The new president of Adif, Joaquim Hortalà i Vallvé, takes charge of the administrator of railway infrastructures with an extensive career in the public Administration and family ties with prominent officials of Catalan politics and the current Executive. He is the son of Joan Hortalà, a historic leader of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), and he is married to Amparo López Senovilla, Secretary of State for Trade in the Ministry of Economy led by Carlos Cuerpo, who is also provisionally in charge of Transportes following the resignation of Óscar Puente.
His appointment, approved by the Council of Ministers last Friday, November 13, occurs amid the crisis of the Spanish railway system, after the accidents in Adamuz (Córdoba) and Urda (Toledo), which have led to a profound reshuffle at the top of the Ministry of Transport and of the main public companies in the sector. The changeover also comes two weeks before the general elections of November 29, so the new officials could carry out their functions during a transitional period until the formation of the next Government.
Hortalà replaces Luis Pedro Marco de la Peña, who submitted his resignation after the railway accident in Urda, while Inmaculada Gutiérrez Carrizo has taken over the presidency of Renfe in place of Álvaro Fernández Heredia. Both appointments respond to Carlos Cuerpo’s decision to draw on profiles from the Administration with experience in regulation and public management to tackle the situation in the sector.
Son of Joan Hortalà, former general secretary of ERC and advisor to Jordi Pujol
The new president of Adif comes from a family with a long political and institutional track record in Catalonia. His father, Joan Hortalà i Arau, was general secretary of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya between 1987 and 1989, in addition to being a member of the Parliament of Catalonia and an adviser on Industry and Energy to the Generalitat between 1984 and 1987, during the period when Jordi Pujol was in charge of the regional Government.
Joan Hortalà also developed an extensive career in the financial field. He chaired the Barcelona Stock Exchange between 1993 and 2020, becoming one of the most well-known figures in Catalan securities markets. Throughout his career, he also held various positions related to economic bodies and companies.
His son has developed a mainly technical career, linked to administrative law, economic regulation and competition. Joaquim Hortalà joined the State Lawyers Corps in 2004 and began his professional activity in Barcelona, where he remained until 2010, before joining the Ministry of Development.
In 2013 he took on responsibilities in the National Commission on Competition (CNC) and subsequently in the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC), where he was director of the Legal Advisory Office until 2017 and secretary of the Council until 2021. During this stage, he took part in matters related to the supervision of regulated markets, including the railway sector.
Subsequently, between 2022 and 2024, he was legal director of the Fund for Ordered Bank Restructuring (FROB). In April 2024 he moved to Renfe as the general secretary of the operator and of the boards of its investee companies, a position he held until July 2026.
His departure from Renfe occurred, according to sources familiar with the situation cited by El Debate, due to disagreements with the company’s then chairman, Álvaro Fernández Heredia. Now he returns to the forefront of the rail sector, but from the chairmanship of Adif, the public company responsible for managing infrastructure.
His wife is Secretary of State for Trade and is part of Carlos Cuerpo’s team
The ties of the new chairman of Adif also extend to the current Ministry of Economy. Hortalà is married to Amparo López Senovilla, a State attorney and Secretary of State for Trade since May 2024, when she was appointed at the proposal of Carlos Cuerpo.
López Senovilla joined the Ministry of Economy in June 2018, coinciding with Pedro Sánchez’s arrival at La Moncloa. Since then she has held different responsibilities, including the Undersecretariat of Economy, before taking up her current position as Secretary of State.
The coincidence of both of them in senior positions in the Administration now takes place within the scope of responsibility of Carlos Cuerpo, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Government and Minister of Economy, Trade and Business, who temporarily exercises the functions of Transport.
The Executive has bet on two technical profiles to lead Adif and Renfe, in a particularly delicate situation for the sector. Although Hortalà does not come from railway engineering, he has experience in the regulation and supervision of this activity, and also knows how Renfe operates from his time as secretary general.
His appointment, however, does not imply guaranteed continuity after the elections. The continuity of the new presidents will depend on the decisions adopted by the Government that is formed after 29N, although for now both have formally assumed their responsibilities.
CSIF questions the new president of Renfe over her previous management
The appointment of Inmaculada Gutiérrez Carrizo as president of Renfe has also generated union criticism. The new executive comes from Renfe Proyectos Internacionales, the subsidiary she led since July 2022 and which is in charge of managing railway initiatives outside Spain, including the high-speed project between Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia.
From the union CSIF they have questioned her management while heading this division and have denounced conflicts related to working conditions. Among the complaints collected are alleged problems in granting vacations, communications to employees during weekends, and pay changes that, according to the union, harmed part of the workforce.
The organization has also criticized salary reductions that it puts at 15% for certain managerial positions and 10% for other workers during the reorganization of activities linked to the Haramain project. These claims correspond to the union’s version and do not, by themselves, constitute proven breaches.
CSIF had already previously denounced problems with variable compensation at Renfe Proyectos Internacionales. In March 2026, the organization warned that the system used to calculate incentives could reduce, on average, by about 700 euros the income of certain employees, a situation that it attributed to staffing changes that affected compliance with economic targets.
The union considers that the changes in the presidencies of Renfe and Adif involve a "cosmetic renewal" and calls for a broader reorganization of the management teams. It has also been opposed to the operator’s plans to expand its activities related to road transport and has asked that a tender for between 700 and 800 buses be reviewed.
In the face of these criticisms, other sources in the sector highlight the technical track record and the administrative experience of Gutiérrez, who belongs to the State Corps of Senior Commercial Technicians and Economists. Before joining Renfe, he held responsibilities in bodies that defend competition and served as Spain’s economic and commercial counselor in the United States.
In short, the appointments of Hortalà and Gutiérrez take place at a particularly complex time for Spanish rail transport. Safety, the recovery of travellers’ confidence, relations with the unions and the management of infrastructure are among the main challenges facing the new managers, who take up their posts after a crisis that led to the departure of the Minister of Transport and of the previous chairpersons of the two main public rail companies.