Spain's government pressured from left and right after the train tragedy

Ada Colau, leader of six left-wing parties running on a joint list in this month's election, has faced the harshest criticism. It is not reasonable, says Colau on social media, that 69 people lose their lives after a system error without anyone taking political responsibility.

The Socialist government would prefer to see that the railway crisis does not become the major election issue on 29 November. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has sometimes fired close associates, often without anyone understanding why, but when public opinion and the media demanded the resignation of ministers after scandals and scandals, his tactic has been to not give in. He is now under heavy pressure from both the right and the left to sacrifice his close associate, Transport Minister Óscar Puente. As after the train accident in Adamuz in January, when 46 people died, the minister is washing his hands. The culprits are, according to him, the staff at the traffic control center in Madrid, where all the country's trains are monitored.

This year's two accidents with a large number of victims - along with a series of smaller incidents - are not just shocking tragedies that cast a dubious light on one of the country's most important state-owned enterprises. They also directly affect the everyday life of Spaniards. The fast train network has revolutionized travel and relieved the strained national roads. But the horror scenes from the accident sites are now driving travelers to choose cars or flights. Since the January accident in Adamuz, the number of train passengers on the Madrid-Seville line has dropped by 30 percent. The psychological effect of the latest accident – ​​on the same route – is likely to be at least as severe.

The government's way of apportioning responsibility, and placing the blame on "the human factor", has caused bad blood between the Socialist Party and its close allies, the major trade unions. Union spokesmen disagree with Minister Puente's description of the accident as an "incomprehensible mistake". It is the systems that must be reviewed, say the unions.