Spain's Transport Minister Says He Will Resign After Deadly Train Crash
Spain's Transport Minister Óscar Puente said on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, that he would resign from the post, without specifying when he would leave it. Reuters He announced the decision in Congress, Spain's national parliament, six days after a high-speed train collision near Urda, south of Madrid.
That collision killed at least 69 people and injured dozens more, according to the BBC. A state-operated Renfe high-speed train ran into the back of a stationary train operated by Iryo, a private rail company. The BBC reported that the crash was the basis of Puente's resignation announcement.
Puente had rejected calls for his resignation on Friday after the crash, according to Reuters. The previous Wednesday, at a press conference, he had also rejected allegations that Spain's railway system was dangerous, as Reuters reported. Spain's Partido Popular, the party that had requested his resignation in the weeks before, had pressed the issue in the same period.
In announcing his resignation, Puente cited two serious transport accidents in less than a year. One of them was a deadly crash in January in Andalusia, in southern Spain. At least 39 people died in that accident, when a high-speed train derailed and collided with an oncoming train on the night of Sunday, January 18. Spain's prime minister announced three days of official mourning after it, and the government later approved a royal decree-law that included aid for the victims.
The January crash was not the only railway accident Puente addressed in Congress that winter. On February 3, he appeared before a parliamentary committee to discuss a railway accident at Gelida on January 20.
