The Parlament de Catalunya approved on Wednesday 15 April the single-reading procedure for a proposed bill tightening the sanctions regime against vandalism on railway infrastructure, with a particular focus on graffiti on rolling stock.
The initiative, tabled by the PSC parliamentary group, secured the backing of a broad cross-party majority — PSC, Junts, ERC, PPC, Vox and Aliança Catalana — while the CUP voted against and the Comuns abstained.
The bill amends the Catalan Railway Act 4/2006 and introduces a three-tier penalty structure: fines of up to €18,000 for minor infringements; between €18,001 and €90,000 for serious offences — a category that includes graffiti causing service disruption — and between €90,001 and €900,000 for the most severe violations, namely those affecting operational safety or causing significant damage to infrastructure.
These figures represent a threefold increase on the current maximum penalties. Spain’s national Railway Services Act (LSF) applies the same three-tier framework, with ceilings of €6,000, €60,000 and €600,000 respectively.
The parliamentary debate was overshadowed by doubts over the measure’s practical effectiveness. The Comuns warned that the proposed administrative fines would exceed the penalties set out in the Penal Code for equivalent offences, while ERC, despite supporting the bill, demanded that the sanctions regime be extended to Adif for failures to maintain the network. The Govern aims to bring the legislation into force before the summer recess.