Metro tragedy exposed.
La curva de Jesús: New videopodcast episode uncovers Valencia metro tragedy's official silence.
A new videopodcast series is taking a deep look at one of Spain's deadliest transport disasters. Levante-EMV has launched 'Bajo Tierra: el accidente del metro de Valencia,' with its first episode titled 'La curva de Jesús.' It reconstructs how, on July 3, 2006, a metro train derailed in Valencia and killed 43 people, injuring 47 more.
The train entered the Jesús curve at 80 km/h — double the 40 km/h speed limit. But the podcast argues this was not just a driver's mistake. It shows how authorities built what it calls a 'strategy of silence' from the very first minutes, while victims were still fighting to survive underground.
A Curve That Should Have Had Brakes
Line 1 was the oldest and most neglected metro line in Valencia. Newer lines had Automatic Train Protection (ATP) — a system that automatically slows a train if it goes too fast. The Jesús curve did not have this. It only had an older, poorly programmed system called FAP. Experts say a safety beacon that could have stopped the train would have cost between €3,000 and €5,000.
Union warnings about safety problems on Line 1 had been raised between 2002 and 2005. The windows on the EMU 3700 series trains were also improperly glued. When the train derailed, passengers were thrown out and crushed. This, investigators later found, was a key reason so many died. According to Levante-EMV, the series uses 3D reconstructions of the crash to make this clear.
Government Hired PR Firm to Shape Official Story
Within days of the crash, the regional government of Francisco Camps moved to control the narrative. A parliamentary inquiry opened on July 17, 2006 — and lasted just four days. It concluded the driver was solely responsible. But that was not the whole story.
In 2013, the TV program Salvados revealed that FGV — the company that runs the metro — had hired a PR consulting firm called H&M Sanchis. The firm gave workers a document with 100 possible questions and pre-approved answers, so they would not admit any technical failure before the commission. Former Vice President Juan Cotino was also accused of visiting victims' families to offer jobs and benefits in exchange for staying out of legal proceedings.
13 Years Before Any Accountability in Court
The first judicial case closed in December 2007. A judge ruled there was no criminal responsibility beyond the deceased driver. The case was only reopened in January 2014, after the Salvados broadcast brought new evidence to light. By then, victims' families had been protesting on the 3rd of every month for years, in Valencia's Plaza de la Virgen, demanding truth and justice.
The trial finally ended on January 27, 2020 — 13 years, 6 months, and 24 days after the crash. Four former FGV executives admitted to crimes including negligent homicide. They were sentenced to 22 months in prison, later suspended. According to RTVE, the plea deal was seen by many victims as a bitterly partial victory.
A Podcast as an Act of Journalistic Reparation
The 'Bajo Tierra' series uses archival audio, 3D reconstructions, and new interviews to tell the full story. Producer Álvaro Mohorte says the goal is to 'reconstruct the human truth' that was buried under political spin. Levante-EMV frames the project as a form of journalistic reparation for a tragedy that was minimized from day one.
The political fallout from the crash was slow but lasting. The PP's handling of the accident is widely seen as one reason it lost its absolute majority in Valencia in 2015. The new government opened a second inquiry that concluded the accident was 'predictable and preventable.' Valencia also passed Spain's first Valencian Railway Safety Law, creating an independent agency to keep politics out of accident investigations.
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