The crash near Adamuz in Córdoba province involved two long-distance services and prompted three days of national mourning.
ADAMUZ, SPAIN — A nighttime collision between two high-speed trains in southern Spain killed at least 39 people and injured scores more on Sunday, authorities said, after the rear of a Málaga-to-Madrid train derailed and was struck by an oncoming service near Adamuz in Córdoba province.
Spain’s transport minister, Óscar Puente, said the accident was “very strange” given the straight, recently renovated stretch of track where it happened and the relatively new equipment involved. The death toll rose through Monday as crews worked through crushed carriages and down a 4-meter embankment. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed condolences and declared three days of national mourning while rail operators suspended services on key routes linking Madrid and Andalusia. The cause remains under investigation by national rail authorities, who cautioned that the count of victims could change as recovery continues.
Emergency officials said the crash occurred shortly after 7:40 p.m. Sunday when the tail end of a northbound train operating between Málaga and Madrid derailed, sending carriages onto the adjacent southbound track. Moments later, a Madrid-to-Huelva train struck the derailed consist, driving its leading carriages off the line and down the embankment. Passengers described a violent jolt followed by darkness and the smell of smoke. “It felt like the floor disappeared and we were sliding,” said María López, who was riding in a mid-train coach and escaped with bruises. Local residents rushed toward the noise with flashlights as firefighters, Civil Guard units and medics set up a triage area near the N-432 roadway. Floodlights and heavy equipment were brought in to peel back twisted metal while helicopters ferried the most seriously injured to hospitals in Córdoba and Seville.
Officials said roughly 300 people were aboard the Málaga-Madrid service, operated by private carrier Iryo, and 187 on the oncoming Renfe Alvia train. The 27-year-old driver of the public train was among the dead, the rail operator confirmed. Speeds recorded before impact were 110 kph for the northbound train and 205 kph for the southbound, both within posted limits for that section, according to preliminary data shared by the infrastructure manager. Investigators and technical teams are examining the undercarriage of the derailed cars and a rail joint where a gap may have widened under stress. Human error has not been indicated so far, officials said. More than 40 wounded remained hospitalized by late Monday, including a dozen in intensive care. Forensic teams began collecting DNA samples from relatives to help identify victims recovered far from the tracks after being thrown from the carriages.
Spain’s high-speed network, among Europe’s largest, has had an exceptionally strong safety record since the first AVE line opened in 1992. The country’s deadliest modern rail disaster occurred in 2013, when a conventional-line derailment near Santiago de Compostela killed 80 people and led to years of scrutiny over signaling and operating practices. The Adamuz crash is the first fatal accident reported on the nation’s high-speed system, jolting public confidence in an infrastructure widely seen as a model for expansion across the Iberian Peninsula. The collision also disrupted traffic along the busy corridor linking Madrid with Córdoba, Málaga and Seville at the start of the workweek, stranding travelers and forcing diversions onto slower conventional lines.
Spain’s Commission of Investigation of Rail Accidents opened an inquiry and deployed field teams to map debris, recover onboard recorders and review maintenance and inspection logs for both trains and track. Authorities said the focus includes the condition of a fishplate joint near the point where the rear car derailed, as well as any interaction between the derailed components and the oncoming train’s leading bogies. Prosecutors in Córdoba said they would monitor findings to determine whether criminal charges are warranted; no suspects have been named. Renfe and Iryo activated emergency protocols and set up assistance centers for passengers and families in Madrid, Córdoba, Málaga and Huelva. A national coordination cell is consolidating passenger manifests and hospital lists; officials said a full accounting of the dead and injured could take days.
At the crash site Monday, rescue workers in reflective gear moved methodically across ballast slick with hydraulic fluid, calling out as they searched under slumped panels. A volunteer from the Red Cross described a line of blankets along the right-of-way and a row of stretchers near a field access road. “People arrived in shock, some barefoot and cut up. They asked about their friends, their children,” said Andrés Martín, who helped staff a reception point in Adamuz’s municipal sports hall. In the town center, flags flew at half-staff while residents gathered in silence. “We take trains every week. This feels impossible,” said Rosa Aguilar, a Córdoba resident who came to donate clothing and phone chargers for survivors.
The investigation is in its early phase. Recovery crews expect to clear the remaining wreckage and reopen at least one track section later this week, officials said, though full service will resume only after safety checks are complete. Authorities said they plan to provide another national update Monday evening and a technical briefing once investigators finish their initial fieldwork. Memorial observances are scheduled throughout the country during the three days of mourning, with a larger remembrance event to be announced once the list of victims is confirmed.
Author note: Last updated January 19, 2026.