Toledo train disaster dims Spanish PM Sánchez's chances of re-election
After a train collision in Toledo, Spain's government blames human error, but criticism is mounting and the opposition is calling for the transport minister to resign. Polls already suggested Socialist PM Pedro Sánchez had slim chances in the snap election.
Spain's government is trying to shape the debate over a deadly collision between two trains at Toledo, even though the formal investigation has only just begun. The crash comes while Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist-led government is heading into an early election, and it further weakens his prospects of staying in power.
The minister's account
Transport Minister Oscar Puente suggested "human error" was to blame within the first hours. On Friday, appearing before the press for the second time, he set out what he called the "objective facts". He dismissed talk of chronic underinvestment in infrastructure and said the LZB high-speed signalling safety system is neither old nor inadequate, noting that Germany and Austria use it too. In Spain it has already failed 170 times this year, which he described as normal and in line with the EU average.
The trouble comes when the system fails and control of the line passes to people. According to the minister, a controller told a stalled train to restart and proceed at up to 160km/h (100 mph) although another train was stuck on the track ahead. The looming collision was visible from audio calls and on large screens at the control centre in Madrid, yet the advancing train was never ordered to stop.
Puente declined to resign, saying it is his duty to stay. The opposition People's Party (PP) is demanding his departure as a "moral" and "ethical" step.
Political fallout
Paco Camas of the pollster Ipsos notes this is the second serious accident within a short time. The investigation into January's crash at Adamuz, near Cordoba, remains open, with early reports pointing to a crack in the rails. Camas argues the effect is to erode trust in the railways and in institutions generally.
For Sánchez's team it is the latest in a series of crises, following corruption allegations against his close relatives, which they deny, a sudden influx of migrants into Spain's Ceuta exclave from Morocco, and a viral video of a pensioner being forcibly evicted. Recent polls show the centre-right PP finishing first and forming a coalition with the far-right Vox. Prof Pablo Simon of Madrid's Carlos III University says the government has lost control of the campaign's agenda.
Small protests led by far-right groups have taken place in Madrid, and police are on stand-by this weekend.
