Former Spanish employment minister Fatima Banez has died alongside 68 other people following a catastrophic train crash in Urda, in the province of Toledo.
The disaster, which occurred ten days ago, has triggered intense political controversy across Spain, with journalist Eduardo Inda accusing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Transport Minister Oscar Puente of criminal negligence over rail safety management.
Inda claimed that the fatal accident was completely preventable and asserted that the 69 victims would still be alive if safety mechanisms on the railway line had been properly maintained.
The tragedy in Urda, a municipality south of Toledo, marks one of the deadliest railway disasters in recent Spanish history and has provoked deep sorrow within the conservative Partido Popular, where Banez served as a prominent minister for more than six years.
Rail safety system failures
In a strongly worded column, Inda placed direct blame for the tragedy on the central government, alleging that technical precautions that could have stopped the disaster were not put in place. He maintained that if the railway line's LZB signaling and protection system had been in proper working condition, the 69 deaths would never have happened.
The Linienzugbeeinflussung system, commonly known as LZB, is a continuous automatic train supervision technology used on Spanish high-speed lines to monitor speeds, calculate braking curves, and stop trains automatically if a hazard occurs. Inda argued that transport officials failed in their basic obligations to ensure the system remained in full working order.
Inda also targeted Puente directly, arguing that Sanchez should have dismissed the transport minister from the cabinet in January. He asserted that removing Puente earlier in the year would have prevented the tragedy in Toledo from taking place.
The columnist linked the Urda derailment to a separate railway incident in Adamuz, in the southern province of Cordoba. According to Inda, the Adamuz incident stemmed from a track welding failure that was the fault of contractors and transport ministry supervisors who failed to carry out their monitoring duties.
Political fallout over government response
Beyond technical concerns, Inda directed severe criticism at Sanchez for his conduct after the accident, accusing the prime minister of displaying callous indifference toward the victims. He noted that Sanchez did not visit the crash site in Urda, nor did he visit the municipal sports centre where emergency response efforts were centered or the hospitals treating injured passengers.
Inda stated that the prime minister had not called the leadership of the Partido Popular to express his condolences privately, nor had he published a public message of sympathy on social media following the loss of the former minister.
The journalist contrasted that silence with Sanchez's past actions regarding members of the Basque militant group ETA. He pointed to an earlier appearance by the prime minister in the Spanish Senate, where Sanchez stated in a solemn tone that he deeply regretted the death of Igor Gonzalez Sola, an ETA prisoner who died by suicide in his cell at Martutene prison in San Sebastian.
Inda argued that while the prime minister had offered public words of regret for a convicted ETA member, he failed to demonstrate basic respect or sympathy following the death of Banez and the other victims in Toledo.
Architect of Spanish labor reform
Banez served as Minister of Employment and Social Security from December 2011 until June 2018 in the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. During her period in office, she directed the landmark 2012 labor reform, designed to restructure Spain's employment framework following the European debt crisis.
Inda recalled spending many hours with Banez in her office at the Ministry of Employment while she explained every detail of the reform. He described the legislation as the most effective economic policy introduced in Spain over the past quarter century, noting that it helped transform a struggling economy and returned the country to three percent annual growth.
According to Inda, the reform created two million jobs over six years, which helped recover a significant portion of the 3.5 million positions lost under the previous eight-year administration of Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Inda praised Banez as the finest employment minister in Spanish history, arguing that economic figures supported that judgment.
He described Banez as a humble, charismatic, and polite public servant whose personality remained unchanged despite high office. He noted that she treated everyone with equal courtesy, from King Felipe VI to office messengers, and contrasted her record with that of the current labor minister, Yolanda Diaz, whom he described as a monument to frivolity.
Comparisons with the Rajoy administration
The reflection on Banez's career led Inda to praise Rajoy's cabinet as a government of exceptional administrative competence. He described Banez and former Defense Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal as the two outstanding ministers of that administration, emphasizing that the cabinet was filled with elite civil servants, including state attorneys, property registrars, tax inspectors, and commercial technicians.
Inda noted that former finance minister Cristobal Montoro, despite later legal problems, held strong academic credentials as a university professor of public finance. He contrasted that executive team with the current Socialist government, stating that comparing the two was like comparing football star Cristiano Ronaldo with a reserve left winger from a small village team.
He also contrasted that administrative standard with current political controversies involving the government, referencing scandals connected to former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos and former advisor Koldo Garcia.
Aftermath of the Urda disaster
The train crash in Urda has left 69 people dead, making it one of the most devastating rail tragedies in modern Spain. The loss of life has generated deep shock across the country and provoked intense scrutiny of transport safety management.
While questions continue to surround the operational state of the LZB safety system and the maintenance of railway tracks in Toledo, the disaster has intensified political divisions in Madrid ten days after the fatal derailment took place.
