Spain is in three days of national mourning after a high-speed train collision near Urda, in Castilla-La Mancha. At least 69 people had died as at 30 October, according to The Guardian and the BBC, and the BBC reported fears that the toll may still rise.
The crash happened on Wednesday 28 October, local time, about 130km south of Madrid. A Renfe train from Madrid to Seville, carrying 397 passengers, ran into a stationary Iryo train carrying 147, the BBC reported. More than 100 people were injured, many of them seriously.
Fifty people were still being treated in regional hospitals on Thursday 29 October, Spanish time, Castilla-La Mancha leader Emiliano García-Page said, The Guardian reported. The national mourning period began that day.
The collision is the second fatal crash on the line in 10 months, after 46 people died near Adamuz in January. It is also Europe’s deadliest since the 2013 derailment at Santiago de Compostela, which killed 80, The Guardian and the ABC reported.
The Order to Restart
Transport minister Óscar Puente set out a timeline, the ABC reported. At 8.30am the security system on a 63km stretch of the line failed because of a computer malfunction, and every train on it stopped. The control centre then told the Renfe train to restart without speed restrictions. At 8.53am it hit the Iryo train.
“The decision to resume traffic while that system had not been restored belongs to the control centre, and the control centre … took the decision to resume traffic in circumstances that, from our point of view, are inexplicable,” Mr Puente said, according to the ABC. He said the drivers were not to blame.
What the Recordings Show
Spanish media, among them El País and RTVE, have published audio recordings of the exchanges. The BBC, which reported on three of them, described the recordings as leaked.
In one, the controller tells the Renfe driver: “Continue your journey and then proceed under [Lateral Signalling Block], at normal speed with normal operation.” The driver asks: “At normal speed?” The controller answers: “Yes.”
In a later exchange, the Iryo driver reports that the train still cannot move. “The train won’t allow me to control the [security] system. That’s why I am still stopped in front of the entry signal,” the driver says, according to the BBC.
Alberto Ibáñez, an MP for Sumar, called the leak “despicable” in a post on X, the BBC reported.
The Victims and the Search for the Missing
Among the dead are the former employment minister Fátima Báñez and a Guardia Civil officer, José Manuel Chacón, 31, The Guardian and the BBC reported.
The Guardia Civil has set up four DNA offices to identify victims, in Madrid, Toledo, Córdoba and Seville. By the morning of Thursday 29 October, relatives had reported 64 people missing, The Guardian reported. The BBC said more than 900 Civil Guard personnel had been deployed.
Spain’s foreign ministry said 42 foreign nationals from seven countries were involved and one of them was killed, according to The Guardian. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) was not aware of any Australians affected, Education Minister Jason Clare told the ABC on Thursday 29 October.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke from the crash site. “We are working day and night not only to support the victims’ families, but also to establish every last detail of this tragedy and strengthen safety measures to ensure it never happens again,” he said, the BBC reported.
Strike, Protest and a Paused Campaign
The drivers’ union Semaf went ahead with a strike it had already planned, The Guardian and the BBC reported. Diego Martín of Semaf said, according to The Guardian: “We cannot tolerate, under any circumstances, this type of incident happening again.”
About 1,500 people protested outside the transport ministry, according to the broadcaster TVE, and police used tear gas, the BBC reported.
Spain goes to a snap election on 29 November. Most parties suspended campaigning after the crash, but Vox did not, according to the BBC.
What Investigators Still Have to Answer
The Guardian’s analysis starts with what caused the signalling failure. The train-control system on the line is being phased out, and Iryo’s chief executive recently told a Senate inquiry that disconnection was a “frequent issue” on the line, The Guardian reported.
King Felipe spoke on Thursday 29 October. “There is obviously an ongoing investigation, which should establish how and why this tragedy happened,” he said, according to The Guardian.
More from our Transport & Infrastructure section includes the collapse of China’s newly built Hongqi Bridge after landslides.
Sources: The Guardian, “Spain begins mourning period as search continues for train crash victims”, 29 October 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/29/spain-mourning-period-deadly-train-crash); BBC News, “Audio reveals exchanges between Spain train operators and drivers moments before deadly crash”, 29 October 2026 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmqxnl312v34o); BBC News, “Young athlete and former minister among victims of Spain train crash”, 29 October 2026 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr78plp1p9yvo); ABC News, “The ‘inexplicable’ order that led to disaster on Spain’s high-speed rail network”, 29 October 2026 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-29/spain-train-crash-inexplicable-order-high-speed-rail/107321318); The Guardian, “How did the Spain train crash happen and what will investigators be asking?”, 29 October 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/29/how-did-the-spain-train-crash-happen-what-will-investigators-be-asking)
Photo: Aurore Martignoni, European Union 2026, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
European Union flags fly at half-mast in Belgium on 28 October 2026 in solidarity with Spain after the collision near Urda.
