Spain’s Transport Minister Rejects Resignation Calls Amid High-Speed Rail Crash Probe

Three audio recordings capturing communications between Madrid’s control center and two train drivers suggest a high-speed train was authorized to proceed despite another train stalling on the tracks roughly 25 kilometers (15 miles) ahead.

Minister Óscar Puente previously described the decision to restart train movements without speed restrictions as “inexplicable.” The leak of the recordings has drawn sharp criticism from across the political spectrum. Alberto Ibáñez, a lawmaker for the left-wing Sumar coalition, denounced the disclosure as “despicable” on social media platform X.

Irene Montero, the prime ministerial candidate for the Podemos party, argued that blame should not fall on a single employee, noting that drivers and experts have long warned about risks tied to railway liberalization.

On Friday, Puente insisted he would not “use any worker as a shield,” while acknowledging the tragedy raises “many questions” that must be examined methodically. “If the investigation shows there is human error we will act in consequence of that,” he stated.

Spain is observing three days of national mourning as victims’ families and survivors grapple with the disaster. The conservative People’s Party has joined the CSIF trade union in demanding Puente’s resignation, but the minister remains firm.

“The easy thing for me would be to leave, but neither that fits with my character nor is it what the Prime Minister has asked me to do,” Puente said. “I feel immense pain and immense sadness for the victims and their relatives… I cannot let this pain paralyse me though. We have to find solutions to this problem.”

Additional reporting by Sergi Forcada Freixas

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