MADRID, Spain – Transport Minister Óscar Puente is currently at the eye of the political storm. One of the most visible faces of Sánchez’s government, Puente finds himself at the most critical moment of his political career following the Toledo train crash, which adds 69 deaths to the 46 from another rail incident, the Adamuz one, in January of this year. His management is under scrutiny and every day the voices demanding his resignation grow, ahead of his double appearance on Tuesday to give explanations about the Urda tragedy.
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The voices demanding his resignation do not come only from the PP and Vox. The parties to the left of the PSOE, those who have in fact been his partners in this legislature now ending, have not hesitated to call for the head of the former mayor of Valladolid, without the reticence they have shown in other cases of mismanagement or corruption involving the Socialists. Frente Amplio, the left-wing umbrella formation led by Ada Colau, has not hesitated to demand Puente’s resignation, with Colau revealing on Friday that “this very morning we have conveyed to Moncloa the request for the resignation of minister Óscar Puente,” since although “he has not had a direct intervention in this tragic accident, he has had political responsibility.”
Colau was also highly critical of the minister’s initial response, insinuating that the tragedy was due to human error in the Atocha control room, with the former Barcelona mayor saying it is inadmissible to point to rail workers as responsible for the tragedy, which is the second to occur in less than a year.
Podemos’s number one for Congress, Irene Montero, expressed herself in similar terms, demanding from the minister “a minimum of decency and respect” and describing as indecent that blame is placed on workers, though the MEP also points to the alleged overload of rail infrastructure due to the liberalisation of the sector as the origin of the problems.
One of the first parties to call for Puente’s resignation was Adelante Andalucía, whose spokesman José Ignacio García wrote on the first day of the accident that there is a need to speak clearly and that Óscar Puente must resign today. This Sunday, Frente Amplio again called for Puente’s dismissal, with the general coordinator of Movimiento Sumar and Frente Amplio candidate for Congress, Verónica Martínez Barbero, saying that Óscar Puente has to end up resigning because someone has to assume this political responsibility and this is something the people need.
Among the nationalists there is also practically unanimity, with Junts’s candidate for Congress, Míriam Nogueras, saying on Sunday that the resignation of the transport minister is “unpostponable” and that many Catalans “are fed up” with so much mismanagement and incompetence.
The Galician nationalists of the BNG have not expressly called for the minister’s resignation but have insinuated it, with the BNG’s outgoing Congress deputy and candidate in the upcoming general election, Néstor Rego, maintaining on Saturday that he has the “impression” that the transport and sustainable mobility minister “has his days numbered” in the post.
More lukewarm has been the PNV, whose Basque Group spokeswoman in Congress, Maribel Vaquero, insisted that technical and political responsibilities must be assumed for the accident, though the party will wait for Puente’s explanations on Tuesday because “the first thing to do is be with the victims.”
The two opposition parties, PP and Vox, are evidently the ones most forcefully demanding Puente’s departure, with the minister having twice ruled out resigning since the accident occurred. The conservatives believe Puente should not reach Tuesday in the post, with PP congressional spokeswoman Ester Muñoz saying on Friday that anyone in this country is fully aware that Óscar Puente, if he does not resign, should be dismissed, asking what he is going to come on Tuesday to give explanations about. Vox leader Santiago Abascal demanded on Thursday the resignation not only of the minister but also of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, referring to them as that “sinister couple” of “corrupt and treasonous” people who call for stopping fascism but for whom asking to stop a train is too much.
PP and Vox have also announced they will appear in the judicial case over the Urda rail accident, with PP deputy secretary for institutional regeneration Alma Ezcurra saying they want it investigated to the end, the whole truth known and no one evading the responsibilities that correspond to them, while Abascal himself announced that his party will appear as a popular accusation in the case so that the whole truth is known.
Puente is under scrutiny not only for the Adamuz and Urda deaths but also for Adif’s administrative management, in whose positions of responsibility the minister has placed people linked to the PSOE or the unions, without their suitability for the posts being verified, with the linking of Adif’s senior officials to the PSOE and their having held positions of responsibility in socialist governments or replaced much more technical and experienced profiles being frequent in its management structure.
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All the same, on Tuesday Puente will be able to see first-hand how alone he is in this crisis, with Pedro Sánchez having backed him so far but with the decision at least delicate just four weeks before the general election. Even so, the minister, who said on Friday he expects to live through “a calvary,” will appear twice, first at the press conference after the Cabinet meeting, which will approve a royal decree with aid for those affected by the accident and receive a report from Puente himself on the incident, and later before the Permanent Deputation of Congress, at his own request, to give explanations to the chamber once again.
