The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, is currently in the eye of the storm of the political debate. One of the most visible faces of the Sánchez Government, Puente is at the most critical moment of his political career, after the Toledo train accident, which added 69 deaths to the 46 from another railway incident, that of Adamuz, in January of this same year. His management is in the spotlight and every day the voices that demand that he resign from his position grow, before he appears twice this Tuesday to give explanations about the Urda tragedy.
The voices demanding his resignation do not only come from PP and Vox. The parties to the left of the PSOE, those that have been in fact its partners in this term that is ending, have not hesitated to ask for the head of the former mayor of Valladolid, without the reluctance that they have shown in other cases of mismanagement or corruption that the socialists have carried out.
Frente Amplio, the left-wing unifying group led by Ada Colau, has not hesitated to demand Puente's resignation. This Friday, Colau revealed that "this morning we have transferred to the Moncloa the request for the resignation of Minister Óscar Puente", since "he has not had a direct intervention in this tragic accident, he has had a political responsibility."
Colau was also very critical of the minister's response at first, suggesting that the tragedy was due to human error in the Atocha control room. For the former mayor of Barcelona, it is "inadmissible to point to the railway workers as those responsible for the tragedy, which is the second to occur "in less than a year."
The number 1 of Podemos for Congress, Irene Montero, expressed herself in similar terms, demanding from the minister "a minimum of decency and respect" and seeing it as "indecent" that the blame is placed on the workers, although the MEP also points out the supposed overload of the railway infrastructure due to the liberalization of the sector as the origin of the problems.
One of the first parties to call for Puente's resignation was Adelante Andalucía, whose spokesperson, José Ignacio García, wrote on the first day of the accident: "We must speak clearly: Óscar Puente must resign today."
This same Sunday, Frente Amplio has again requested the dismissal of Puente. "Óscar Puente has to end up resigning because someone has to assume this political responsibility and this is something that the people need," said the general coordinator of Movimiento Sumar and candidate of the Frente Amplio to Congress, Verónica Martínez Barbero.
As for the nationalists, there is also practically unanimity. This Sunday, the Junts candidate for Congress, Míriam Nogueras, said this Sunday that the resignation of the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, is "cannot be postponed" and that many Catalans "are fed up" with so much mismanagement and incompetence.
The Galician nationalists of BNG have not expressly requested the resignation of the minister, but they have hinted at it. The until now BNG deputy in Congress and candidate in the next general elections, Néstor Rego, has maintained this Saturday that he has the "impression" that the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility "has his days numbered" in this position.
It has been warmer in PNV. The spokesperson for the Basque Group in Congress, Maribel Vaquero, has insisted that technical and political responsibilities must be assumed for the accident, although the jeltzale group will wait for Puente's explanations this Tuesday because "the first thing to do is be with the victims."
The opposition appears as part
Evidently, the two opposition parties, PP and Vox, are the ones that are most strongly demanding the goodbye of Puente, who has twice ruled out resigning since the accident took place.
The popular ones believe that Puente should not arrive in office until Tuesday. On Friday, the PP spokesperson in Congress, Ester Muñoz, said: "Any person in this country is fully aware that Mr. Óscar Puente, if he does not resign, should be fired. Everyone understands this. Why is he coming on Tuesday? To give explanations for what?"
The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, demanded this Thursday the resignation not only of the minister, but also that of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, whom he referred to as that "sinister couple" of "corrupt and traitors" who calls to stop fascism, but to whom asking "to stop a train is too much."
PP and Vox have also announced that they will appear in the legal case for the Urda train accident. "We want it to be investigated to the end, for the whole truth to be known and for no one to evade the responsibilities that correspond to them," said the Deputy Secretary of Institutional Regeneration of the PP, Alma Ezcurra. For his part, it was Santiago Abascal himself who announced that his party will appear as a popular accusation in the case, so that "the whole truth is known."
Adif's charges
Puente is not only in the spotlight for the deaths of Adamuz and Urda, but also for the administrative management of Adif, in whose positions of responsibility, the minister has placed people linked to the PSOE or unions, without their suitability for the positions being verified.
In Adif's management structure, it is common for its managers to be linked to the PSOE and to have held positions of responsibility in socialist governments or to have replaced much more technical and experienced profiles.
However, this Tuesday Puente will be able to see first-hand how alone he is in this crisis. Pedro Sánchez has supported it for the moment, but just four weeks before the general elections, the decision is delicate to say the least. Even so, the minister, who on Friday stated that he expects to experience "an ordeal," will appear twice. Firstly, he will star in the press conference following the Council of Ministers, which will approve a royal decree with aid for those affected by the accident and will receive a report from Puente itself on the event.
