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Spain's
Sanchez reshuffles cabinet after transport minister quits over train crashes
By David
Latona
November
4, 202610:00 AM GMT+1Updated 34 mins ago
Summary
Companies
PM
Sanchez's 'attack dog' Puente exits amid rail safety backlash
Puente
decided right after crash to resign, told only family
Polls
show Socialist drop after crash
Snap
election taking place on November 29
MADRID,
Nov 4 (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday his
deputy, Carlos Cuerpo, would provisionally run the Transport Ministry after
Oscar Puente's resignation over two deadly high-speed train crashes this year.
Puente's
move six days after this year's second deadly train crash has left the ruling
Socialists fighting an election campaign without one of their most combative,
but also polarising, voices.
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In a
brief televised address, Sanchez praised Puente for his political dignity,
saying his decision helped the country regain confidence in the rail system.
Announcing
his replacement by Cuerpo, who is also Spain's economy minister, Sanchez said:
"Cuerpo has shown in this legislature an enormous capacity for management and integrity."
Puente
surprised lawmakers by quietly announcing he was stepping down on Tuesday night
following a tense four-hour grilling by lawmakers from a caretaker parliament
body, in which most parties demanded he face responsibility for the two rail
disasters that have killed 115 people combined.
One of
Prime Minister Sanchez's most loyal and high-profile ministers, Puente had
previously vowed to stay on to tackle the investigation last week's crash and
fix the system's flaws, despite widespread calls for his exit from both the
opposition and coalition partners.
But on
Tuesday, the 57-year-old minister revealed he had in fact already made his
decision in the immediate aftermath of the train crash in central Spain's
Urda, only telling his family while keeping even Sanchez in the dark.
Puente's
resignation will only become effective once it is published in the official state gazette. He also said he would
not stand as a candidate in the upcoming election on November 29.
'WE ARE
NOT ALL THE SAME'
Puente's
surprise announcement came after polls run following last Wednesday's deadly
crash showed a slight drop in support for the ruling Socialists, who had hoped
to fight this election campaign on their ability to uphold social services and
a housing crisis.
"Politicians
like (Puente) bring honour to our country and show us that we are not all the same. Whilst some
merely preach, others give their all," Sanchez said after Puente's
announcement, adding he had "stood up, offered solutions and then stepped aside".
A lawyer
and former mayor, Puente took on the post of transport minister in November
2023, overseeing the expansion of Spain's rail network
and rollout of investments supported in part by EU recovery funds.
The
minister has for years been heavily criticised by unions and opposition parties
for underinvestment in maintenance and increased disruptions, culminating in a
Senate motion demanding his resignation in February after a fatal crash on the same Madrid-Seville line where
last Wednesday's collision occurred.
Dubbed
by media commentators as Sanchez's 'attack dog', he frequently traded barbs
with rivals on messaging platform X or in parliament with a pugnacious style
that led him to become a top contender in discussions over Sanchez's eventual
succession.
Reporting
by David Latona; Editing by Victoria Waldersee and William Maclean
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