Minister defends Córdoba crash response as suspicion falls on faulty weld

Transport minister Óscar Puente took to the floor of the Spanish Senado this week determined to defend himself and undo what he described as "right-wing misinformation" about the rail tragedy that killed 45 near Cordoba.

He said he had done "everything within his power" to support the victims, provide real-time information and coordinate with other authorities. He also sought to counter what he called "false claims" spread in recent days, while reiterating his full commitment to the truth, "even if at times I provide information and later have to correct it".

Investigators continue to focus on a small section of track that broke, apparently due to a faulty weld between the main line and recently replaced points. The transport minister has come under fire in recent days for having stated in the immediate aftermath that all the affected track had been recently renewed, not just the points, although experts have said such partial renewal is relatively common in railway infrastructure.

Amid continued grief of the victims, it was decided to postpone a non-denominational national funeral service until a later date, amid criticism it could be politicised.

As the inquiry into the Cordoba disaster continues and speed restrictions remain in place on parts of the country's high-speed network as a precaution, separate, weather-related problems on Catalonia's local Rodalies rail network have led to the forced resignation of two officials.