The president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, encouraged this Wednesday the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to follow the steps of the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, and also present his resignation, in a message published on the social network.
“Apply it to yourself,” wrote the leader of the opposition, responding to the message in which Pedro Sánchez defended Óscar Puente's decision to resign from office after “showing his face” and “providing solutions.” “Politicians like him dignify our country and show us that not all of us are the same. While some only give lessons, others give everything,” the head of the Executive shared on social media.
Aplícatelo.
— Alberto Núñez Feijóo (@NunezFeijoo) November 4, 2026
The PP questions Óscar Puente's resignation
After the minister's resignation, the PP assured that Óscar Puente's resignation "doesn't wash", because, in their opinion, it did not occur "for the victims or for dignity", but "because of the polls". The popular party also pointed to Pedro Sánchez's responsibility for appointing him and warned that "his responsibility has not yet been purged, but we will dismiss him at the ballot box."
Sources from the PP also maintained that Óscar Puente "was dismissed by Tezanos", in reference to the political interpretation they make of his departure from the Government, after the railway accidents in Adamuz (Córdoba) and last Wednesday in Urda (Toledo), which have left a total of 116 fatalities.
Reactions from popular leaders
Various PP leaders reacted to the resignation announced this Tuesday by the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility and agreed that it was not "an act of dignity" and insisted that it came "late". Among them, the party's general secretary, Miguel Tellado, stated that the resignation "was not enough" and pointed to Pedro Sánchez for having appointed him to replace José Luis Ábalos, whom he defined as "today in prison", before calling the now former minister a "quarrelsome tweeter" in a message on X.
La dimisión de Puente era imprescindible, pero no suficiente. Sánchez es el responsable de haber nombrado como ministros de Transportes a Ábalos, hoy en la cárcel, y a Puente, un tuitero pendenciero al que mantuvo después de la tragedia de Adamuz. El 29N les dimitiremos a todos. https://t.co/QaUTaBOWhK
— Miguel Tellado (@Mtelladof) November 3, 2026
The popular spokesperson, Ester Muñoz, declared this Tuesday night in Congress that Óscar Puente's resignation as Minister of Transport "came 116 deaths too late," in allusion to the victims of the two railway accidents in the last year. In her speech, she reiterated her request for resignation, although she specified that it was already too late and that, in any case, it could not be considered sufficient.
Along the same lines, the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury of the PP, Juan Bravo, described the resignation as "a confession of guilt" and pointed out on X the responsibility of "who appointed him and allowed him to remain in his position," in reference to Pedro Sánchez. He added that Óscar Puente "did not dare to sell it" as an "act of dignity," but as a "resignation that came 116 lives too late."
La dimisión de Puente es una confesión de culpabilidad de él, y sobre todo, de quién le nombró y le permitió seguir en su puesto. No es ningún acto de dignidad. Que no se atreva a venderlo como tal. Es una dimisión que llega 116 vidas tarde.
— Juan Bravo Baena (@juanBravoBaena) November 3, 2026
For her part, the PP's Interior spokesperson, Ana Vázquez, blamed the polls for "resigning" the minister "at the last minute of the Permanent Deputation" of Congress, before which he announced his departure after several hours of appearance about the train accident in Urda (Toledo), in which 69 people died last Wednesday.
The popular party has insisted, in different messages, that the focus of political responsibility remains on Pedro Sánchez, considering that "responsibility is not delegated" and that the President of the Government "cannot hide behind Óscar Puente."