Toledo crash is Spain’s deadliest rail accident since 2013 and the second serious one this year
Police fired tear gas and moved in with batons on protesters outside Spain’s Transport Ministry in Madrid on Wednesday night. Demonstrators were demanding the resignation of Transport Minister Óscar Puente after a high-speed train crash that killed at least 68 people near Urda in Toledo province.
Hundreds of people, called to the ministry on Paseo de la Castellana through social media, chanted slogans against Puente, and some also demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Crowd estimates vary. One report put the crowd at about 500, while Spanish broadcaster TVE reported about 1,500 gathered overnight, most calling for both Sánchez and Puente to go.
🚨🇪🇸 BARCELONA RIOTS: FAKE PROTEST CALLS, REAL CHAOS
TikTok accounts linked to “Blocus” allegedly lured youths into unrest disguised as student protests.
-130 arrested, 76 minors
-14 police officers injured
-More rallies promoted across #Europe.
#Barcelona #Spain https://t.co/X9CCdxV0Fu— Geo Politics Desk (@GeoPoliticsDesk) October 28, 2026
The government characterised the demonstrators as far-right. Reports said groups including Falange and Revuelta, and a union linked to Vox leader Santiago Abascal, had backed the protest. That description has come from the government and from press reports and was not confirmed by the protesters.
The crash happened at 8:54 am near Urda station, when a Renfe train hit a stationary Iryo train from behind, sending carriages down an embankment. According to Puente, a computer malfunction at 8:30 am knocked out the LZB signalling system on a 63-km stretch, automatically halting every train on it. He said the Iryo train had stopped because of that failure, while Iryo said its train was struck from behind by the Renfe service.
The minister’s account has drawn criticism. The civil servants’ union CSIF demanded his resignation, accusing him of making a scapegoat of the Adif traffic controller on duty instead of taking responsibility, and said it had warned in September about excess working hours at Adif. Puente has refused to step down.
It is the second deadly rail accident in Spain in under a year. The Toledo crash is the country’s deadliest since 2013, after the Adamuz crash in January. The official cause of the Toledo crash has not been established.
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