Every top-two-division match in Spain will pause for a minute’s silence this weekend, as investigators recover the trains’ data recorders and the country continues three days of national mourning
Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have paid tribute to the victims of Wednesday’s train collision south of Madrid, which killed at least 69 people. Spain’s football authorities have now widened the response, with LaLiga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) confirming a minute’s silence at every Primera División and Segunda División match this weekend. The federation has also told all its national competitions to follow suit and encouraged players to wear black armbands. The crash involved a Renfe high-speed train and a stationary Iryo service near Urda, in Toledo province.
How football has responded
The RFEF announced the nationwide tributes at 11.08am on Thursday. They begin with that day’s Copa del Rey fixtures and cover football and futsal competitions across the country. The programme would include Barcelona’s home match against Deportivo Alavés on Saturday.
All 24 Copa del Rey first-round matches scheduled for Wednesday were postponed, including ties involving five LaLiga sides. The RFEF published a revised timetable on 28 October, with games starting from Thursday 29 October, so the competition has not been suspended indefinitely. Nine futsal cup matches were also called off, and the futsal draw planned for Thursday at 4pm was suspended.
Beyond Spain, Real Madrid Women wore black armbands and observed a minute’s silence before their Champions League match at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, according to the club’s website. AS reported tributes before Bayern–Real Madrid, HB Køge–Barcelona and Real Sociedad–Fenerbahçe. Atlético Madrid held a minute’s silence at the Metropolitano during a ceremony for long-serving members, attended by club president Enrique Cerezo and former players.
Real Madrid captain Fede Valverde offered to help spread information that could help find people still unaccounted for, ESPN reported. Tennis player Carlos Alcaraz also posted a message of sympathy for the victims and their families.
Investigation under way
Spain’s independent accident investigation authority, AITAT, recovered the onboard data recorders from both trains on Thursday evening, according to Cadena SER. Some equipment was hard to reach because of the damage to the carriages. The devices have been sealed and placed with the Guardia Civil, pending transfer to the court in Orgaz, Toledo.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente has said investigators want to know why the Renfe train was allowed to resume normal running after a safety-system failure while the Iryo train stood on the same track. He called the decision “inexplicable”. El País reported that investigators are examining a failure of the LZB automatic train-protection system, technical logs, maintenance records, and the messages between the trains and the control centre. No final finding on responsibility has been made.
A judge has imposed a two-kilometre exclusion zone around the site to preserve evidence, Reuters reported.
Casualties and rescue
The official death toll stands at 69. Spain’s rail accident investigation commission briefly listed 74 on its website before correcting it shortly after 6.10pm, EFE reported, and the Ministry of Transport confirmed 69 as the official figure. More than 500 passengers were on the two trains. The Iryo service carried 147, and early reports of the Renfe service’s passenger numbers varied.
According to EFE, regional authorities in Castilla-La Mancha said 50 people were still in hospital and 60 had been discharged out of 110 admissions. The Guardia Civil has received 64 missing-person reports. Regional president Emiliano García-Page said four of the 15 most seriously injured patients were improving. Around 1,300 emergency personnel were mobilised. Crews were still using cranes to move an overturned carriage and search beneath it, with officials cautiously hopeful no more bodies would be found there.
El País reported that the opposition People’s Party had confirmed that Fátima Báñez, employment minister under former prime minister Mariano Rajoy, was among the dead.
A country in mourning
Spain declared three days of national mourning, with flags at half-mast until Sunday. More than 100 railway workers observed five minutes’ silence at Barcelona-Sants station, Catalan News reported. The Catalan Parliament held a minute’s silence outside its building at noon. Representatives of the People’s Party, Socialists and Sumar joined a ceremony outside the Congress of Deputies, according to Cadena SER.
