Feijóo's PP resets campaign around rail management after Urda crash

The crash and the suspended campaign

On Wednesday, 28 October, an AVE high-speed train collided with an Iryo train near Urda in Toledo province. The reported death toll stood at 69 as of 1 November, up from the more than 60 given in an earlier count. Both main parties paused their campaigning: Pedro Sánchez cancelled rallies planned for Vitoria and Cádiz, and Alberto Núñez Feijóo cut short his Barcelona agenda to return to Madrid. Vox leader Santiago Abascal kept his pre-campaign events going, including on the day of the crash, and the PP is now drawing that contrast. The tragedy also hit the PP personally with the death of former minister Fátima Báñez.

PP turns the campaign toward management

Feijóo met about fifteen rail experts, from inside and outside the party, on Friday, 30 October, to study the causes of the Urda accident. A screen behind him read 'Gestión. Rigor. Experiencia', the slogan now framing the party's pitch. He has promised to audit the state of rail infrastructure and to prioritise its maintenance. On Monday, 2 November, the PP's national executive meets in Madrid with regional leaders and mayors, with the aim of putting services that work at the centre of the race. Party spokesman Borja Sémper made the point on Friday.

“They do not ask for miracles, simply for Spain to work again.”

After visiting the command post at Urda, Feijóo said the way the government manages the network cannot go on.

“This way of managing cannot go on.”

The PP's messaging also targets Transport Minister Óscar Puente and appointments made at the ministry, and it points to former minister José Luis Ábalos, who is in prison over public contracts during the pandemic.

Polls, Vox and the Senate deal

Juan del Val, speaking on El Hormiguero on 22 October, said the real contest is a possible shift of votes between the PP and Vox. He said all polls except the CIS give Feijóo an absolute majority, but that the size of that majority matters, and he called the PP's strategy mistaken. Feijóo, in an interview with La Vanguardia published on 1 November, said his party has agreed a Senate arrangement with Vox and that the PSOE has merged its Senate labels with 18 parties, a move he said aims to strip the PP of its Senate majority. In the same interview he said one cannot be president of Spain without understanding Catalonia, and he pledged to report on Catalan investment execution four times a year.

“There is a shift of votes that can happen between the PP and Vox.”

Urda (Toledo), reported 1 November 202669

Adamuz (Córdoba)46

Urda (Toledo), reported 1 November 2026

69 deaths

Adamuz (Córdoba)

46 deaths

Data from the article text

Calendar to the 29 November vote

About 15 heads of state or government have confirmed attendance at the Ibero-American Summit in Madrid in the week of 2 November, including Argentina's president Javier Milei. The PSOE will resume its campaign on Saturday, 7 November, with a Sánchez rally whose venue has not been fixed, and it hopes the enthusiasm it saw before the crash can return gradually once the days of mourning pass. The PP's official campaign starts at midnight on 13 November. Spaniards vote on Sunday, 29 November.