The price of copper on the black market has skyrocketed, and, in turn, so have the thefts of this material, especially in railway infrastructure. In the last quarter, between September and November, 46 copper cable thefts have been recorded in Catalonia. One every two days on average.
The thefts are concentrated in the area of Barcelona, where the volume of this type of crime has multiplied by six compared to those recorded in the same period in 2022, according to data from the railway infrastructure manager (Adif). This has intensified a trend that has been on the rise since the beginning of the year, in the area around the capital, but also in Tarragona, where it has doubled. In Catalonia as a whole, 135 robberies have been recorded in January compared to the 70 that occurred in all of 2022.
The problem that lies behind each of these thefts is the consequences they entail. Each of these thefts blows up the railway signaling system, causing incidents that the long-suffering users of Rodalies end up suffering. The passage of trains through the signals, which is normally done automatically, must be authorized manually by the Traffic Control Center, with the corresponding increases in travel time and the accumulation of delays.
Copper theft had its peak a decade ago, in the worst years of the economic crisis, when it became a major problem, until it became a residual problem. Its resurgence has a direct relationship with the plummeting price, which has skyrocketed to over $9,000 per ton on the London Metal Exchange. In scrapyards that buy by turning a blind eye to the dubious origin of the material, up to 4 euros per kilo of copper are paid. This has encouraged thieves to go after a product that is increasingly scarce but in greater demand. In fact, specialists predict that the price of copper will continue to rise due to the current geopolitical situation.
Although during the previous boom in copper theft there flourished the profiles of organized groups, often family-owned, that raided railway facilities at night and literally ripped out the wiring, the phenomenon has changed. Now there are those who take advantage of the darkness, but they also have no qualms about acting in broad daylight, especially in areas furthest from the urban environment and surrounded by forest.
It is also no coincidence that the complaints presented only this year by Adif coincide with points of the railway network under construction. The bulk of the thefts are concentrated in the Castellbisbal area, where an important transformation associated with the Mediterranean corridor is being carried out. A few kilometers up, a few kilometers down, along the Vilafranca line, most of the robberies in the last month have been concentrated. The southern metropolitan police region is where the most thefts are occurring and where they have skyrocketed the most, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage.
Another hot spot is the Vallès Oriental area, where track duplication works for line R3 are being carried out. One of the last major blows took place there, last week in Figaró, which destroyed the fiber optic cables, leaving the interlockings of the section between this municipality and Puigcerdà unusable for a few hours. The section between Terrassa and Manresa, in which the ERTMS security system is being implemented, has also been one of the favorite points of looters of a metal that is once again coveted. At Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC), on the other hand, there are only nine thefts this year.
Some of the thefts of copper in points of large accumulation of material, which was also stored in places that were difficult to access, have raised suspicions of the possibility of a certain complicity with the personnel of the companies subcontracted to carry out these works. In fact, this is one of the lines of investigation with which the Mossos d'Esquadra works in some of the reported robberies.
At Adif and Renfe, at some point they have also assessed the possibility that some of the thefts could be attributable to sabotage. The cut in the cable done in a clearly professional manner invites us to think about it, although it is an accusation that today is only based on suspicions and for which there is no evidence.
Faced with the alarming increase in thefts, those responsible for the railway infrastructure – which affects Rodalies, but also freight trains and specifically the high-speed line – assure that they have reinforced surveillance patrols and collaboration with the Mossos de 'Esquadra, which in turn will change the way of facing the problem. Until now, the different investigations were in the hands of the regional units. Starting next year, the central assets area of the criminal investigation division will centralize investigations to have a cross-sectional view of what is happening and try to respond more effectively to practically daily incidents.
In fact, the growing problem does not only affect trains. The new copper thieves, in addition to destroying railway facilities and telephone wiring, are even attacking treatment plants. Last week, Agbar security officials met with Catalan police officers to ask for their help in dealing with the situation. This week, those responsible for Movistar will do so with the Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, in the face of the incessant theft of fiber optic cabling.
