BARCELONA, Spain — A partial collapse of a construction shaft wall at the Montcada railway burial project in Barcelona has opened a massive sinkhole that swallowed a large crane, forcing the indefinite suspension of rail services on the R2 and R11 lines and sparking significant concern among local residents.
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The incident occurred on Tuesday at 1:50 p.m. in the Vallbona neighborhood of the Nou Barris district, near the border with Montcada i Reixac. According to Adif, the state-owned railway infrastructure manager, the structural failure created a deep subsidence at street level that engulfed heavy machinery. While no personal injuries were reported, the collapse has severely compromised the stability of the construction site and the surrounding area.
The disruption has had a cascading effect on regional transit. Rail traffic between Montcada i Reixac and Sant Andreu has been completely halted, affecting commuters on the R2 and R2 Nord lines of the Rodalies network, as well as the R11 medium-distance trains traveling between Barcelona, Figueres, and Portbou. In response, Renfe has advised passengers to utilize alternative routes, such as taking the R4 line to Montcada-Manresa and walking to the Montcada i Reixac station to connect with the R2, or traveling to Granollers via the R2 line. Additionally, the R2 South line is experiencing delays of up to 25 minutes. Transport authorities have indicated that full service is not expected to resume until next week, following extensive stabilization work.
Emergency response teams have been working around the clock to secure the site. The Secretary of State for Transport, José Antonio Santano, confirmed that 24-hour foundation and stabilization work has begun. To prevent further structural damage, authorities have decided to leave the submerged crane in place and cement around it. The Barcelona Fire Department deployed five units and drone technology to assess the perimeter, establishing a daily monitoring protocol for the surrounding environment. Adif’s Deputy Director of Construction, Artur Pastor, emphasized that the collapse occurred strictly within the construction zone and not on the active railway tracks, though rigorous inspections of nearby buildings are ongoing.
The incident has generated profound uncertainty in the Vallbona neighborhood. Local officials, including Nou Barris Councilor Xavier Marcé, confirmed that authorities are closely monitoring residential buildings located within 40 to 50 meters of the sinkhole. While Marcé hypothesized that local groundwater from the nearby Besòs river basin may have contributed to the collapse, Secretary Santano urged the public to avoid speculation until a formal technical analysis is completed. To maintain transparency, Adif has established an information point at the local civic center to keep residents updated on the stabilization progress. Mayor Jaume Collboni and Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet also visited the site to assess the situation firsthand.
Rodalies: Un socavón en las obras de soterramiento en Montcada engulle una grúa y obliga a cortar 'sine die' la R2, la R2Nord y la R11 https://t.co/HJhJuBRkNA pic.twitter.com/GS2DAHlKdl
— Miguel Ángel Matute (@MatuteDuarte) July 23, 2026
Residents have expressed a mixture of fear and frustration. Some reported that police had briefly suggested the possibility of evacuations, heightening anxiety among those living in older buildings near the site. Commuters have also voiced their resignation over the chronic unreliability of the rail network, with many forced to drastically alter their daily routines and endure hours of unexpected delays.
This event marks the second major sinkhole to open in Barcelona in just two weeks due to construction activities. On July 7, an eight-meter-wide, four-meter-deep hole appeared in the Putxet neighborhood during tunnel boring for the L9 Metro line, forcing the evacuation of eight buildings and affecting 300 residents, many of whom have only recently been allowed to return home.
The recurring infrastructure failures have ignited political backlash. Salvador Vergés, spokesperson for the Junts party in the Catalan Parliament, attributed the Montcada sinkhole, the Putxet incident, and the recent gas explosion at the Sants metro station to chronic state disinvestment in infrastructure. He called for political accountability, arguing that these events are not isolated incidents of bad luck, but the direct result of years of neglected maintenance and underfunding.
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As stabilization efforts continue, authorities remain focused on securing the area and determining the precise engineering or environmental factors that led to the collapse.
