Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the People’s Party candidate for prime minister, has accused the government of trying to assign responsibility for last week’s rail accident in Urda, Toledo, to a single worker. At least 69 people died in the crash.

Speaking after a meeting of the PP’s national leadership in Madrid, Feijóo defended employees at the Atocha control centre and said the government had spent hours looking for someone to blame instead of addressing wider responsibility for the disaster.

He argued that the railway system could not be reduced to one employee, pointing to safety systems, maintenance, conservation and supervision. Feijóo described the government’s conduct as “infamous, cruel and vile” and expressed support for train drivers, controllers and employees of Adif and Renfe.

The PP leader also linked the criticism to the Adamuz accident several months ago. He said that, nine months later, families still did not know what had caused the breakage of a rail on the high-speed line connecting Madrid and Andalusia. In his view, the two accidents had caused more than 115 deaths and demonstrated political responsibility beyond that of railway workers.

Feijóo maintained that “everything that could fail” had failed in the Urda accident and said this showed that the government were not good managers. He also questioned their character, saying he doubted they were “good people”.

The opposition leader again called for Óscar Puente to leave the Transport Ministry. Although Puente has said he made his position available to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Feijóo argued that neither the minister had resigned nor had Sánchez dismissed him.

Feijóo alleged that Sánchez was keeping Puente in office for electoral reasons and claimed that surveys were being commissioned to determine whether dismissing him would benefit or harm the government. He criticised the idea of deciding a minister’s removal according to polling, saying it reflected the government’s moral standards.

He also rebuked Puente for referring to the political campaign as a personal ordeal. Feijóo said the real suffering belonged to the families waiting for the remains of their relatives, those who would never see their loved ones again, the injured and the wider community affected by the tragedy.

Sources: elDiario.es.