Spain transport minister Óscar Puente steps down following fatal rail crash

Spain's Transport Minister Óscar Puente has stepped down from his post following a fatal high-speed rail disaster that claimed the lives of at least 69 people and left dozens more injured.

Puente shared his decision with lawmakers in Congress on Tuesday evening, concluding a tense parliamentary hearing regarding the October 28 crash near the town of Urda, situated south of Madrid. During the incident, an active passenger service crashed into the rear of another train that had stopped on the tracks.

Addressing lawmakers, Puente stated that a transport minister cannot stay in office after two major disasters take place within a single year. His comment referenced an earlier crash along the same line in January, which resulted in 46 deaths. In addition to relinquishing his ministerial portfolio, Puente announced he would remove his name from candidate lists for upcoming snap general elections scheduled for November 29.

The minister had faced sharp criticism and sustained calls to quit from the conservative People's Party, the far-right Vox, and several political allies of the governing coalition. Opponents argued that leadership needed to be held accountable for broader network safety issues, particularly after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez conceded that public confidence in the high-speed system had been broken. Puente had also drawn condemnation for earlier statements that seemed to point toward human error.

The collision involved a state-operated Renfe train carrying 397 passengers and an Iryo train carrying 147 passengers. All rail traffic on that section of the network had been interrupted by a computer malfunction affecting automatic signalling equipment.

Audio recordings subsequently disclosed by Spanish media captured exchanges between drivers and Madrid's rail traffic controllers in the moments preceding the impact. The material indicates that controllers granted the moving Renfe train permission to advance at regular speed under a manual backup signalling procedure, even while the disabled Iryo service was halted roughly 25 kilometres ahead.

In subsequent radio transmissions, the Iryo driver repeatedly advised controllers that their train could not restart because security systems had locked out controls, confirming that the train remained immobile directly in front of the entry signal at Urda before it was struck from behind.

The disaster marks one of modern Europe's deadliest rail incidents and the most severe on Spanish tracks since 2013, creating a profound political crisis for the Socialist administration ahead of the nationwide vote.