Spain's transport minister resigns after two deadly train crashes in one year
Editorial illustration — Press Pass USASpain's transport minister, Óscar Puente, announced his resignation on Tuesday night, six days after the high-speed train collision near Urda killed 69 people — the second deadly crash on the same Madrid–Seville line in less than a year.
Puente surprised lawmakers by quietly announcing he was stepping down at the end of a tense four-hour grilling by a caretaker parliamentary body, Reuters reported, in which most parties demanded he take responsibility for the two rail disasters, which have killed 115 people combined.
"A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot remain in office after two accidents of this seriousness in less than a year," Puente told lawmakers, according to Reuters. He said he had in fact already made his decision in the immediate aftermath of the crash in central Spain's Urda, telling only his family while keeping even Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in the dark.
On Wednesday, Sánchez said his deputy, Carlos Cuerpo — who is also Spain's economy minister — would provisionally run the Transport Ministry. "Cuerpo has shown in this legislature an enormous capacity for management and integrity," Sánchez said, Reuters reported.
Puente's resignation will only become effective once it is published in Spain's official state gazette. He also said he would not stand as a candidate in the general election scheduled for November 29.
The October 28 crash happened near the town of Urda, south of Madrid, when a Renfe high-speed train carrying 397 passengers ran into the back of a stopped Iryo train carrying 147 people on the line linking Madrid and Seville. Authorities said a computer communications failure had automatically stopped traffic, and the Renfe train was authorized to continue despite an active red signal — what Puente himself last week called an "erroneous decision."
It was the second fatal accident on that route this year. In January, two high-speed trains collided head-on near Adamuz, in Córdoba province, killing 46 people. The two disasters have shaken public confidence in a railway system long regarded as one of Spain's major achievements, and polls taken after last week's crash showed a slight drop in support for the ruling Socialists, who are fighting an election campaign without one of their most combative — and polarizing — voices.
Puente, 57, a lawyer and former mayor of Valladolid, took on the transport post in November 2023, overseeing the expansion of Spain's rail network and the rollout of investments supported in part by European Union recovery funds, Reuters reported. The government announced on Tuesday a €30 million aid package for the victims of the Urda crash and their families.
Sources: Reuters, "Spain's Sanchez reshuffles cabinet after transport minister quits over train crashes" (Nov. 4, 2026); Reuters, "Spain's transport minister says he will resign after latest deadly train crash" (Nov. 3, 2026); CNN, "Spanish transport minister resigns after two deadly train crashes in one year" (Nov. 3, 2026).
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