Spain’s transport minister resigns after deadly Urda train crash, saying he cannot stay after two disasters in a year
Spain’s transport minister, Óscar Puente, has resigned six days after a high-speed train collision near Urda killed 69 people, and has also withdrawn from the 29 November general election, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s campaign.
Spain’s transport minister, Óscar Puente, has resigned after last week’s deadly train crash near Urda, saying a minister in his position cannot remain in office after two railway disasters of such severity in less than a year. He also announced that he was withdrawing as a candidate from the early general election scheduled for 29 November.
Puente made the surprise announcement on Tuesday night at the end of a lengthy, tense hearing before lawmakers, after a caretaker parliamentary body had grilled him for around four hours. He had previously ruled out resigning on several occasions since the crash, and had pledged to work tirelessly to restore confidence in Spain’s high-speed rail network, the second largest in the world.
The crash happened on Wednesday 28 October, when a train operated by the state-owned company Renfe ploughed into the back of a stationary train belonging to the private operator Iryo outside the village of Urda, about 130 kilometres south of Madrid on the Madrid-Seville line. Sixty-nine people were killed and more than 200 were injured, making it one of the worst railway disasters in Europe this century.
Puente told lawmakers he had in fact decided to step down within minutes of learning about the tragedy, but had kept that decision to himself — telling only his family, and not even Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez — while the emergency response was under way. He said he stayed in post until preliminary investigations had begun and the first measures to compensate victims and improve rail safety had been put in place.
“A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot continue in office with two accidents of this severity in less than a year,” he said, referring also to a high-speed train derailment in January in Andalusia that killed 46 people. Together, the two disasters on the same line this year have claimed 115 lives.
Earlier on Tuesday, before announcing his resignation, Puente had laid out the government’s emergency aid package for victims and new safety measures. Spain’s cabinet approved a €30 million package for victims and their families, and services on the Madrid-Seville line will be reduced until the Railway Safety Agency reviews the line’s safety system and the government completes the delayed rollout of the European Rail Traffic Management System.
Under the new rules announced on Tuesday, drivers must slow to 40 km/h after a signalling failure so they can check the track for obstacles. Several trains had been automatically stopped last Wednesday after a signalling failure on the line, after which central controllers in Madrid took over, and investigators are still establishing the direct cause of the collision, with estimates of the impact speed ranging from about 100 to 200 km/h.
Puente, a 57-year-old lawyer and former mayor, took on the transport portfolio in November 2023, overseeing the expansion of Spain’s rail network and the rollout of investments supported in part by EU recovery funds. Reuters described him as one of Sánchez’s most loyal and high-profile ministers, but also one of his most combative and polarising voices, and his departure leaves the ruling Socialists fighting an election campaign without him.
The political timing is difficult for Sánchez. The early election on 29 November was already shaping up as a tough contest, with polls after the crash showing a slight drop in support for the ruling Socialists, who are trailing in opinion polls. Puente’s resignation, coming less than four weeks before polling day, removes a prominent campaigner and keeps the rail disasters at the centre of the campaign.
Puente’s resignation will only become effective once it is published in the official state gazette, and the exact timeline for that remains unclear. Sánchez thanked him and praised his service, saying he had put victims first and accepted political responsibility. What remains unresolved is the investigation itself — who, technically and operationally, bears responsibility for a collision on one of Europe’s busiest high-speed lines, and whether the safety reforms now promised will be enough to restore public confidence before voters go to the polls.
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