MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday that his deputy and economy minister, Carlos Cuerpo, would provisionally run the Transport Ministry after Oscar Puente resigned following two deadly high-speed train crashes this year, Reuters reported.
Puente announced he was stepping down on Tuesday night, after a tense four-hour grilling by lawmakers from a caretaker parliament body. Most parties there demanded he take responsibility for the two rail disasters, which killed 115 people combined.
In a brief televised address, Sanchez praised Puente for his political dignity and said the decision helped the country regain confidence in the rail system.
“Cuerpo has shown in this legislature an enormous capacity for management and integrity.”
Puente had vowed to stay on, tackle the investigation into last week’s crash and fix the system’s flaws. Calls for his exit came from both the opposition and coalition partners.
On Tuesday, the 57-year-old minister said he had in fact made his decision in the immediate aftermath of the train crash at Urda, in central Spain. He told only his family at the time, keeping even Sanchez in the dark.
Praise, and a call for Sanchez to follow
After Puente’s announcement, Sanchez said: “Politicians like (Puente) bring honour to our country and show us that we are not all the same. Whilst some merely preach, others give their all.”
People’s Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo responded to Sanchez’s post on X lauding Puente for stepping aside by saying the prime minister should do the same. “Apply this to yourself,” he wrote.
Independent political analyst Eduardo Bayon said the resignation deprived the opposition People’s Party of its main target and shifted the conversation from who should go to what should be done.
“The government needs to fill that void with concrete railway security and investment measures — trust in high-speed rail will remain a campaign topic,” Bayon said.
What happens next
Puente’s resignation will take effect once it is published in the official state gazette. He also said he would not stand as a candidate in the upcoming election on Nov. 29.
Polls run after last Wednesday’s deadly crash showed a slight drop in support for the ruling Socialists. The party had hoped to fight the campaign on its record on social services and reversing a housing crisis.
A lawyer and former mayor, Puente took the transport post in November 2023. He oversaw the expansion of Spain’s rail network and the rollout of investments supported in part by EU recovery funds.
Unions and opposition parties had criticised Puente for years over underinvestment in maintenance and increased disruptions. The criticism culminated in a Senate motion in February demanding his resignation, after a fatal crash on the same Madrid-Seville line where last Wednesday’s collision occurred.
Dubbed Sanchez’s “attack dog” by media commentators, Puente often traded barbs with rivals on X and in parliament. That style made him a top contender in discussions over Sanchez’s eventual succession.
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