Spain's Transport Minister Oscar Puente has resigned, six days after this year's second deadly high-speed train crash, Reuters reports. Puente announced he was stepping down on Tuesday night, after a tense four-hour grilling by lawmakers from a caretaker parliament body in which most parties demanded he face responsibility for two rail disasters that have killed 115 people combined.

The two crashes

The latest disaster was the collision near Urda, in Toledo province, which killed 69 people. Spanish authorities said on Monday that all 69 victims had been identified, including 54 Spanish citizens and 15 foreign nationals. The earlier crash, at Adamuz in Cordoba in January, killed 46 people when an Iryo train derailed and struck an oncoming service. Puente told MPs he had in fact decided to leave within minutes of learning of the Urda crash, telling only his family at the time, and that he had kept even Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in the dark until shortly before his announcement.

What Puente said

Puente said a transport minister could not remain in post after two accidents of such gravity in less than a year, whether or not he bore direct responsibility for them, and cited empathy with the victims, consistency and political dignity as his reasons. He also announced he would withdraw from the Socialist Workers' Party electoral list for Valladolid ahead of the general election on 29 November. Sanchez praised the resignation as an act of dignity, Reuters reports.

What happens next

On Wednesday, Sanchez said his deputy, Carlos Cuerpo, who is also economy minister, would provisionally run the Transport Ministry. Puente's resignation becomes effective once it is published in the official state gazette, Reuters reports, and the exact timeline for that remains unclear. During the same parliamentary session, Puente tabled safety proposals, including a review by the national safety authority of all train protection systems on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line, and a rule that two people must authorise any order issued to drivers by the control centre. The Government also announced 30 million euros in aid for the Urda victims and their families.

Sources: Reuters, Spain's Sanchez loses key ally as transport minister quits over train crashes, 4 November 2026; Railway Gazette, Puente steps down as Spanish Transport Minister, 4 November 2026; The Times, Spanish transport minister resigns days after crash that killed 69, 4 November 2026.