Spain's Transport Minister resigns after the Toledo disaster that claimed 69 lives

Resignation after parliamentary hearings

Spain's Transport Minister Óscar Puente announced his resignation on the evening of November 3 in Madrid, speaking before a parliamentary committee, Kun.uz reports, citing DW. The resignation was announced almost a week after the railway disaster. 'A minister cannot remain in office after two disasters of such magnitude in less than a year,' Puente said, explaining his decision by matters of political honor and responsibility.

An unexpected step amid opposition pressure

According to the dpa agency, which the publication cites, all opposition parties had demanded the minister's resignation, but the decision came as a surprise: both Puente himself and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had previously rejected the possibility of his departure several times. Just hours before the minister's announcement, the Spanish government approved measures to improve railway safety, as well as a aid package for the injured and the families of the victims worth 30 million euros.

Circumstances of the disaster

The crash occurred on October 28 at 08:53 near the town of Urda in the province of Toledo on the Madrid–Seville high-speed line. Passenger train AVE 2080 crashed into the last carriage of the Irún 6076 train standing on the tracks; 69 people were killed and more than 50 were injured. The investigation into Urda is examining, among other things, the possible failure of part of the automatic train protection system and probable errors in instructions from the dispatch center. According to the publication, since the beginning of 2026, seven railway disasters with injured passengers have been recorded in Spain: on January 18, two trains collided on the Madrid–Málaga high-speed line near Adamuz, killing 46 people and injuring about 150; damage to the railway tracks is being considered as one of the possible causes of that accident.