Spain’s king and queen attend memorial for 69 rail crash victims

Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia joined relatives and senior politicians at a memorial service in Toledo on Tuesday for the 69 people killed in the Urda train crash last month. The investigation into the disaster is continuing, while a nationwide rail strike over safety took place on the day of the service.

The crash happened near Urda, on the Madrid-Seville line, when a moving train struck the back of a stationary one. It was Spain’s deadliest rail disaster since 2013, and 28 people remain in hospital.

Archbishop Francisco Cerro Chaves told those attending that the accident had left families, towns and society with “a pain that is difficult to accept”. Relatives of the victims carried lit candles to the altar; Ana Benítez, whose brother David died in the crash, gave the first reading.

The king and queen spoke with victims’ relatives after the Catholic Mass. Among the politicians present were opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano García-Page and Transport and Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo. Cuerpo took over the transport portfolio after Óscar Puente resigned last week amid mounting pressure following the crash.

The Urda disaster was Spain’s second major rail tragedy this year. A collision on the same high-speed line in January killed 46 people. The BBC reported that the investigation into the latest crash remains under way; Puente had suggested that human error combined with a safety-system glitch may have been responsible.

The service took place less than three weeks before Spain’s 29 November general election. The crash is seen as a potential setback for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s re-election bid. Train drivers were striking on Tuesday to demand improved rail safety, and rail services were expected to face further disruption on Wednesday because of a separate general strike led by housing activists seeking rent-control measures.