ZURICH, November 04 (AJP) -A train collision that killed 69 people has cost Spain’s transport minister Óscar Puente his cabinet post and election candidacy, deepening the political fallout from the disaster weeks before a national vote.
Puente resigned Tuesday after more than four hours of parliamentary questioning, reversing the government’s insistence only hours earlier that he would stay. He also withdrew from the governing Socialist party’s candidate list for the Nov. 29 election.
He also withdrew as a candidate for the governing Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) in the Nov. 29 election, saying he was stepping down out of “political dignity, coherence and empathy with the victims.”
The former mayor of Valladolid had been due to lead the party’s candidate list in the northern city. Spanish voters elect lawmakers through party lists.
His resignation followed days of pressure from opposition parties and some of the government’s parliamentary allies, as well as demonstrations in Madrid demanding his departure.
The collision occurred at about 8:53 a.m. on Oct. 28 near Urda, about 150 kilometers south of Madrid. A high-speed train operated by state-owned Renfe struck a stationary train run by Iryo, a private competitor on Spain’s high-speed routes. About 200 people were injured, according to A24.
Investigators have yet to establish the cause, but Puente’s testimony outlined a sequence of equipment failure and decisions by railway controllers that allowed one train to approach another standing on the same track.
He told lawmakers that an automatic train protection system known as LZB had failed, bringing all trains along a 63-kilometer stretch to a halt. The system monitors and controls train speeds.
Controllers at Adif, the state agency responsible for railway infrastructure, subsequently authorized the Renfe train to resume its journey. Puente called that decision “inexplicable” and said none of his own actions had directly contributed to the crash.
According to technology news site Xataka, the Renfe train received clearance at 8:36 a.m. and began moving at about 8:43 a.m., while the Iryo train remained stationary ahead.
Five minutes after the Renfe train began moving, the Iryo driver warned the control center that her train had not moved. Controllers did not instruct the approaching Renfe train to stop before the collision at about 8:53 a.m., according to that account.
Sánchez, who also leads the PSOE, publicly thanked Puente for his work. No successor had been named.
The disaster has intensified scrutiny of a railway network long regarded as a source of national pride. Spain has one of the world’s largest high-speed networks, connecting Madrid with most major cities.
The Urda collision was the country’s third fatal rail accident this year. A high-speed crash near Adamuz in southern Spain killed 46 people in January. A derailment near Gelida, outside Barcelona, killed a train driver and injured dozens that same month.
Together, the three accidents have claimed more than 100 lives. Two deadly high-speed collisions in less than a year have raised questions about the systems intended to keep trains apart and the procedures followed when those safeguards fail.
Investigators are expected to report on the Urda crash in the coming months. The government faces voters on Nov. 29.
AJP Takeaways
- Spain’s transport minister Óscar Puente resigned after an Oct. 28 train collision near Urda, south of Madrid, killed 69 people.
- Óscar Puente also withdrew as a Socialist Party candidate in Spain’s Nov. 29 general election, citing empathy with the victims.
- The Urda crash was Spain’s third fatal rail accident in 2026, after a January high-speed crash near Adamuz killed 46 people and a derailment near Gelida killed a train driver.
- Tags: Spain, Óscar Puente, Pedro Sánchez, Socialist Party, PSOE, Renfe, Iryo, Adif, LZB, train crash, Urda, Adamuz, Gelida, Valladolid, rail safety, general election
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