Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente resigns over train crashes; Carlos Cuerpo takes over on interim basis

As of 2:28 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026

Spain's transport minister, Óscar Puente, has left office after resigning over two deadly high-speed train crashes this year. First Deputy Prime Minister Carlos Cuerpo will run the Transport Ministry on a temporary basis, according to decrees published Wednesday in Spain's official gazette, the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE).

One decree, signed by King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, formally removes Puente as minister of transport and sustainable mobility and thanks him "for the services rendered." A second says that, because the post is vacant after the minister's resignation, Cuerpo will take on the "ordinary handling of the affairs" of the ministry. Cuerpo keeps his job as economy minister.

Cuerpo will hold the post until a new government is formed after Spain's Nov. 29 general election, Europa Press reported. Government sources told Europa Press that, because the role is temporary, Cuerpo will not formally become transport minister and will not be sworn in before the king.

In a short televised address on Wednesday, Sánchez praised Puente's political dignity and said Cuerpo "has shown in this legislature an enormous capacity for management and integrity," according to Reuters' English translation.

"A question of political dignity"

Puente announced his resignation Tuesday at the end of a roughly four-hour appearance before the Permanent Deputation, the standing committee of Congress that sits while parliament is dissolved before an election, Reuters reported. Most parties there had demanded that he take responsibility for the two crashes, Reuters said.

"A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot continue in office with two accidents of this severity in less than a year," Puente told lawmakers, according to Reuters' English translation. He also said he would not be a candidate in the Nov. 29 election, Cadena SER reported.

Puente had earlier ruled out resigning. On Tuesday he said he had decided to step down within minutes of learning of the crash, but had stayed on until the emergency response was under way, early investigations had begun and the first steps on victim compensation and rail safety were in place, Reuters reported.

The opposition People's Party and Vox had both called for him to resign, as had some of the government's allies, the BBC reported.

Two crashes on the same line

Two high-speed trains collided near Urda, in Toledo province, on Oct. 28, killing 69 people, according to regional officials. A crash in January on the same Madrid-Seville line killed 46 people, Reuters reported. Together, the two crashes killed 115 people.

Earlier Tuesday, Puente announced safety measures for the line. Service will be reduced until the national Railway Safety Agency reviews the line's train protection systems, Reuters reported. The measures also include a 40 kph (25 mph) speed limit when trains run on sight after a signal failure and higher compulsory insurance payouts for victims, Reuters said.

Puente had been transport minister since November 2023.

For more on the October crash, see At least 69 killed in Urda high-speed train crash in Spain.