as similar criminal acts are in fact delaying thousands of passengers across the continent and causing millions of euros worth of damage to rail infrastructure throughout Europe. It has been seen in Germany, France, Belgium.

German operated Deutsche Bahn says it sees around 450 cases of metal theft on its networks per year and French newspaper Le Monde reported that 40,000 SNCF trains were affected by copper wire theft in 2022.

Is there anything that can stop this happening?

Some of the ways that are used to prevent robberies on the networks include replacing copper with aluminium or fibre optics where possible, burying cables in reinforced manholes or sealed conduits to make them difficult to access, adding more sensors to detect robbers, as well as more video surveillance and drones.