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Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Spain's Transport Ministry in Madrid on Wednesday night, chanting "Óscar Puente, minister of death" and demanding the resignation of Transport Minister Óscar Puente, after a high-speed train collision killed at least 68 people and injured around 100 others. The protest turned confrontational, with police using tear gas as some demonstrators threw bottles and flares, according to reports from Reuters via The Times of India.
The anger is not only about the death toll — already Europe's deadliest rail accident since 2013 — but about a specific, still-unexplained decision: a train was authorised to continue past a red signal, with a stationary train ahead. Here is what happened, what investigators are examining, and why the political fallout arrived so fast.
What happened near Urda
The crash occurred on Wednesday, October 28, near Urda in Toledo province, south of Madrid, on the high-speed line between Madrid and Andalusia. A Renfe high-speed train travelling from Madrid towards Seville collided with a stationary train operated by Iryo. More than 500 emergency personnel were deployed, and rescue teams worked under floodlights with cranes to search the wreckage. Rail services between Madrid and Andalusia remained suspended on Thursday.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the collision as a "terrible tragedy" and promised a thorough investigation, saying any negligence found would be dealt with firmly. Spain began three days of national mourning on Thursday.
The red signal at the centre of the investigation
According to the transport minister himself, a disruption to the railway safety system affected a 63-kilometre stretch of track between Madrid and Seville. The disruption automatically stopped trains in the area, before the state-owned infrastructure manager Adif took manual control of the system. The Renfe train was then authorised to continue despite an active red signal, with a stationary train ahead. Puente described that order as "inexplicable."
The cause of the collision has not been conclusively established, and the reported signal-related failure remains a key area of scrutiny. Investigators must now establish exactly who authorised the movement, why the manual override was given, and whether the tragedy could have been prevented. The minister has said the circumstances surrounding the decision will be examined as part of the investigation — but that has not stopped the political blame from landing on him first.
Why protesters are demanding a resignation
Spain's trade union CSIF has demanded Puente's resignation, accusing him of shifting responsibility onto a railway official instead of accepting accountability, and calling for an urgent, rigorous and transparent investigation. The union also raised safety concerns and excessive working hours at Adif, according to reports from Outlook India.
On the streets, demonstrators held signs reading "Leave!", "Criminals" and "Corruption kills," and some called for the whole government to resign. Reports differ on crowd size — Reuters put it at around 500, while other outlets reported up to 1,500 — but the message was consistent: grief turning quickly into demands for accountability.
A second disaster in one year
The collision is Spain's second fatal railway disaster this year. A separate train accident in the south of the country in January killed 46 people, and that investigation is still running. Sánchez has said the causes of the two accidents appear to be unrelated, and the government says the latest collision will be investigated independently.
That context matters for the politics: a single disaster can be framed as a freak failure, but two in one year invite questions about the whole system — maintenance, staffing, and the manual-override procedures that are supposed to be a last resort, not a routine workaround. The opposition People's Party cancelled campaign events for the day ahead of an election scheduled for next month, a sign of how quickly the crash has entered the political calendar.
For now, the confirmed facts are stark: at least 68 dead, around 100 injured, a train cleared past a red signal, and a minister facing street protests before the investigation has reported. What the investigation concludes about that authorisation will decide whether this stays a political crisis or becomes a criminal one.