Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente resigns after train crash

Sixty-nine people died when two high-speed passenger trains collided near Urda close to Toledo on October 28, 2026, marking Spain’s second major rail disaster in less than a year after an earlier crash at Adamuz that claimed 49 lives.

Oscar Puente Steps Down After Parliamentary Scrutiny

Transport and Sustainable Mobility Minister Oscar Puente announced his resignation at the end of a parliamentary session following intense political pressure and public protests outside the Ministry of Transport building in Madrid. Puente stated in his address that a transport minister cannot remain in office after two such serious accidents occur within a period of less than twelve months. Puente also confirmed he will not run as the lead candidate for the Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) in Valladolid during the upcoming early general elections scheduled for November 29.

Casualties and Passenger Demographics Confirmed

The collision on the Madrid-Sevilla line involved two high-speed trains carrying a total of 544 passengers. Authorities have completed the identification process for the 69 deceased victims, establishing that 54 were Spanish citizens and 15 were foreign nationals. Among the foreign nationals, victims included four Americans, one Argentine, one Canadian, one Czech, one Frenchman, one Japanese, one Mexican, one Portuguese, and one Tunisian. Hospital treatment continues for 31 injured survivors, with 13 remaining in intensive care units.

Government Emergency Funding and Revised Train Safety Protocols

During the weekly Cabinet meeting, the Spanish government announced an allocation of 30 milyon avroluk bütçe to compensate the victims and the families of the 69 deceased, providing 72 bin 121’er avro to each grieving family and ranging from 2 bin 400 ila 84 bin 141 avro for the injured. The administration unveiled a containment package to reduce the frequency of Madrid-Sevilla runs temporarily without cutting seat capacity, introduce dual-verification procedures at control centers, and implement automated software alerts, electronic logs, and enhanced visual ergonomics for track conditions.

Rail Accidents Impact Governing Party Standing in Polls

The succession of fatal rail accidents has heavily impacted the governing party’s standing ahead of the November 29 ballot, with an October survey by Sigma Dos projecting the ruling PSOE to drop to 24.6 percent of the vote and lose approximately 450 bin ballots. The opposition People’s Party (PP) leads the polling at 31.1 percent, while the far-right Vox party surges to 19.3 percent, raising expectations of a potential right-wing coalition holding 200 of the 350 seats in Parliament. Meanwhile, trade unions representing workers at the rail infrastructure manager Adif rejected government measures as insufficient and agreed to initiate a railway sector strike on November 17.

More on this story: Spain High-Speed Train Collision Leaves at Least 68 Dead Due to Control System Failure