Spain began three days of official mourning on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, following a rail collision that killed at least 68 people and injured dozens more. The disaster occurred near Urda, in the province of Toledo, when a high-speed train traveling from Madrid to Seville struck a stationary train from behind on Wednesday morning.
The stationary train, operated by the private company Iryo, was carrying 147 passengers and had stopped on the tracks due to a computer failure. According to Transport Minister Óscar Puente, the state-owned Renfe train, carrying 397 passengers, was instructed by a control center in Madrid to continue moving without speed restrictions despite the stalled train ahead. The impact caused several carriages to derail and fall down an embankment, with at least one carriage catching fire.
Emergency crews utilized floodlights, drones, and helicopters to search the wreckage for victims, many of whom have not yet been identified. The Spanish Civil Guard established bureaus in Madrid, Toledo, Seville, and Córdoba to assist in the identification of missing persons and collect DNA samples. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the event as a tragedy and noted that it is the second serious rail accident in Spain this year.
The scale of the disaster, involving 544 passengers across two trains, makes it one of the deadliest rail accidents in modern European history and the worst in Spain since a 2013 crash killed 80 people.
Most political parties suspended campaigning for upcoming elections, though the party Vox declined to participate in the suspension. The Spanish Union of Railway Drivers (Semaf) proceeded with a planned strike on Thursday, Oct. 29, to protest for railway safety. The crash is the second fatal incident on this specific route since January, when 46 people were killed in a separate crash near Córdoba.
The incident prompted the European Commission to fly European Union flags at half-mast in Brussels. In Madrid, approximately 1,500 demonstrators gathered at the Ministry of Transport on Wednesday night to demand the resignation of government officials, resulting in police using tear gas to disperse the crowd. Investigators are now focused on audio recordings between Madrid controllers and drivers to determine why the Renfe train was cleared to enter the occupied track.