<p>Pedro Sánchez and his socialist-led coalition government are racing to rebuild trust ahead of a snap election, but the task they face is immense</p><p><strong>• </strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/22/this-is-europe-sign-up-guardian-email-updates"><strong>Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here</strong></a></p><p>A week ago today, for the second time in nine months, I got in my car and drove south from Madrid to cover a deadly train crash.</p><p>At 8.53am last Wednesday, a high-speed train operated by Spain’s state-owned rail company, Renfe, smashed into the back of a stationary train run by the private rail company Iryo, on the outskirts of the small town of Urda in Castilla-La Mancha. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/29/spain-mourning-period-deadly-train-crash">Sixty-nine people died in the accident</a>, more than 100 were injured, and Spain’s already depleted confidence in its treasured rail network plummeted.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/nov/04/spains-deadly-train-crashes-have-damaged-public-trust-in-the-system">Continue reading...</a>