Oscar Puente, Spain’s transport minister and a close ally of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, resigned on Tuesday night. His resignation came after an hours-long grilling by the Parliament’s standing committee, which is acting on behalf of the Parliament while it is dissolved ahead of the Nov. 29 snap election. It was the second deadly rail disaster in Spain this year after January’s accident in Adamuz, which killed 46 people.
Puente had held the post since 2023. After a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, Puente brushed off calls for his resignation from some of the government’s allies, including members of Sumar, the coalition's junior partner. Sánchez has publicly backed Puente after the Toledo crash raised questions about how Spain manages its rail infrastructure and dealt a blow to his re-election hopes.
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