SPAIN: Train Crashes & more – 22nd Jan 2026

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 22nd of January twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

Let’s start with this week’s top story. On Sunday, the 18th, a train derailed in southern Spain near the town of Adamuz when the rear of a Málaga-to-Madrid passenger train carrying over 280 people slammed into an oncoming train traveling from Madrid to Huelva in the southwest.

The impact derailed the front carriages of the second train, sending it down an embankment, scattering victims across the area. The accident is Spain’s largest train accident in over ten years.

By Thursday the 22nd, the official death toll had risen to forty-three, though authorities warned it could increase as rescue crews continued searching the debris.

On Monday the 19th, President Pedro Sánchez vowed to fully investigate its causes and declared three days of national mourning.

He visited the first crash site, calling it a day of sorrow for all of Spain and promising that the government would uncover the origin of the tragedy with absolute transparency and clarity. Óscar Puente, the transport minister, described the incident as extremely strange and said the investigation could take at least a month.

Initial reports have pointed to a possible faulty rail joint, though officials stress it is unclear whether this was a cause or a consequence of the crash. High-speed rail services in southern Spain remain suspended.

Unfortunately, we’ve got more train accidents to report, as on Tuesday the 20th, a commuter train derailed near Barcelona, killing the driver and injuring at least thirty-seven people, five seriously.

The Rodalies train struck a wall that collapsed onto the tracks between Gelida and Sant Sadurní in Eastern Catalunya late on Tuesday evening during heavy storms. Rail officials said the wall hit the driver’s cab first, causing severe damage to the first carriage where most injuries occurred.

Services across Catalunya’s Rodalies network have been suspended for safety checks, affecting about 400,000 commuters. The train drivers’ union Semaf has called a strike following this week's two serious crashes.

Sánchez hasn’t said anything about this accident yet, but Puente released a statement on Tuesday, the 22nd, saying that heavy rains are likely to have caused the accident. However, pressure is now intensified on both the central and regional Catalan government, shifting focus from the crash itself to long-standing failures in rail management and investment.

Commuters and unions describe Rodalies as not only unreliable but also dangerous. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, opposition leader and president of the Partido Popular (PP), has blamed government negligence and underinvestment.

Meanwhile, on Monday the 19th, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, president of Castile and León, in the northwest, called regional elections for the 15th of March, marking the end of the current legislature after completing its full four-year term.

The announcement was made in a written statement rather than a press conference, out of respect for victims of the train crash during the three national days of mourning. The decree dissolving the regional parliament was published on Tuesday, the 20th.

Castile and León is currently governed by the PP and has ruled alone since Vox left the coalition in twenty twenty-four. Polls suggest a close contest in March, with the PP favored to finish first but likely short of an absolute majority, leaving Vox as a potential kingmaker once again.

In other news, according to figures released by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration on Tuesday, the 20th, Spain ended twenty twenty-five with a record number of foreign workers registered in its social security system, exceeding three million.

The total represents an annual increase of 208,000 workers compared to twenty twenty-four and a rise of more than 815,000 since twenty twenty-one. Foreign workers now account for just over 14% of Spain’s registered workforce, underlining their growing importance to the economy.

Minister Elma Saiz described the contribution of foreign workers as structural and key to job creation, pension sustainability and shared prosperity. Moroccans remained the largest group of foreign workers, followed by Romanians, Colombians and Venezuelans.

Next, on Thursday the 15th, Sara Aagesen, the environment minister, warned the government of an alarming increase in hate speech and online abuse targeting meteorologists, climate scientists and science communicators.

In a letter sent last week to government hate crimes prosecutors, Aagesen said that recent ministry-reviewed studies showed a significant rise in hostile language on digital platforms, particularly on Twitter.

One study found that just over 17% of hostile posts contained hate speech or personal attacks aimed at professionals sharing verified scientific information, while another twenty twenty-four analysis identified climate emergency denialism in almost 50% of climate-related posts.

On that note about climate, severe storms ran through Catalunya on Tuesday, the 20th, prompting red alerts for torrential rain, widespread transport disruption and flood warnings, particularly in the Girona region, in the northeast.

Emergency alerts urged residents to avoid rivers and flood-prone areas as several waterways exceeded danger levels. One man was reported missing after his vehicle was swept away while attempting to cross the Daró River, with search efforts suspended due to unsafe conditions.

Road closures affected multiple routes in the province, while rail services were heavily disrupted. High-speed trains were halted after an overhead power line failure, and Rodalies commuter lines suffered cancellations and delays.

While the storm has eased slightly, further rain is expected.

In entertainment news, on Monday, the 19th, the year-end report of the Spanish music organization PROMUSICAE came out, highlighting that Bad Bunny and Rosalía dominated the country’s twenty twenty-five music charts.

Bad Bunny was the country’s top-selling artist for the third time in four years, with Debí Tirar Más Fotos topping the annual album sales chart for twenty-two weeks and earning six-times platinum status.

On the other hand, Rosalía led vinyl sales with her experimental, classical-influenced album LUX, released in November. Despite spending only seven weeks on the chart in twenty twenty-five, it ranked second overall thanks to strong sales and critical acclaim.

Here’s a bizarre story from Southern Andalucia. On Saturday the 17th, in Cádiz in the south, a carnival troupe staged an unusual tribute to the late physicist Stephen Hawking by parading through the streets in electric wheelchairs. The group, called Una chirigota en teoría, named after a genre of Spanish satirical folksong, wore grey suits and wigs, mimicking Hawking’s posture and robotic voice, before performing a thirty-minute musical act celebrating his scientific achievements.

Group leader Miguel Angel Llull emphasized that the act was intended as humorous and respectful, not offensive. The troupe also aims to raise awareness of motor neurone disease and plans to donate the twelve wheelchairs used in the performance to patients in need.

The Video of the parade quickly went viral, with online users noting Hawking’s known sense of humour and the charitable intent behind the performance.

Check out the video with the link in the show notes.

And to wrap things up. In this week’s opinion piece, journalist Jordi Sarrión-Carbonell reflects for news outlet El País on how to sustain joy and meaning when everything feels a little unstable - politically, socially and emotionally.

He opens the article with moments that make him happy, including sharing wine with friends, before setting it against the darker mood of twenty twenty-six, shaped by Donald Trump’s renewed global influence and a widespread feeling of apathy and hopelessness. Rather than chasing certainty, Sarrión-Carbonell argues that freedom lies in refusing to be ruled by fear, randomness, or power-hungry leaders.

The piece mixes politics and everyday life into a quietly compelling meditation on how to live without surrendering to despair.

Read the article in Spanish with the link in the show notes.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Remember that we sell very cool t-shirts, check them out with the link in the show notes.

¡Hasta la próxima!