Key facts
- Puente said on resigning that neither the country nor he could bear 100 deaths in less than a year.
- Sixty-nine people died when a Renfe train hit a stationary Iryo train near Urda on October 28.
- Forty-six people died when an Iryo train derailed near Adamuz on January 18 and was struck by a Renfe train.
- Sánchez said public trust in the high-speed system has been broken.
- Vox urged the supreme court to investigate Puente on suspicion of manslaughter through gross negligence; Puente rejected mismanagement claims.
- Feijóo's People's party is expected to finish first in the election, which is less than a month away.
Spain's transport minister, Óscar Puente, resigned on the evening of November 3, 2026, saying that neither the country nor he could bear 100 deaths in less than a year, after two deadly train crashes in nine months.
The most recent crash occurred at 8.53am on October 28, when a high-speed train operated by state-owned Renfe struck the back of a stationary train run by private operator Iryo on the outskirts of Urda in Castilla-La Mancha. Sixty-nine people died and more than 100 were injured. On January 18, an Iryo train on the same Madrid to Seville line derailed near the Andalucian town of Adamuz and was struck by a Renfe train coming from the opposite direction; 46 people died.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said public trust in the high-speed system has been broken. With a snap general election less than a month away, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the conservative People's party, accused the Sánchez administration of failing to keep Spaniards safe and of trying to use the latest crash for political ends. Vox accused the government of "killing" the crash victims and urged the supreme court to investigate Puente on suspicion of manslaughter and causing bodily harm through gross negligence. Puente rejected allegations of mismanagement and insisted Spain's railway system is "safe and reliable".
Among the survivors was Austin Hartman, a Cal Poly State University student studying in Madrid, who was pulled from the wreckage by fellow passenger Josimar Medina. His family said he was being treated in a Spanish hospital for multiple fractures and was unlikely to be well enough to return home for at least two months.