Oscar Puente's tricks in dismissing two true news stories about Adamuz as 'hoaxes'

In recent days, Pedro Sánchez's government has repeatedly asked people to get their information through official channels.

Adamuz: Pedro Sánchez applies a technique used by Zapatero to dilute responsibilities
Adamuz: a government that spread hoaxes about the railway sector is now warning against them

A minister who calls true news stories 'hoaxes'

The problem arises when one of those official channels, specifically a minister, engages in spreading misinformation. In recent days, two media outlets have published very detailed reports on the deterioration of the railway infrastructure, news that reflects very poorly on the Ministry of Transport, headed by Óscar Puente, and even opens the door to political and criminal accountability for the Adamuz train accident, in which 45 people died.

The news from El Español about the out-of-service inspection trains

On Friday, the newspaper El Español ran the headline: "Adif has had 4 of the 7 trains that inspect the tracks for micro-cracks 'abandoned' in the depots for two years". The article offered all sorts of details about these trains, even referring to official information about them, noting that one of them, the Talgo of the 106 series known as Doctor Avril, is in Burgos, indicating that it is awaiting entry into service, while three Stadler S-162 type inspection train units are awaiting homologation. El Español also pointed out that a fifth train, the Séneca, has been out of service for almost six months in the last year due to a breakdown.

Puente called the news a 'hoax' but confirmed that there are only three active inspection trains

That same day, Óscar Puente called the news a "hoax," stating: "There are three Stadler inspection trains and one Talgo 106." However, at the end of his message, the minister acknowledged the following: "The 106, which has significant homologation problems, is scheduled to be operational by the end of the year." Thus, Puente admits that there are only three active inspection trains, which is exactly what El Español reported in its article, which the minister dismissed as a "hoax." Likewise, that same day the president of ADIF acknowledged the breakdown of the Seneca train, in a confusing statement in which he also hinted that two of the Stadler trains are not running.

El Mundo confirms that the track was not completely renovated

Furthermore, late Saturday, the newspaper El Mundo published: "The Iryo train began to derail from a section of track that had not been renovated and was manufactured in 1989." This publication includes a photo showing a section of track where the Iryo train derailed a week ago. The track is clearly dated 1989. El Mundo states: "Adif renovated the area where the Iryo derailed last Sunday 'in sections,' and the rail renewal only affected the points. The exact point of rail breakage is the weld between the renewed and old rails."

The Ministry of Transport itself contradicted the minister this Friday

This information is especially serious. Let us recall that a few hours after the accident, Puente said it occurred on "a completely renovated track". However, this Friday, in a report on a press conference held by Óscar Puente alongside the presidents of ADIF and Renfe, the Ministry of Transport acknowledged in an official statement that only the turnouts were changed: "Turnout renewal, amounting to 26.86 million. This included the replacement of the Adamuz turnouts, which were renewed in May/June 2025 and entered service on June 20." In other words, this statement from his own Ministry made it clear that Puente did not tell the truth in his first press conference hours after the accident.

Puente ignores the detail of the welding and calls the El Mundo news story a 'hoax'

Ignoring all of this, this afternoon Puente called the information from El Mundo a "hoax": "The broken rail that caused the derailment is a new rail. Specifically, number 312592Y101. I've attached photos and the shipping note. Manufactured in 2023, weighing 60 kg per meter, and installed during May and June of 2025. STOP SPREADING MISINFORMATION!" Let's remember that El Mundo stated: "The exact point of rail breakage is the weld between the renewed and old rails." In his messages published this afternoon on his Twitter account about this matter, the minister has completely ignored that key detail and has also failed to cite the statement from his Ministry indicating that only the diversions were renewed, which proves El Mundo right.

El Mundo accuses the minister of publishing “biased documentation”

This afternoon, El Mundo has already responded to the minister, accusing him of publishing "biased documentation" to issue a false denial of his report from yesterday. The newspaper points out that the photographs published by the minister himself "prove that the exact location of the accident is the junction of the old and updated tracks and that it did not occur on a "completely renovated" section, as he claims". El Mundo adds: "What the minister is doing to try to debunk what he calls a hoax is offering only the documentation for the new track, but not for the old one. Nor for the weld that joined them both and whose collapse ended up destabilizing the train."

Óscar Puente and Pedro Sánchez must resign

In the end, the conclusion to be drawn from all this is that the socialist minister is so desperate to cover up his responsibility for this accident that he has no qualms about lying, as he has done these past two days in his responses to these news reports. The minister's lies even contradict the information provided by his own ministry and by the president of ADIF, highlighting both the lack of resources to inspect the tracks and the partial renovation of a track that still contained rails dating back to 1989.

Under these circumstances, the only thing to expect from Óscar Puente is his resignation, which should be accompanied by the resignation of Pedro Sánchez, who today has endorsed the Transport Minister's handling of the situation. This government's mismanagement has already cost 45 lives in Adamuz. They cannot remain in office for another day, risking the lives of users of a railway system degraded by obvious maintenance deficiencies.

+ UPDATED 26.1.2026 10:16h: ADIF openly contradicts Óscar Puente: "Adif confirms to laSexta that the track that collapsed is from 2023 and that it is connected to an original section from 1992".

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Photo: La Moncloa. Spain's Minister of Transport, the socialist Óscar Puente.