European leaders have expressed their solidarity with Spain after at least 50 people were killed in a collision between two high-speed trains near Urda, in the central Spanish province of Toledo, on October 28.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she had received devastating news from Toledo and that her thoughts were with the families of the victims. “Today, Europe mourns with you,” she wrote on X.
European Council President António Costa said he was deeply shocked by the crash and thanked the emergency teams working at the site. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola also sent her condolences to the families and friends of those killed.
French President Emmanuel Macron described the collision as a terrible rail tragedy and offered France’s solidarity with the Spanish people. He said his thoughts were with the victims, the injured and the rescue crews at the scene.
The crash happened at 8.54am at kilometre point 118 of the Madrid-Seville line, when a Renfe AVE ran into the back of an Iryo service that had stopped on the track, in the second high-speed rail disaster to hit Spain this year. Four carriages came off the rails and two of them fell down an embankment, with 544 people aboard the two trains and more than 179 injured.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro offered his condolences and told the Spanish authorities Lisbon stood ready to help with whatever was needed. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her government stood alongside Spain after the accident, which involved a service run by Iryo, a private operator majority-owned by Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda wrote to King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to convey his sadness at the crash and his wishes for the recovery of the injured. Belgian foreign minister Maxime Prévot said Spain could count on Belgium’s full solidarity.
Hungary’s foreign minister and deputy prime minister, Anita Orbán, sent a message to her Spanish counterpart José Manuel Albares expressing sorrow at the accident and support for the Spanish people. Her government, headed by Prime Minister Péter Magyar, has sought warmer relations with other member states since May.
The Castilla-La Mancha regional government activated its territorial emergency plan, Platecam, and the State-owned infrastructure manager Adif suspended high-speed traffic between Madrid and Andalusia.
The disaster struck the same corridor as the Adamuz crash of January 18, in which 45 people died in Córdoba province when an Iryo train derailed and was hit by a Renfe service. The European Union Agency for Railways said at the time that it was monitoring events with the European Commission, though rail safety on the network remains a matter for national authorities.
