High-speed train line to Spain's Andalusia cut after power cable failure
Around 20 trains were blocked on the tracks or unable to depart on Monday evening, with approximately 10 more cancelled on Tuesday morning in Madrid and southern Spanish cities including Seville, where global leaders are attending a United Nations conference on development financing.
Traffic between the towns of Yeles and La Sagra, about 40 kilometres south of Madrid, was suspended at 8.30 pm (0630 GMT) when a catenary cable malfunctioned, a spokesperson for state-owned railway infrastructure operator ADIF said.
The cause of the malfunction was unknown, he said, and ADIF has since postponed the resumption of service four times.
In its latest statement, the company said trains between Madrid and Andalusian cities were cancelled until further notice.
ADIF called on regional emergency services to service and evacuate stranded passengers, some of whom spent hours stuck inside the trains as a blistering heatwave scorches the country.
The high-speed network has rapidly expanded in Spain as part of a government push to decarbonise public transportation.
The network connects almost all the country's big cities but is vulnerable to cable incidents as it crosses large swathes of scarcely populated areas.
A copper cable theft paralysed the same line for more than 12 hours in early May.
Three operators service the line, state-owned former monopoly Renfe, Ouigo, a unit of French state train operator SNCF, and Iryo, which is owned by a consortium including Italy's Trenitalia.
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Plus, tourists might not recognise the early signs of heat illness, or they may ignore them in the excitement of exploring a new place. All of this adds up to increased risk, especially in hot, humid destinations or during heat waves,' Dr Wood adds. Locals, on the other hand, are more likely to take sensible precautions. Bex Colwell, who lives in the part of Sicily that recorded Europe's highest ever temperature in 2022 (48.8C), told The Telegraph this week: 'Locals are shutting themselves away in dark houses during the days, with windows and shutters closed.' Behavioural considerations aside, people from northern Europe are inherently at greater risk of heat-related illnesses. 'People living in warm climates tend to acclimatise and not increase their body temperature and in turn their metabolic rate as much,' said Dr John Higgins of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) in an interview with Medical News Today. 'Likewise, people living in cool-freezing temperatures may get more of a response to heat exposure as they are not acclimatised to the heat as much. 'Body temperature and metabolic rate are integral components of this delicate dance, and for those who are resident in hotter climates year-round, it may be more likely for such countervailing feedback loops to be active and functioning,' Dr Higgins added. The solution? Norway, or autumn Some southern Europeans appear to be actively seeking cooler climates to swerve the summer heatwaves. The Scandinavian airline SAS says bookings from southern Europe to Norway have surged, with arrivals from Spain, Italy and France to Stavanger up 38 per cent year-on-year. In southern Norway, Kristiansand has seen a 52 per cent jump. 'For many, Scandinavia's cool climate is no longer a disadvantage,' said Thomas Thessen, chief analyst at SAS, in an interview with Norwegian newspaper VG. 'In fact, it's become a key reason to book a trip.' Poland's Baltic Coast has also experienced a spike in international visitors as temperatures rise in southern Europe. Along its Baltic Coast, branded hotels reported occupancy of 69.2 in 2024, up from 66.9 per cent in 2023. Others are pivoting away from the summer season entirely. Justin Francis of Responsible Travel told The Telegraph: 'In the past three years, we've seen an 86 per cent increase in enquiries for autumn holidays, a response to the shifting climate and fears of extreme weather.' Looking at broad booking patterns, however, most British holidaymakers haven't yet been put off from booking summers in the Med. In 2024 (following 2023's hottest ever year on the Continent), the UK ranked as the number one source market for tourism to Spain and in the top three for France, Greece, Turkey and Portugal. Proving, at least for now, that 'too hot for the human body to function properly', has not yet translated into 'too hot for a holiday.'
