Sánchez tries to turn Puente's failure into a lesson in dignity

Finally, yesterday, at the end of a long four-hour appearance at the permanent deputation of Congress, the Spanish Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, presented his resignation.

From what has been learned since, it appears he communicated it to Sánchez via WhatsApp from right there. The reasons why Puente could not continue as minister for even a minute longer were clear: 116 deaths this year. And he himself said it:

“A Minister of Transport in a country like Spain cannot remain in office after two accidents of this severity in less than a year, regardless of how different they are and whether or not they have direct responsibility. It is a matter of political dignity, consistency, and empathy with the victims”.

Puente has done what he had to do. He could have done it immediately, but he did not (and this is a personal interpretation, not information) because at first he must have thought he could hold on to the position, and that he could hold on using the old system of reducing everything to human error. If yesterday's appearance was dignified, the one on the first day was undignified. And the leaking of the audio from the control center and the deceased train driver, even more so. Be that as it may, what he has done is correct.

Sánchez loses a lot with this. Puente was a shield and a sword, all at once. But, as we have already analyzed these days, they had to weigh whether keeping him did more harm than good. And they decided that stepping down was the least bad option for Sánchez’s campaign. For one fundamental reason: to be able to say that not everyone is the same. That the unacceptable Carlos Mazón took a year to step down after the more than 230 deaths from the DANA in the Valencian Community in 2024. That when the AVE accident happened in Galicia, the then-minister Ana Pastor did not step down. And then, look how interesting, President Sánchez appeared this morning from Moncloa in a brief address. And he turned Puente’s failure into a suit of dignity: Puente has been an indefatigable minister and his resignation honors him; we are not like everyone else, and, pay attention, from tragedies, the country and the government will emerge stronger:

"I know that we are living in times of much polarization, noise, and extraordinary dehumanization. Some would like everything to break, because they live off confrontation and fear. But this government, like this country, has always come out of every crisis stronger, and this time we will do it again, by stepping up and providing answers that defend the interests of the social majority and continue to move Spain forward".

And what is more: who replaces Puente? Vice President Cuerpo. Why Cuerpo? Because the socialists have sniffed out the moment and have seen that now is not the time for boorish ministers, but for sensible people. Like Cuerpo. Sánchez said: “Vice President Cuerpo has demonstrated a temperament that our politics and our country need”.

It follows the same line as Trump's defeat early this morning: we need politicians who do not divide and who address people's problems. We will see how many days this bout of dignity lasts, because until the Toledo accident, Puente's aggressive manner was highly celebrated. After the accident, Puente called for an adult debate on whether everyone should have a high-speed station nearby. But until the accident, it was all about building. I would like to be wrong, but we all know that the Spanish railway system will not reflect on whether it has lived in a parallel, economically and socially unsustainable reality.

It is curious, a few days ago there was talk of a PSOE comeback. And then Lula won in Brazil against all odds and it seemed like a sign in the sky. And tonight Trump has lost control of both chambers of Congress and the sign remains in the sky. But the accident is a hard blow. And yet, the socialists have not reacted badly. Next station: the general strike a week from today.

I finish.

Nine years later, judge Llarena revoked the prosecution he ordered in 2018, concluded the summary, and referred the case to the criminal chamber so that it is Manuel Marchena who orders the definitive archiving of the case. Puigdemont's return is closer. Llarena bows out, warning the independence movement: “The impossibility of continuing the criminal prosecution derives neither from a decriminalization of embezzlement nor of disobedience for the rest of similar cases that may be committed, but from the legislative decision to amnesty the specific conducts that have been investigated in this case”. With this warning and Puigdemont's imminent return, the second season of the 'Procés' is now open.

Good morning.