The Urda crash killed 69 people and left more than 200 injured, as Spain’s rail infrastructure administrator prepared for a change at the top. The collision took place on 28 October 2026 on the Madrid-to-Andalusia high-speed route, when a Renfe high-speed train struck a stationary Iryo train near Urda. BBC reporting put the Renfe train’s speed at between 160 and 200 km/h at impact. Luis Pedro Marco de la Peña submitted his resignation to Carlos Cuerpo, then vice-president and minister for Economic Affairs and Transport, on 4 November. Government sources said Cuerpo accepted it at a meeting in Madrid. Adif manages Spain’s railway infrastructure and the systems that control signalling and train traffic.
Marco had already informed the former transport minister of his decision. He submitted it to Cuerpo within hours of the minister taking over the portfolio; Óscar Puente had resigned the previous day. Marco’s resignation marked the second senior transport departure in roughly 24 hours. When it was announced, the government had not publicly attributed personal responsibility for the Urda crash to him.
Marco became Adif president in November 2024. Before that, he led Red Ferroviaria Vasca from 2009 to 2013 and served as vice-councillor for Infrastructure and Transport in the Basque government from 2020 to 2024. He earned an engineering degree in Caminos, Canales y Puertos from Universidad de Cantabria in 1993. Ara reported that he was the first Adif president appointed from outside the organisation; the agency had had four presidents in seven years. During Marco’s tenure, Adif also faced the Adamuz high-speed accident in Córdoba, which killed 46 people.
Marco’s departure came two years after he took over the rail infrastructure administrator, as investigations into the Urda accident continued. A preliminary report by Spain’s independent accident-investigation authority, AITAT, pointed to a chain of faults and decisions rather than a single human error. Investigators were examining communications between train drivers and Adif’s control room at Atocha, alongside the transition from LZB to BSL signalling. They were also reviewing movement authorisations and safeguards intended to prevent a moving train from colliding with a stationary one. The inquiry, registered as case 146/2026, remained preliminary. AITAT was expected in principle to issue its final report within a year. Adif’s board had also recently approved a 2026 to 2030 financing framework with the government, including increased spending on track maintenance and safety.
