Feijóo attacks Sánchez over Urda rail crash and pledges a civil engineer at Transport

Feijóo turns the Urda crash into an attack on the government

Alberto Núñez Feijóo opened the People's Party (PP) Executive Committee on Monday, 2 November, at the party headquarters on Calle Génova in Madrid, with a minute of silence for the 69 people killed in the Urda (Toledo) rail accident. He then turned his speech against Pedro Sánchez's government, which he said treats power as its only goal. Feijóo presented 'management, rigour and experience' as the PP's alternative and accused the Executive of waiting on opinion polls before deciding whether to remove Transport Minister Óscar Puente. He also said the bodies of some victims had not yet been handed over to their families. The meeting took place on a public holiday in the Madrid region.

“A tragedy like this raises many questions, and the first one is not technical, it is political: what is power for?”

Infrastructure pledges and ministerial appointments

In a Telecinco interview with Ana Rosa Quintana, Feijóo restated a pledge to invest 300,000 million euros in infrastructure, covering railways, roads, electricity grids and water, if the PP reaches government. He said his transport minister would be a civil engineer and that appointments would follow criteria of traceability, honesty and competence in the field. He said he would not name a 'social media expert' as minister, a jab at Puente, whose statements, in Feijóo's words, make people more anxious. Feijóo also asked how Ábalos and Puente could have managed the country's infrastructure for eight years. Ábalos is now in prison after a corruption conviction, and Feijóo said five or six senior officials at the Fomento ministry are named in a public works corruption case. He pointed out that as head of the Xunta de Galicia he appointed two civil-engineer councillors for infrastructure and transport. He summed up his pitch in one line:

“I come to offer management, rigour and experience.”

PNV presses for Puente's removal

Speaking to Tele5, Aitor Esteban, the PNV president, pointed to two serious rail accidents, in Adumuz (Córdoba) and Urda (Toledo), and asked:

“What has to happen for political responsibility to be taken?”

The PNV will take its demand that Puente resign or be dismissed by Sánchez to Congress on Tuesday, 3 November. The party is heading into the 29 November general election with weak numbers. A poll prepared by the Basque government's presidency gives the PNV only 4 guaranteed seats after it loses one in Gipuzkoa, while Esteban needs 5 seats to keep a parliamentary group of its own. Esteban is courting undecided voters and promoting a 'Basque agenda' to counter the duel between Sánchez and Feijóo. He also said the PNV had criticized broad transport subsidies, which reduced public revenue and, in his account, affected investment in railway operation.

Seats guaranteed in Basque government poll4

Seats Esteban needs for own group5

Seats guaranteed in Basque government poll

4 seats

Seats Esteban needs for own group

5 seats

Data from the article text

Timeline ahead of the vote

The Urda accident happened in late October, almost a week before the PP's Executive Committee met. Feijóo said that pacts would be assessed from December, and the PP is building its campaign around management credentials. The general election on 29 November will decide who forms the next government and whether the PNV secures its own parliamentary group.