Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on 4 November that his deputy, Carlos Cuerpo, would provisionally run the Transport Ministry after Óscar Puente’s resignation over two deadly high-speed train crashes in 2026.
Puente’s move six days after the second deadly crash of 2026 leaves the ruling Socialists fighting an election campaign without one of their most combative — and polarising — voices. In a brief televised address, Sánchez praised Puente’s political dignity, saying the decision helped the country regain confidence in the rail system.
Announcing his replacement by Cuerpo, who is also economy minister, Sánchez said: “Cuerpo has shown in this legislature an enormous capacity for management and integrity.”
Puente surprised lawmakers by quietly announcing he was stepping down on the night of 3 November after a tense four-hour grilling by a caretaker Parliament body, in which most parties demanded he take responsibility for the two rail disasters that have killed 115 people combined.
One of Sánchez’s most loyal and high-profile ministers, Puente had previously vowed to stay on to tackle the investigation of last week’s crash and fix the system’s flaws, despite widespread calls for his exit from the opposition and coalition partners. On 3 November the 57-year-old revealed he had already decided immediately after the crash in central Spain’s Urda, telling only his family and keeping even Sánchez in the dark.
Puente’s resignation becomes effective once published in the official gazette; he also said he would not stand in the 29 November election. A lawyer and former mayor, he took the transport post in November 2023, overseeing rail expansion and investments backed in part by EU recovery funds. Unions and opposition parties long criticised under-investment in maintenance; in February the Senate demanded his resignation after a fatal crash on the same Madrid–Seville line as the 28 October collision.
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