Questions, blame and grief after Spain’s rail disaster

A second major train accident in the space of just nine months has shaken Spaniards’ faith in their rail service and threatens to introduce an extra element of acrimony to an already rancorous political arena.

The death toll from Wednesday morning’s collision between two trains 140km south of Madrid has risen to 69. The crash happened when a train run by Spanish national rail operator Renfe ploughed into the back of a stationary train belonging to Italy’s Iryo.

Throughout Thursday, rescue workers continued to sift through the wreckage. With a number of people who were believed to have been on the train still unaccounted for, there are fears that the number of victims could rise further.

During a visit to Toledo, King Felipe met some of the 41 people injured in the crash being treated in the city’s main hospital. The monarch paid tribute to those killed and said it was important “to study measures to be adopted so that this never happens again”.

Also in Toledo, around 70 relatives of people missing since the crash have been staying in a building owned by the local archdiocese. They have received counselling and await news about their loved ones. DNA testing has been taking place on recovered bodies.

Tributes have been pouring in from both sides of the political spectrum for Fátima Báñez, a conservative former government minister, who has been identified as one of the victims of the accident.

However, the tragedy has otherwise shown signs of exacerbating the country’s deep political divisions.

The causes of the crash are proving particularly divisive. Within hours of the collision, the government of prime minister Pedro Sánchez appeared to have attributed it to human error.

Transport minister Óscar Puente revealed that a safety issue had caused several trains on the Madrid-Seville line to be halted automatically.

[ Pride in Spain’s rail network turns to soul-searching after another deadly collisionOpens in new window ]

He said an “inexplicable” decision had then been taken to allow a Renfe train to resume its journey, which would lead to it colliding with the Iryo train minutes later.

A leaked audio recording in which a rail controller in Madrid’s Atocha station is heard to give the order for the train to start moving appeared to back up Puente’s assertion.

“Mistakes can happen, but we have a rail system that is safe and comparable to the countries around us,” Puente said.

However, the opposition has accused Puente of using human error to cover up deficiencies in his own management of the rail network.

“What [Puente] did was blame a controller in Atocha,” said the leader of the conservative People’s Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo. “I think that what happened [on Wednesday] cannot be resolved with such frivolity.”

Puente has been under pressure since January, when a similar collision on the same route killed 46 people, immediately casting doubt on the safety of the country’s rail system.

The leader of the far-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal, said “we cannot believe anything this government says”, adding that “this criminal mafia is responsible for the tragedies”.

With a general election on November 29th, the rail accident could not come at a worse time for Sánchez, whose scandal-ridden Socialists have been trailing the PP in polls. Having hoped to place the housing issue at the centre of the campaign, he is almost certain to face attacks on his government’s management of the rail network.

Worryingly for Sánchez, his parliamentary allies are also expressing concerns about the accident and the transport minister’s handling of its fallout.

“Attributing this terrible mistake to just one person would not be just unfair but nor would it help solve the problems, or much less prevent them from happening,” said Ada Colau, lead candidate for the Broad Front, an electoral ticket which hopes to help Sánchez form a new left-wing administration.

Spain is reeling from this latest rail tragedy, one that could have significant political consequences.