Death of trains in Spain, thousands of people remain trapped

He added that cable theft occurred in five countries, all within a few miles of each other on the high-speed line. On Monday morning, Puente said the train operations were “fully re-established”.

This break of travel comes a week after Spain and Portugal suffered a power cut, which similarly caused the ban on trains. The cause is still unknown.

The last two weeks -- what's going on?

More than 10,000 passengers were affected between Madrid, Seville, Malagas, Valencias and Granada, and at least 30 trains.

The break came after a long weekend in Madrid and ahead of the week-long Feria festival in Seville, which sees an influx of travellers into the city.

“Operations have now been completely restored after a very difficult night for travellers... and the staff, who had to react under extremely complex circumstances”, the transport minister said Monday morning.

The theft sites, he said, were in areas where it was accessed through forest tracks.

Railway services were gradually returning to normality, Spain's national railway manager Adif said on Monday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, the Spanish Interior Ministry said the country's civilian guard and police were in contact with Adif and other authorities to explain what happened and identify those responsible”.

The price of copper has increased significantly in recent years, and cable thefts from rail and telecommunication networks have increased significantly. /Periscope/