The judge investigating the Urda accident asks to accelerate the search and for work to be done at night

BarcelonaThat the search tasks be accelerated, that the necessary operators be assigned to do so, and that work be carried out uninterruptedly, including at night. These are the three requests made by the judge investigating the Urda railway tragedy to the crane company contracted by Adif-Renfe, given the "urgent need" to locate all possible remains that might still be found at the site where the wrecked trains are located. The area of the accident, where at least 69 people have died, continues to be inspected with the goal of being able to hand them over to the victims' families as soon as possible.

According to the High Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha, this judicial requirement was agreed upon and notified on Saturday with the goal of continuing the wagon removal tasks uninterruptedly throughout the past night, although it was not possible due to a lack of sufficient operators from the crane company. This Sunday morning, however, work has resumed. Now the judge urgently requires the company to provide the necessary operators, establishing the precise shifts required to be able to relieve the people who have been working until now in the area of the Urda railway accident.

The magistrate, who is the holder of the number 2 position of the civil and instruction section of the Court of First Instance of Orgaz, in Toledo, has issued an order by which the prohibition of obtaining, disclosing, or publishing information or images related to the victims is agreed upon. The objective of this measure is to preserve privacy, integrity, and dignity, as well as to avoid situations of revictimization, and the judicial procedure continues under summary seal.

From the first moment, Vox announced that it would file a complaint against the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, and this Sunday the party leader, Santiago Abascal, explained that they will appear in the open judicial case as popular prosecution. The far right will not be alone: it will be accompanied by the PP, which has also decided to appear in the case so that "no one can evade the responsibilities that correspond to them." The party's Deputy Secretary of Institutional Regeneration, Alma Ezcurra, explained that the Popular Party members deny that the Urda tragedy can be explained "simply as an accident."

Approve new aid

The Council of Ministers plans to approve a royal decree next Tuesday with aid for those affected by the accident, as has already happened with other catastrophes such as the DANA, which caused more than 200 deaths in the Valencian Community, the eruption of the La Palma volcano, and the Adamuz train accident, with 46 fatalities. After this other tragedy of the Spanish high-speed rail, the Spanish government approved a royal decree that set compensation of a little over 210,000 euros per deceased person as part of a set of immediate aid and advances to the victims.

Of the figure allocated at that time for the relatives of each deceased person, 72,000 euros corresponded to non-refundable compensation, 72,000 euros more as an advance on civil liability compensation, and another 72,000 euros to cover mandatory insurance. At that time, the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, explained that this decision was adopted because ordinary procedures and judicial timelines do not always respond to the vital urgency of a tragedy, and that victims cannot wait to receive financial support.

This Tuesday, Puente will present a report to the Council of Ministers regarding the accident, and the expectation is that he will then appear at a press conference from the Moncloa Palace to report on this document and the aid for the victims of the accident. After the press conference, the minister will also appear before the Permanent Deputation of Congress to provide information on the data available regarding the accident.

Demand for accountability

Puente will arrive on Tuesday having collected resignation requests from practically the entire parliamentary spectrum. In addition to the most obvious ones –those of the PP and Vox–, this weekend representatives from Junts, the BNG, and Bildu have insisted that the minister's dismissal is “essential”, “inevitable”, and “non-deferrable”. One of the most belligerent parties against Puente has been his partner in the Spanish government: Sumar has requested the resignation or dismissal of Puente for the last three consecutive days. First it was their presidential candidate, Ada Colau; then their head of the list in Madrid, Emilio Delgado, and this Sunday they were joined by the coordinator of Sumar, Verónica Barbero: "Óscar Puente must end up resigning because someone has to assume this political responsibility and that is something the people need," she said at an event in Vigo, in the resumption of the pre-campaign events once the days of official mourning have ended.

For the moment, the only parties of the majority that invested Pedro Sánchez in 2023 that have not explicitly demanded the dismissal of Puente for the Toledo accident are ERC, Podemos, and the PNB, although all three have been harsh in their demand for explanations from the minister.