Oscar Puente has decided to leave the Ministry of Transport, speaking about infrastructure: the expansion of the high-speed network at the opening of one of the most complex, delicate and sensitive debates in Spain. Or rather, the obsession of Spanish cities and regions with having high-speed trains without paying attention to costs or looking for common standards. The lightning box was opened yesterday by Puente when (almost) no one knew that only a few hours later he would announce his resignation before the Permanent Commission of the Congress of Deputies.
he leaves The controversy that arose at the most difficult moment in the history of acceleration remains.
What happened? Óscar Puente has not only been head of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility for three years. To many it is too Terrible emphasis In the government of Pedro Sánchez, his square, a politician ready for controversy and obsessed with the network who has sparked controversy since taking over his portfolio at the end of 2023.
Yesterday, during an extensive press conference of the Council of Ministers approving a plan to “optimize railway safety” after the Urda tragedy, he showed that profile by fully entering a thorny debate: the expansion of high speed in Spain and the political use of the infrastructure in recent years.
What exactly did he say? You can hear the full statement about these lines in the video that we have included, starting at 56 minutes, but they are easily summarized: Puente warned that everyone in Spain wants to have high-speed lines in their region and also demanded that the infrastructure goes underground, without first establishing common standards. Among other things, he warned, this cost the state coffers billions of dollars.
Controversy over the expansion of the railway network and how it was arranged in Spain led to Puente’s reflection. And his reaction is strong.
“Is there anyone in this country who is willing to give up high speed (AV) in a regional area? Is there anyone who does not cry if AV is not brought to their region? Is there a political leader, am I not going by the signs, who does not push as much as possible for AV to reach their region? And if it does not come first from the ministerial order, then make it a tool?” “Analyze the history of the last 20, 30 years of this country. If you don’t have an AV, you’re nobody. If you don’t have an AV, you’re not treated as you deserve. I hear that phrase a lot.”
Did he say anything else? yes Without going into details or specific cases in the middle of the 29-N pre-campaign, Puente emphasized: “I sincerely believe that this is a debate that concerns all of us because it is not a party or a political leader, I think it is a debate of society itself.”
“Like a grave, anyway. Everyone wants the train to be buried in their city. How much will it cost to bury the trains? There is an estimate, not updated, that the underground protocol of the railways across Spain cost 40,000 million euros. Do the math. But here everyone wants, because you have a city underground. The department and I speak for myself,” continued Puente, who serves as mayor of Valladolid until June 2023. observed
Does context matter? a lot In fact, in this case it is as important as the statements themselves. Puente appeared after a ministerial council in which railway safety was one of the central issues. The meeting was held a week after the Urda tragedy, which involved an AVE train and an Erio and left dozens injured and 69 dead. The events that followed the Adamuz accident (46 deaths) on the Madrid-Andalusia network marked the last days of Moncloa in general and Puente in particular.
Since both trains hit Urda (Toledo) last Wednesday, there have been calls for the resignation or dismissal of Puente, the head of the transport portfolio. The pressure came from PP and Vox, but also from the executive’s associate partners. For days Puente had rejected the idea of leaving office (“My way of taking responsibility is to show my face”), but yesterday afternoon, after morning briefings and mass attendance at Congress, he did just the opposite.
What does this mean? While theoretically answering questions from the press, Puente already knew he only had a few hours left in office. This is how he explains it the countryWhich actually claims that the minister decided to give up his portfolio right after the Urda accident (Wednesday, October 28), although he kept it a secret until yesterday afternoon. With that information, the final part of Puente’s response to reporters is particularly interesting.
After complaining that in Spain we reject soft railway mergers as considered “poor”, while “rich cities” like Zurich or Bordeaux choose this option, he called for a reflection on the underlying debate.
“We have to keep the train buried everywhere. And in the social spiral in which we have been involved for the last 30 years we have made decisions that could be wrong. I will not blame anyone (…). I think it is a question of social education and towards an adult society that understands that resources are limited, that establishes rules that prevent discrimination. Why was this not common? “Why was it common? Is it difficult for adults in our country to do politics? I’ll leave it at that,” concluded Puente, who admitted to speaking “almost as a relief.”
What does the data say? Whether you agree with the former transport minister’s reflections or not, there is something undeniable: Spain is one of the countries with the largest high-speed rail network. In fact, if we look at its length (measured in kilometers in 2021) it is the second longest. Only China has surpassed us. After the Angrois (2023), Adamuz (January) and Urda (October) accidents, our country now has another record: it is more than half of the fatalities recorded throughout the history of high speed, although the worst accident to date occurred in Eschede (Germany) in June 1998, which killed 1 person.
Picture | Pool Moncloa/Sandra Armada
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