Spain woke to a national tragedy after two high-speed trains collided near Adamuz, outside Córdoba, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 70 in the country’s worst rail disaster in more than a decade.
The crash unfolded just an hour after a Málaga–Madrid Freccia 1000 derailed on a straight stretch of track and veered into an oncoming Renfe service. The impact crushed the front carriages, throwing wagons onto their sides and trapping passengers inside twisted metal.
Rescue teams described a race against time. Fire chief Francisco Carmona said bodies had to be removed to reach survivors. One passenger compared the impact to an earthquake.
What has shocked investigators is not only the scale of the tragedy, but its mystery.
“This is extremely strange,” Transport Minister Óscar Puente said, noting that experts are baffled by how a modern train on a straight track could derail without warning. The Freccia 1000 is among Europe’s most advanced high-speed trains, capable of 400 km/h.
All rail links between Madrid and Andalusia were suspended as Spain launched a full investigation, expected to take at least a month.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called it “a night of deep pain.” Across Europe, leaders offered condolences.
For a country proud of the world’s second-largest high-speed rail network, the crash raises a chilling question: how did one of Europe’s safest systems fail so catastrophically?
