Spain's Sanchez reshuffles cabinet as transport minister quits over deadly train crashes
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has put his deputy Carlos Cuerpo provisionally in charge of the Transport Ministry after Oscar Puente resigned over two high-speed train crashes this year that killed 115 people combined.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has reshuffled his cabinet after Transport Minister Oscar Puente resigned over two deadly high-speed train crashes this year, handing the ministry provisionally to his deputy, Carlos Cuerpo.
Sanchez announced the change on Wednesday, 4 November, saying Cuerpo, who also serves as economy minister, would run the Transport Ministry on an interim basis. He praised Cuerpo's record in the current legislature, describing his capacity for management and integrity in glowing terms.
Puente surprised lawmakers by announcing late on Tuesday night that he was stepping down. The announcement followed a tense four-hour questioning session before a caretaker parliamentary body, during which most parties demanded that he accept responsibility for the two rail disasters.
The 57-year-old minister said he had in fact already made his decision in the immediate aftermath of the second crash, at Urda in central Spain, telling only his family at the time and keeping even Sanchez unaware of his intention.
Sanchez, in a brief televised address, praised Puente for what he called his political dignity, saying the resignation would help the country regain confidence in its rail system after a traumatic period for passengers and railway workers alike.
The timing is awkward for the governing Socialists. Puente's departure comes six days after this year's second major rail accident and removes one of the party's most combative, if also most polarising, voices just weeks before voters go to the polls.
Puente, a lawyer and former mayor, had held the transport portfolio since November 2023. During his tenure he oversaw the expansion of Spain's rail network and the rollout of investment supported in part by European Union recovery funds.
His resignation will only take formal effect once it is published in the official state gazette. Puente has also said he will not stand as a candidate in the election scheduled for 29 November.
The two crashes that prompted his departure killed 115 people between them, according to the reporting of the resignation, and have placed rail safety, maintenance and political accountability at the centre of the election campaign.
What happens next now rests with Cuerpo, who must steady the ministry in the short term while the government faces continued scrutiny over what went wrong on the railways. The opposition is expected to keep pressing for fuller answers, while the Socialists will have to fight the campaign without one of their best-known ministers.
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