Oscar Puente, the transport minister, said “a serious act of sabotage” had brought some trains to a halt. Service was resuming on Monday.

Cable theft along railway lines in Spain led to severe delays for the country's rail network this week. Spain's transport minister called the theft of the vital signaling cable "an act of serious sabotage.

Thousands of rail passengers in Spain were hit with delays after copper cables used in the signaling system of a high-speed line traveling south from Madrid to Seville were stolen at five locations, authorities said Monday.