Feijóo asks unions to drop the 11 November strike after the Urda train crash

The strike call

Spanish unions have called a strike for 11 November. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the opposition Partido Popular (PP), asked the organisers to reconsider after a train accident at Urda, in the province of Toledo, which has left 69 dead. He said he does not question the constitutional right to strike, only the timing. Feijóo said the PSOE campaign director had confirmed the stoppage was aimed against the opposition, referring to remarks by María Jesús Montero, who admitted it was called in protest against the right.

“Before, it was incomprehensible. After 69 dead, it is a serious mistake. Do not hold it.”

A warning to the unions

Feijóo said the unions did not stage such a strike during eight years of government. He argued that holding it three weeks before voters are called to the polls would be a poor choice. He warned that the organisations calling the stoppage would tie their image to Pedro Sánchez permanently if they went ahead. The PP has framed the appeal as a question of timing rather than of the right to strike.

“Do not hold it, or you will tie your image to Pedro Sánchez forever.”

The PP's management pitch

The PP is pressing a management profile against what its leaders describe as a disoriented PSOE. On Monday, 2 November, Feijóo spoke for 23 minutes to the party's executive committee and regional leaders at PP headquarters. He argued that public services have worsened under Sánchez despite record tax revenue. Campaign committee sources said the PP would not be overtaken by Sánchez or Vox leader Santiago Abascal on management. Feijóo points to thirteen uninterrupted years as president of the Xunta de Galicia between 2009 and 2022, all won with an absolute majority.

Government reaction and Óscar Puente

Feijóo accused the government of handling the tragedy with an eye on power and of focusing on the narrative. He said the government was waiting on polls to decide whether to dismiss Transport Minister Óscar Puente. Puente had spoken of the ordeal ahead, and Feijóo replied that the ordeal belonged to the families waiting for bodies and to the injured. He said that if it were up to him, the president of the government, not the minister, would answer in the Diputación Permanente.

“It is no longer just evident that they are not good managers. I doubt they are also good people.”

Campaign calendar and mourning

Feijóo has a breakfast briefing in Madrid on Tuesday, 3 November, followed by a day of interviews across broadcast and print outlets. On Saturday, 7 November, he returns to a precampaign event in Valladolid, a city the PP took from Puente's party's mayoralty three years ago. Vox kept its precampaign events going after the crash, while the PP resumed its agenda with mourning in place. Former minister Fátima Báñez is among the dead, described as very dear to the PP family, and a condolence book stands in the lobby of the party's headquarters on Génova 13 in Madrid.