What caused the high-speed train crash near Urda in Spain that killed at least 69 people?

Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente said a computer failure followed by human error led a Renfe train from Madrid to Seville, after being forced to stop, to be told too early to continue. It then ran into the back of a stationary train run by Italian-owned Iryo near Urda in Castilla-La Mancha, about 100 miles south of Madrid. Audio of the driver talking to a rail controller in Madrid appeared to support that account.

• More than 100 people were taken to hospital and around 50 had been discharged.
• Spain began three days of mourning, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez promised to establish the cause.
• Train drivers staged a 24-hour strike over rail safety that had been planned before the crash.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Global News Podcast (2026-10-29). Read the whole episode summary →

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