Shock figures after accident decided: Sánchez lets transport minister go

The crash in Toledo, south of Madrid, with 69 fatalities, was the year's second major rail tragedy on the Madrid-Seville line. From the outset, Puente, one of Sánchez's close confidants, rejected demands for resignation: "It was not my duty to be at the traffic control center in Atocha" (where the fatal mistake was made]). His words did not bring happiness and calls for his resignation have increased, not only from the right-wing opposition.

The accident suddenly changed the situation before the election on 29 November. Sánchez's first impulse was to support Puente, as he washed his hands and blamed subordinates. But this was taken badly by the trade unions, the government's allies. The major unions, which on Sánchez's initiative will hold a general strike next Wednesday in protest against the right-wing parties, warn of appointing scapegoats at the bottom of the hierarchy every time the underfunded security systems fail.

Internal polls commissioned by the Socialist Party showed earlier this week that the accident, and Puente's unwillingness to take responsibility, had taken a toll on the party's voter base, with several hundred thousand voters heading to other parties or staying home on election day. The Socialist Party's official version is that Puente resigned voluntarily, and was not forced. But since Sánchez took office in 2018, he is the party's only real decision-maker. Puente resigned because Pedro Sánchez understood that it was necessary to maintain the positions during the final of the election campaign.

The polls before the election point to a clear victory for the right-wing parties and a change of power in Spain. But it was also the starting point for the election in July 2023. At that time, the right received more votes than the left, but Sánchez managed to continue to govern with the support of Basque and Catalan separatist parties.