Pedro Sánchez announces that the Council of Ministers will approve a decree providing aid for the victims of the Urda accident

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has announced a decree providing aid for the victims of the Urda train crash and has given an assurance that the Government will stand by the families of the 69 victims of the tragedy "every step of the way, through their grief and every administrative procedure, but also in the search for answers to what should never have happened".

He made these remarks during his speech at the World in Progress Barcelona 2026 Forum, organised by the Prisa Group at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya in Barcelona, and attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares; the Minister for Social Inclusion, Social Security and Migration and Government Spokesperson, Elma Saiz; the President of Catalonia, Salvador Illa; the Government Delegate in Catalonia, José Crespín; and the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni. "There are dozens of families torn apart by an accident that should never have happened, and there is, too, an entire country mourning alongside them. To those families, I want to say that we are and will remain by their side. We will stand with them every step of the way: through their grief, of course, and through every administrative procedure, but also in the search for answers that we must find to what should never have happened", he emphasised at the start of his speech, in which he also expressed his thoughts for the 34 injured people who remain in hospital, wishing them "a speedy recovery from the bottom of my heart".

Pedro Sánchez has stated that independent investigators and the judiciary are working "to establish the facts surrounding this accident" and has given an assurance that "they will do so using all the resources necessary to establish the causes, with complete transparency and in a thorough and rigorous manner". "Our primary obligation as the Government of Spain is to restore the public's lost confidence in high-speed rail, as soon as possible and whatever the cost. I have no doubt whatsoever that we will be able to do so by taking action on 'various fronts'," he said, adding that "the most urgent and absolute priority at this time is to provide assistance to the victims".

Increased benefits, advance payments, temporary incapacity benefits and personalised service centres

In this regard, he has announced that the Council of Ministers will approve a decree based on the support package already put in place for the victims of the Adamuz accident. The decree will include a support scheme that doubles the amounts provided under compulsory passenger insurance, a specific mechanism for the advance payment of compensation, a specific procedure for temporary incapacity to provide improved cover for the accident victims, and the establishment of offices offering comprehensive and personalised support within the regional government and sub-regional offices of the regional governments where the affected individuals reside.

The President of the Government of Spain also emphasised the "lesson" that "when everything falls apart, what sustains us is what belongs to us all", so "the response to this tragedy can never be fewer public services", but rather "it must be much greater investment and greater care for what belongs to us all, because every cut to public services is a cut to our ability to protect one another in the most difficult times". Pedro Sánchez highlighted that in recent days, "amidst the grief, we have seen the best of our country", referring to the work of the emergency services (112 teams, the Civil Guard, firefighters, UME military personnel, healthcare workers and hospitals in Castilla-La Mancha, staff identifying victims and providing psychological support), as well as the residents of the village of Urda who "went out of their way to care for the injured with everything they had" and "stories that speak of hope", such as that of the Civil Guard officer who "found a young woman still alive" and accompanied her until she could be rescued. "That is Spain: a country which, in the face of adversity, comes together like no other country in the world, and which asks no questions and hesitates not when it comes to offering help with everything it has," he remarked.

"Progress cannot be taken for granted"

During his speech at the event, the head of the Executive warned that "progress cannot be taken for granted because there is always a risk of regression", particularly, he said, in "the highly complex context in which we find ourselves, marked by three threats looming over our continent: the return of war, competition between major powers and the struggle for resources". He referred to Putin's war against Ukraine, the "fierce competition" between China and the United States, and the dispute over resources stemming from the "illegal" war in the Middle East and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, at an additional cost of 100 billion euros. "This threefold challenge leads to the same conclusion: Europe needs to be stronger, more autonomous and more united. And, above all, it needs to do so without renouncing the principles and values that define it", he argued.

In this regard, he noted that "Spain is demonstrating through its actions that it is possible to grow, create more jobs and, at the same time, reduce the deficit and debt without cuts or sacrifices. We are growing more, but, above all, we are growing better: reducing public debt, private debt and external debt all at once". He cited figures reflecting "reasonably optimal economic performance", such as growth of 0.6 per cent in the third quarter and 2.7 per cent over the past year, the record high of 22.8 million people in employment, and the lowest deficit in 18 years, although he noted "outstanding challenges", some of which are "pressing", such as housing and the rising cost of living "caused largely by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East".

Nevertheless, he emphasised that "the evidence is overwhelming: Spain is moving forward, and it is doing so without abandoning the European social model", which is "being challenged by forces seeking to weaken Europe and undermine our unity at a time when we need it most". In this vein, he warned that "the far-right international movement is forging alliances to weaken Europe from within". "Such rhetoric harks back to the darkest moments of our history and reminds us that democracy and human rights are not the finish line of a race we have already won. We must fight for them, day after day, every single day," he argued.

"Spain is governed from Spain, not from Washington, Tel Aviv, Moscow or Buenos Aires"

"How have we got to this point?" he asked, bearing in mind that for the far right, "conflict is not merely a means to attain power; it is an end in itself". Although artificial intelligence and the lack of transparency in algorithms "have a major impact on political and public discourse", he emphasised that the far right consolidates its positions wherever the traditional right chooses to rely on it. "When the traditional right has tried to whitewash these pacts by normalising the rhetoric of the far right, it ends up being subsumed by them," he warned. In any case, he pointed out that far-right leaders "know there are lines that must not be crossed" because "it would mean doing so hand in hand with forces controlled by foreign leaders and oligarchs. They are the ones who provide the funding and set the course to be followed". "There should be no doubt about this. Spain is governed from Spain. Not from Washington, Tel Aviv, Moscow or Buenos Aires. And that is the path Europe needs to take."

"We must rethink Europe in order to strengthen it," he argued. "We have seen this in Urda over the last few days: a country is stronger when it unites in the face of adversity. And the same applies to Europe. In the face of those who want less Europe, our response must inevitably be much more Europe. In the face of those who advocate regression as a political project, we must champion progress. And in the face of those who seek to confront and divide us, we must build greater unity."

Non official translation