Spain's Transport Minister Óscar Puente Resigns After Two Fatal Train Collisions
Óscar Puente announced his resignation following two deadly high-speed rail accidents in Spain within a year, including a crash last week that killed 69 people.
Spain’s transport minister, Óscar Puente, said he will step down after two severe train crashes occurred within twelve months. The latest incident, a high-speed train collision on the Madrid-Andalusia line, left 69 dead and more than 200 injured.
"I made the decision about my future in the first few minutes after the tragedy," Puente told lawmakers in Madrid. "A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot remain in office after two accidents of this severity in less than a year, however different they may be and regardless of whether or not they bear direct responsibility for them."
The crash involved a moving train striking a stationary one after a safety-system failure, despite a red signal that should have halted movement. Puente described the authorization to proceed as occurring under "inexplicable circumstances."
The January accident in Adamuz, where two high-speed trains collided head-on, had already claimed at least 41 lives, marking the deadliest rail disaster in Spain in over a decade. Following the recent collision, politicians and the national transport workers’ union called for Puente’s resignation, and protests erupted outside the transport ministry.
Puente’s departure comes three weeks before Spain’s scheduled general election, a vote that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called early amid multiple scandals affecting his PSOE government. Sánchez issued a statement on social media praising Puente’s decision to leave office, noting it was made "out of respect for the victims and the progressive project."