Transport Minister resigns as rail tragedies force Sánchez's hand
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Óscar Puente has resigned as Minister of Transport after a week of government hesitation and two train accidents. The departure follows a crash in Urda that killed 115 people and ends a period of internal division that the Prime Minister's office was denying only hours before it became a reality.
Pedro Sánchez is expected to name a replacement this Wednesday, attempting to move past a crisis that has seen Puente exit the cabinet amid a difficult session in Congress. Internal polling and a sense of exhaustion within Moncloa reportedly accelerated the exit of a minister the government had previously tried to shield.
The administrative machinery continues elsewhere as Social Security data showed 186,600 jobs added in October, a growth rate fueled primarily by foreign workers. In Catalunya, rail services remain unsettled by disruptions and road closures.