Rail officials have confirmed the high-speed AVE train line will not reach Malaga city in time for Semana Santa.

The president of Spain’s rail infrastructure company Adif, Pedro Marco de la Peña, announced on Monday that there are still no safety guarantees to restore services by the previous goal date of March 23.

He made the announcement during a visit to the damaged section of track in Alora, where crews are still working to stabilise the hillside that collapsed on February 4 during Storm Leonardo.

The news has come as a major setback for the tourism sector, which had been hoping the line would reopen before the busy Semana Santa (Holy Week) holiday period.

Businesses have already warned of heavy losses and say bookings have dropped by around 30% while travellers wait for certainty about transport to the Costa del Sol.

Walls must be demolished

According to Adif, a new technical inspection has revealed that the retaining walls next to the track are no longer safe enough to allow trains to pass.

Engineers say the structures must now be almost completely demolished, even though they had been inspected as recently as last December and showed no signs of damage or structural defects at the time.

Track damage discovered

Heavy machinery was later brought in to remove thousands of tonnes of soil that had buried the railway line. The rails were only uncovered last Friday, revealing further damage to the track itself.

Officials now say the affected rails will have to be completely replaced. Manufacturing the new track components could take five to six months, meaning a full repair may not be completed until the end of the year.

However, Adif hopes to restore limited high-speed services sooner. The current plan is to reopen the line by the last week of April using a single track.

If progress continues as expected, trains could return to running on both tracks by June. Even then, the system will operate without the usual track-changing equipment, which may cause minor delays but should not significantly affect travel times.

Passengers forced onto buses

For now, high-speed trains can only run as far as Antequera. State operator Renfe has introduced a temporary system where passengers transfer to buses between Antequera and Malaga’s María Zambrano station to bypass the damaged section near Alora.

Private rail operators Ouigo and Iryo have not been running services to Malaga since January 18, when an earlier incident near Adamuz first disrupted the line.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.