Spain's star-shaped network of high-speed lines, trains that race at 300 km/h from Madrid to all of the country's major coastal cities, to Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Málaga, but also La Coruña and Gijón in the north. A dream for travelers, domestic flights have become largely pointless unless you have to travel from the very end of Catalonia to the Costa de la Luz near Cádiz. And even that can be done reasonably quickly thanks to the high-speed trains. Many travelers, including tourists, travel the route from Barcelona to Seville by train.
But this modern train network is apparently in danger of collapsing: To the horror of the entire country, two trains collided in the province of Toledo this Wednesday. And that just nine months after the terrible accident in Adamuz in January. Once again it was a Renfe train that met an Iryo. The number of deaths is not yet fully known, but according to civil defense information, more people may have died than in the accident in January, when 45 people died. There was talk of more than 50 deaths and almost 180 injuries on Wednesday afternoon. The first cell phone videos also raise fears, showing completely crushed and charred wagons among a sea of wreckage.
According to initial information, incorrect information from the control center at Madrid's Atocha central station to the Renfe state railway train probably led to the collision. A journalist from the newspaper El País, who was in the cafeteria of the Renfe train at the moment of the accident, reports how people were suddenly thrown through the train, falling on top of each other and hitting walls.
On the Spanish part of the Iberian Peninsula, an area one and a half times the size of the Federal Republic, the high-speed rail network that began in 1992 had become an identity-creating element. The trains carry more than 40 million passengers every year on almost 4,000 kilometers of track. It is the largest high-speed rail network in Europe and the second largest in the world, after China. Not only did this bring the two metropolises of Madrid and Barcelona almost within commuting distance. Even once-remote provinces such as Málaga can now be reached from Madrid in less than three hours. Further connections, for example to San Sebastián and Almería, are under construction.
The ecological, efficient and comfortable form of travel suffered its first serious blow in January of this year. Near Córdoba, an express train operated by the state railway Renfe collided with an oncoming train operated by the Italian railway operator Iryo, which was suspected to have derailed due to a broken rail. 45 people died in the accident and more than 120 were injured. Since then, many of the express routes have had slower speed sections. The result was longer travel times; the journey from Madrid to Barcelona lasted more than three hours.
Transport Minister Puente is now likely to lose confidence.
It is expected that the new disaster will have significant consequences for the entire country. Many travelers will now completely lose their already shattered trust in the once modern and efficient form of mobility. The state of Spain's infrastructure is also generally in question, the train network as well as the electricity network, which showed its weaknesses during a nationwide blackout in April 2025. The Toledo disaster is also likely to have political consequences.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente is one of the most important ministers in Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's cabinet. The politician from the socialist party PSOE eloquently and mockingly attacks the conservative opposition in speeches and with posts on social networks. The belligerent former mayor of Valladolid is even said to have ambitions for the country's highest leadership position. The Toledo disaster, which eerily replicates the Adamuz disaster just months ago, is unlikely to strengthen confidence in this transport minister in the November 29 general elections.
